Protect Your Online Business Reputation: Best Reputation Management Tips (part 1)

A flat tire or a broken headlight will make the trip a little more difficult along the way to your destination. However, a watered-down engine will destroy any chance you had of getting there. This is why the engine is the biggest and most important part of a vehicle.

Relating this analogy to branding, the water—or the most dangerous element to the most precious aspect of a company—is its brand. The Internet has become the ray of hope, as well as the Achilles’ heel, of all companies and their reputation worldwide. The more renowned companies are adjusting their reputation and approach towards their online presence.

Businesses are noticing that there is value in committing to a group specialized toward optimizing their image using the web. This article will review some of the best “do’s & dont’s” that companies should consider when presenting their brand.

Negative Coverage From Independent Online Media

Today, most companies allocate a certain budget for building a credible image using technology and social media. However, the Internet has a mind of its own that is created by everyone. It only takes one critic to express his or her doubts or feelings about your brand and your efforts are diminished.

The Most Suitable Proactive Approach: Monitor Online Brand Reputation

We believe that by coaching a company as what approach works most effectively in repairing their brand, the company would be in a great position to notice and analyze a potentially large obstacle, and would in turn know exactly how to prevent it from further escalating.

Business reputation management tips

1. Make your situation known through website comments;
2. Think about your long-term goals when reviewing your response;
3. Send a responsive message by hand-writing a thorough, genuine letter—offering your services or asking the right questions is essential for attaining the end result of giving the person a memorable, positive experience; and
4. If a credible site posts bad reviews, it would be wise to invest in online ad marketing in order to mitigate the risk.

Reputation Attack From Competitors

There is always going to be somebody trying to get ahead by attempting to bring you down. Do not be shocked when you see your brand associated with negative or low-quality backlinks. This could simply be your competitors trying to sabotage your image by associating it with negative qualities.

Here is an entire domain dedicated to the Yelp hate group called yelp-sucks.com.

Blog posts and discussion communities pertaining to a search are given an advantage by Google on its search engine. If they are negative, they will eventually ruin your company and overshadow its reputation.

Recommendations from online reputation management companies

1. Purchase domains that are similar to your name and help generate positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients.
2. Make sure you set alerts to notify you of negative correlations to your brand. This allows you to become aware of them faster and provide a solution.
3. Constantly promote and create positive content to overwhelm the negative keywords associated with your company. Try to share them on authoritative domains so that they surpass the negative links.
4. Monitor your company’s backlinks closely. If you find a website directing negative traffic towards your website, you may disavow them by utilizing Google’s Webmaster Tool or by consulting an SEO professional.