Having a solid reputation management strategy in place is something that any smart businessperson would be well-advised to do. Being able to handle the inevitable ups and downs in public perception can mean the difference between ultimate success and failure. The information that follows can serve as a useful starting point.
One of the primary ways you can manage your reputation is to claim your business brand online and take charge of the content about you. Use either KnowEm.com, UserNameCheck.com or NameChk.com to locate every online instance of your business name popping up. You only need to use one, but any of them can let you know if anyone out there is misrepresenting your business or speaking ill of you.
If you use social media sites, you need to be able to track the success of each post. There are several programs available online to help you track mentions of your business. These programs will also informs you of when a user shares your post with his friends and family members.
If you find negative content about your brand online, get rid of it. It it is on a Web property you control, like a comment on your blog, just delete it. If you need to, send a request to the Webmaster where the content is. When they do remove it, make sure it no longer shows up by using the Google URL removal tool.
Give a positive response to the negative feedback that you get. Ensure that lots of people post positive reactions and feedback if you want to drown the negative voices out. Post positive content regularly to keep things fresh, pushing the negativity down in those search engine results.
To better your business reputation online, try optimizing your web pages with your essential search phrase. This will generally be your company name. Google search engines favor authoritativeness. That will ensure that you’re ranked highly on search pages.
Watch the social networks. Most people expect a company to respond when they leave negative comments. Try to do so quickly. If you are more responsive than your competitors, it makes you stand out as superior to them.
Keep in mind that your online and in-person reputations both matter just as much. There are many people that are great in person yet they are not very great with customers over the Internet. You should be nice either way since you have no idea if this customer will spread negative information that can destroy you.
When you are on your social media pages, make sure that you try your best to sound as real as possible. Trying to sound too corporate or too casual will only make you come across as a big phony. It is best to find some middle ground that allows you to act more natural.
It is impossible to overstate the value of gaining a thorough understanding of reputation management principles. Without the right techniques for handling damage in this realm, it is possible to suffer some very serious consequences. By heeding the tips listed above, however, it really is possible to weather the storms that are certain to crop up at one point or another.