How to Manage your Online Reputation

You may think that online reputation management isn’t something you should concern yourself with. I would urge you to reconsider that thought!

According to eMarketer 83% of consumers say that online reviews sway their opinions about a particular company, and 8 of 10 of these people added that a unfavorable review online is responsible for them changing their mind about that company. Even one negative review, justified or not, can negate all your finest efforts if you haven’t planned an online reputation strategy to manage it. So to help with that I’d like to present five strategies your business, and your brand, can implement to monitor and manage your online reputation…

1. Monitor your business and personal names – Keeping an eye on what’s being said about you and your business is of paramount importance. Thankfully, there are lots of free tools to help in this regard, like Google Alerts, Hootsuite, Social Mention and others.
2. Claim all your social properties – Unclaimed social media sites can be used by your rivals for nefarious exploits. Make sure you claim all social sites that could relate to your brand.
3. Dominate page one of Google for your brand name – A great way to ensure what people see and read about you whenever they Google you would be to own all the virtual real estate! If all they find when they Google you is great stuff about you and your brand, you’ll not be harmed by the occasional attack.
4. Ask for customer reviews – Customer reviews aren’t just going to magically appear: you need to actively court them. Make a point of asking your customers to write reviews, and do everything you can so that it’s easy for them: links to review sites, examples from other customers, etc. Of course, if you offer incentives, let them know that you’re not attempting to bribe them or affect their review!
5. Make engagement a priority – Engaging with your commenters, social media posts and tweets is a terrific approach to prevent any negativity from the start. Avoid getting into a shouting match though, however powerful the impulse.

Online reputation management is far more vital than ever before, in this day of instant communication. Don’t neglect yours!