20 Tips for Online Reputation Repair
After a reputation-damaging event, you will need online reputation repair to restore and foster positive relationships with your audience. Given that, as highlighted over at runrex.com, people use the internet to find products and services, what people say about your brand will directly affect your bottom line. This article will look to highlight 20 tips for online reputation repair to help you recover from any online image-damaging event you may have suffered.
Identify the root cause of the issue
The first tip for online reputation repair is to identify the source of your issues; that is, what led to the damaged online reputation in the first place? Make sure that you are thorough when investigating the cause of your image-damaging event as identifying the root problem allows you to comes up with a strategy to tackle and fix the issue so that you can start building a positive reputation as is outlined over at guttulus.com.
Use tools to help you monitor your online reputation
Using tools to monitor your reputation is another way through which you can be made aware of any online reputation issues, allowing you to start fixing them. Several tools can help you monitor your online reputation, such as Google Alerts, Rankur, Free Review Monitoring, and many others as discussed over at runrex.com.
Address the issue on the platform in which it is being raised
According to the gurus over at guttulus.com, another tip as far as online reputation repair is concerned is ensuring that you address and resolve the issue publicly on the channel that it is being raised on. for example, if a customer has raised an issue about your brand on Twitter, try and address it publicly on Twitter, and if you need to take the conversation off of that channel and to a private channel like email or the DM, make sure that you update the original thread where the issue was raised once a resolution is reached. This shows transparency and that you have nothing to hide.
Respond as quickly as you can
Another tip that will help you with your online reputation repair is making sure that respond promptly to any issues that have been raised. Don’t let things fester, as the longer things go unresolved, the more damage your reputation suffers as you look like you have something to hide. Once you respond, you should also make sure that the person who raised the issue is aware of your response.
Do not automate this part
It is also critical that the online reputation repair part of your customer care process is not automated. If someone has raised an issue about your brand online, make sure you reach out to them through a trained person for a personal touch. Don’t automate this part by sending generic messages as this will just make things worse.
Invest in high-quality content that is optimized for search
Another tip that will help with your online reputation repair is investing in high-quality content that is optimized for search. As outlined over at runrex.com, this will ensure that your content dominates the front results of SERPs and that the negative information is not the first thing people see about your business.
Don’t threaten legal action
It is also important that you avoid making the error most people make when faced with a reputation-damaging event, and that is threatening legal action. If a media outlet or blogger has published an unfavorable story, then you should ask them politely to update or delete the content. If they are unwilling, avoid threatening legal action as this will make things worse for you according to the gurus over at guttulus.com.
Have the content removed from Google’s index
If you have reached out to a media outlet or blogger who had published an unfavorable story about you, you have asked them politely to remove or update the story, and they have accepted to do so, another important tip by the folks over at runrex.com is to ensure that you have the content removed from Google’s index. You don’t want a situation where an issue that was already resolved is still causing you issues.
Own the problem
Also, don’t try to run away from any issues or damaging events as this will only make things worse for you. If the issues being raised are true, release a statement acknowledging the same, apologize and let it be known that you are working to address the issue as soon as possible.
Have analytics in place
Yet another important tip worth noting when it comes to online reputation repair is that your actions should be guided by research, not emotions. Setting up analytics will help you anticipate problems before they become bigger and more serious. For example, if you notice through analytics surges in traffic from websites like Reddit where users can put up anonymous content, it is usually a sign of a potential crisis, and it could help you get in front of it.
Keep your eyes on your employees as well
As is revealed in discussions on the same over at guttulus.com, competitors and customers are not the only cause of online reputation-damaging events, as your employees, if they are disgruntled, can also damage your reputation. It is, therefore, recommended that you monitor employee complaint platforms like Glassdoor and see if any issues are being raised there that you need to address before things escalate.
Have a plan in place
You should always expect issues with online reputation and should have a plan in place that outlines how you will go about things when such issues arise. As is explained over at runrex.com, come up with a decision tree that outlines the steps you will take when a problem props up online or within the media so that you can handle such issues promptly and avoid getting caught out.
Own variations of your website URL
Sometimes, you may have a negative version of your URL, and this could be the one damaging your online reputation. To avoid such issues, the gurus over at guttulus.com recommend that you try and own all the variations of your website URL, which includes negative ones such as yourbrandsucks.com.
Understand who is speaking against you
Understanding and knowing who is speaking against you, leading to the online reputation hit, is an important part of online reputation repair. For instance, if it is a former disgruntled employee, you can counter their accusations by posting blogs and videos about your positive company culture, while if a former customer posts a negative review, you might share reviews on social media showing how your product or service is excellent.
Don’t swear your employees to secrecy
Another online reputation repair tip worth pointing out is the importance of ensuring that your employees are not sworn to secrecy. Make sure that they are free to talk up your services or products and work culture, as this too could help repair your damaged online reputation.
Don’t repeat the same mistakes
As the gurus over at runrex.com will tell you, your customers expect that, if you make a mistake and you acknowledge it, then you won’t make the same mistake again in the future. This is why you must learn from your mistakes so that you don’t repeat them, as this may damage your reputation beyond repair.
Get help
Yet another tip as far as online reputation repair is concerned is getting help, particularly if the task of repairing your reputation is proving to be too daunting to handle on your own. Professionals like lawyers, online investigators, SEO specialists, and online reputation managers among others can help. The gurus over at guttulus.com excellent online reputation repair services.
Have a face for your company
As per the subject matter experts over at runrex.com, part of having a plan in place when dealing with online reputation damage, as outlined earlier on, is designating one person to be responsible for being the public face of your company. This will ensure that your response doesn’t seem muddled or scatter-gun and that you look professional in your response.
Maintain the high road
Don’t even consider swapping insults and put-downs with anyone throwing shade at your company as this will make the situation worse than it is. Always take the high road and make sure that you insist that your company has got values that it adheres to and always tries to do what is best for its customers.
Be patient
When dealing with a reputation-damaging event, you must be aware that repair, as far as your online reputation is concerned, may take time. Rebuilding a damaged online reputation never happens overnight, and it is usually a long and arduous process that will require you to be patient and to keep chugging along.
Remember, if you need expert help with online reputation repair, then the highly-rated gurus over at runrex.com and guttulus.com have you covered.