You can probably guess most of the search results would include your social media sites, your blog, and your website. But have you ever thought of checking for other information that was not put there by you?
In the world of “sharing” and “liking”, it’s not always a thumbs-up situation. This is particularly relevant for businesses whose success relies heavily on reputation. An online reputation can be easily destroyed.
Imagine you have just finished a business meeting with a potential new client hoping to secure your next deal. Then later in the day, the client does a search on Google to learn more about your business and comes across blogs and forums with negative posts about your business.
When this happens, there’s a good possibility that you won’t be hearing from that client again.
More than one third of millennials believe their first impression “online “is more important than their in-person introduction. That statement is definitely arguable, but it has its merits.
Some websites are specifically designed for complaints, reviews, and consumer feedback (both good and bad). These are good websites to start with when checking the status of your online reputation. Social media platforms have become a major tool for people to express their opinions on anything and everything. So be sure to check the social media sites too!
Needless to say, this can become very time consuming. Not all businesses have the time or staff to maintain and monitor their reputation online. A reputation management expert can help you with that. They can manage your online reputation for you and free up some of your valuable time.
In any case, you need to frequently check and monitor what others are saying about you. The bigger online presence you have, the more important it becomes.
Even if your company is an A+ business with great customer service, there’s always going to be those complainers.
Don’t give up just yet. Although you won’t be able to remove comments made by others on the Internet, there are still many different ways to run damage control.
The worst thing you can do is nothing. You should always be active and respond to any posts or comments directed towards your company, regardless of whether they’re good or bad. For the positive ones, show your professionalism and thank them. For the negative ones, defend yourself, justify your actions, and don’t hesitate to apologize if needed. As long as you conduct yourself in a professional manner, audiences can be more forgiving than you think.
You can use free online tools like Google Alerts that will send you an email every time Google finds a new mention of a particular keyword in search results. For instance, if your business is called ABC Records, then this would be the keyword term that you want to be alerted for.
If time is an issue, there are online reputation management experts that specialize in these services. Book a free consultation and get your good businesses reputation back!
