Online Reputation Management Can Help Protect Your Company
Bad publicity and bad reviews happen. It is unpreventable. What you can do, however, is manage the damage. If you have ever used the internet, then you know things can go viral in the flash of an eye. And, most of the time, when something does go viral, it is a piece of negative news about a politician, corporation or small business. You can, however, take charge of your online reputation management and mitigate the damage.
Online reputation management needs to be a key component of your online marketing strategy and your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy.
What Is SEO and How Does it Link to Online Reputation Management?
A lot of businesses are reactive when it comes to their online reputation management (ORM) in as such that they don’t do anything until they have negative results. It is much better to be proactive, and that’s where SEO comes in. Through good SEO, you can make sure anything negative never gets found on the first page of the search engines anyway.
The ORM Aspect of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Having a good search engine marketing campaign is necessary to create a positive reputation and build yourself as a trustworthy source for customers past, present and future. If negative reviews appear, they can undo a lot of the hard work you did to improve your strategy. Plus, social media, which is filled with negative reviews, is becoming increasingly important. This is why you need to make sure that ORM is an integral part of SEM as well.
Do not confuse ORM with public relations. They do have some commonalities and some similar goals, there are substantial differences. Public relations focus on delivering a message and getting feedback. ORM is more directed at minimizing the effects of bad reviews and making sure conversations about your brand are monitored.
You need to make sure that you know who is talking badly about your business. You also need to make sure that you respond to these people immediately. And, most importantly, you must be professional, polite and courteous in your responses, even if you feel under attack by the review.
Some ORM Strategies to Implement
There are a number of ORM strategies that you could implement in your business. These include:
- Having a verified Twitter and Facebook account.
- Responding directly to customers who leave comments on your website or social media platforms, whether their comments are positive or negative.
- If a negative review is posted, publicly acknowledge the review and apologize for the customer’s experience, even if you are not at fault. Then offer a resolution. It is vital that you do so publicly, because this will show other people that you are willing to learn from your mistake and that you are trying to improve the situation.
If your reputation really is under attack, you need to make sure that you speak to professionals who can help you mitigate these issues. After all, libel and slander is illegal.