20 Tips for Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management, according to the gurus over at runrex.com, is an important part of any online marketing strategy, as your online reputation may have a big impact on sales and revenue. This article will look to help you take control of your online reputation by highlighting 20 tips for online reputation management.
Make sure you have a presence on all relevant web properties
As the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com will tell you, if your website is the only thing representing your brand online, then you will be in a very precarious condition if you run into online reputation issues. This is why one of the main tips as far as online reputation management is concerned is to make sure you create a presence on all relevant web properties. You should have a Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ account at the very least. Additionally, if you are a B2B business, for instance, you should have a LinkedIn account, or if you sell visually-oriented products, you should also open a Pinterest or Instagram account for your business.
Don’t neglect these social media accounts
While it is important to be well represented on social media platforms, just opening accounts as mentioned above is not enough. As per the gurus over at runrex.com, it is important to be active on your pages to build your accounts and improve your influence. This will help you to outrank any postings put up by anyone posting negative stuff.
Focus too on the individuals associated with your business
If your company’s identity is closely entangled with other individuals like executives, founders, or owners, another important online reputation management tip is to make sure that they are protected as well, as a reputation hit for them will damage your business too according to the folks over at guttulus.com.
Don’t forget to blog
Blogging is also an important part of online reputation management as not only does it allow you to build a strong reputation online, it gives you a platform to directly respond to any major claims made about your business online if necessary.
Acknowledge issues and apologize
If you have messed up or done something wrong, and important online reputation management tip is to acknowledge the same and apologize. Don’t get defensive as this will make the situation even worse for you. As far as your apology is concerned, make sure that it is viewed as being authentic and sincere for it to have the desired effect.
Promote good reviews
Positive reviews should also be a major part of your online reputation management strategy. Good reviews of your products or services help build a strong online reputation for your business, while also leading to an increase in sales as people are likely to do business with you if you have positive reviews, as explained over at runrex.com.
Listen to your customers
Remember, the customer is always right, so you should consider that there may be some issues or weaknesses with your process when responding to bad reviews or online complaints; one that needs to be addressed. As is covered over at guttulus.com, if you have been getting frequent negative feedback on a given product to service, chances are that there is an issue there that needs addressing. Be willing to listen and make changes.
React quickly to issues being raised
Yet another important tip as far as online reputation management is concerned, one backed up by the gurus over at runrex.com, is the importance of responding quickly to issues being raised. Don’t take forever to reach out and respond to feedback as this will make things worse for you. Have a system in place that ensures that you respond to issues quickly and politely.
Learn about your online reputation
It is also important that you take some time each day to explore and learn about what is being said about your company online. This includes going through several pages on Google when you look up your company and products and doing the same on social media. This will give you an idea of where your online reputation stands, and what needs to be done to improve it.
Monitor your online reputation
While learning about your online reputation is important, it is not enough, as you also need to be aware of what is being said about your business as soon as it hits the internet. This is why you should monitor your online reputation with the help of tools so that you can notice negative content promptly, allowing you to act fast. Helpful tools here include setting up Google Alerts or setting up an account on Rankur among others.
Connect with your customer sentiment
As per the gurus over at guttulus.com, it is also important that you connect with current consumer sentiment in your industry. This means knowing what is required as far as your posts, images, and branding so that you don’t end up damaging your reputation by going against current sentiment. Also, ensure that you know what your customers want, what they like, and what they dislike.
Don’t forget about your employees
Yet another tip for online reputation management is connecting with your employees and making sure that the company culture as far as your business is concerned is one your employees appreciate as is covered over at runrex.com. This will help you avoid instances where your employees are the ones complaining online, while also ensuring that your employees work as the first line of defense in case of an online reputation crisis.
Have a plan in place
Even if you are doing everything to prevent any online reputation issues, it is important to have a plan in place just in case of an online reputation-damaging event according to the experts over at guttulus.com. This means knowing how to react every step of the way, and what to do or say so that you are not caught out by a crisis.
Personalize your responses
The last thing you want to do, when it comes to online reputation management, is to automate your responses for issues raised online. Make sure that you have someone who is trained to respond directly to your customers for the best results. This will show them that you value them and their feedback and will help you build a stronger online reputation.
Prioritize transparency
When it comes to online reputation management, transparency is paramount. This means that you should own up to any mistakes you may have done, and addressing them in a way that fosters transparency. This means addressing issues head-on and in an open manner and not trying to gag anyone or hide anything.
Legal action should be the last resort
When it comes to online reputation management, it is recommended that you avoid threatening those you feel have wronged you with legal action as this usually doesn’t go down too well. Always avoid taking up legal action, and only take it up as a last resort if all else has failed according to the subject matter experts over at runrex.com.
Filter blog comments
You should also make sure that your blog comments are not the ones causing your damage online as far as your reputation is concerned. Filter comments so that you can make the comment section of your blog a place for constructive discourse. However, be careful not to remove comments just because they portray your business in a bad light as this will only make things worse as explained over at guttulus.com.
Bring in help
Another helpful tip here is bringing in help in the shape of a good online reputation management service provider, like the highly-rated runrex.com. This way, you will get help for services like crisis response, brand preservation, strategic public relations, and many others.
Eliminate negative content from search engines
If negative content that is not true exists, you should contact the news outlet, website, or blog involved and ask them politely to remove or update it. If they agree, make sure you have it removed from search engines by contacting Google and other search engines to make sure it isn’t indexed anymore. If you are unable to get them to remove such stories, create positive content, and have them rank high on SEO to push the negative stories further back on SERPs.
Have a long-term plan
Make sure you have a long-term plan for your online reputation management as it is important to note that you will have to take a long-term and multifaceted approach to build up a strong online reputation. Have a budget for online reputation, bring in expert help, and set social media and online reputation goals for long-term success.
If you are looking for expert help with online reputation management, then the highly-rated gurus over at runrex.com and guttulus.com have you covered.