As your business grows, you will learn just how important it is to have a positive image or reputation online. In fact, there are now businesses that specialize entirely in online review management. You have worked really hard at building your business up and you must make sure that you use your positive online image to build a larger customer database.

Positive reviews are a vital tool for that, as many customers use these before they shop. If you offer a high quality product or service and you also have a strong commitment to offering fantastic customer service, you want people to know that. And you achieve that getting positive reviews.

A Few Things to Ask Yourself

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you start focusing on your online reputation:

• Is it possible for people to find you through comparison and review websites?
• What information is out there about you that influences your reputation?
• Is your business highly ranked on the search engines, particularly locally?

Some Important Statistics

Consider that 97% now use the internet to research local products and services. Of these:

• 90% use a search engine, particularly Google.
• 48% use the online Yellow Pages.
• 42% use a price comparison website.
• 24% use so-called vertical sites.

Consider as well that:

• 85% of consumers find local businesses by going online first.
• 82% of those who see a positive review about a local business online will actually visit that business.

Why Online Reviews Matter

Any good reputation management company will tell you that online reviews are hugely important. They will be able to tell you that an online positive review allows you to position yourself as an authority, go-to source for your particular product or service. You establish yourself by being present online and by having many positive reviews. As such, it is also an integral part of SEO.

In fact, positive reviews mean that you have round the clock advertisement. You will tell the world that you are good at what you do, without really having to make an effort yourself. This is why you must have some sort of system in place that is able to incorporate the positive reviews people leave about you.

How to Build Your Online Reputation

Your marketing efforts are very important, but you cannot rely solely on those to hold a positive reputation. You have to be proactive, firstly, and ask people to actually leave reviews about your products, service or business as a whole. You also have to monitor things. If negative reviews start to prop up on any website, you need to take action to control the potential damage these reviews can do. Unfortunately, nothing that is online can ever truly disappear again. But you can make sure that it is pushed away so far that nobody will be able to find it. After all, if something is one the third page of Google, it is unlikely it will ever be seen again.