The Importance of Online Reputation Management

Your online reputation counts more than ever in this digital age.

Anyone can access reviews, comments, blog articles, and social network posts linked to your name or business with only a few clicks.

For this reason, maintaining your online reputation is essential to protecting your brand and giving a good impression to potential customers.

What Is Online Reputation Management (ORM) And Why Is It Important?

Monitoring, controlling, and enhancing your brand’s or name’s online reputation is known as Online Reputation Management, or ORM.

It includes locating and claiming listings linked to your business name, communicating with others online to promote positivity, and responding to any offensive material.

Reducing negativity and showcasing your positive attributes online is the goal.

Consumers in the digital era often base their purchase decisions on brand mentions and online reviews, so fostering a good brand reputation is necessary to bring in new customers.

Key Elements Of Effective ORM

An effective online reputation management strategy should include:

Online listening – Regularly monitor online mentions, reviews, and social media discussions related to your brand using tools like Google Alerts. This allows you to know how customers perceive you.
Review generation – Proactively request feedback through surveys or review sites like Yelp to get more positive reviews. This buries older negative reviews you may have, increases your rating, and shows that you are an active business.
Review responses – Politely respond to all reviews, positive and negative. This shows customers that you value their feedback and are willing to fix issues that may arise.
Search engine optimization (SEO) – Use SEO best practices to improve organic search rankings and lead customers to content that comes straight from your company. Update online listings and profiles regularly.
Social media management – Maintain active, positive social media profiles on all relevant platforms. Engage with customers and share content. For example, if you have a specifically-focused Twitter account, ensure the content is thematic and reflects positively on your overall reputation.
Reputation repair – If necessary, use reputation management services to suppress or remove harmful content through legal action.
Proactive communication – Share company news, user-generated content, awards, etc., to continually boost your online presence.

Strategies And Best Practices

Here are some practical tips for managing your brand’s online reputation:

Google your brand regularly to monitor brand mentions. Set up alerts for your company name, product or service names, and key executives.
Be proactive with public relations. Pitch newsworthy stories to reporters to get positive press.
Develop robust social media profiles and post engaging content daily. Turn on review/rating features on your business listings and social media accounts.
Respond professionally to all online reviews and feedback. Express concern for their issue and offer the poster a way to contact you to remedy the situation.
Flag false negative reviews for removal but avoid overt litigation, which can result in your profile being flagged.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other sites. Make it easy with links and reminders.
Update all online listings and profiles consistently with keywords, photos, services, contact info, and any other relevant information.
Partner with influencers and brand advocates to expand your online presence.

Monitor Your Online Reputation

Monitoring online conversations about your brand allows you to know how customers perceive you, so you can make improvements. Here are some ways to track your brand’s reputation:

Set up Google Alerts for your brand name, products/services, and executives. Review alerts daily.
Conduct frequent vanity searches for your brand name on Google, Bing, and social media.
Check online review sites like Yelp and BBB for customer feedback.
Use social listening tools to monitor brand mentions.
Set up keyword tracking for branded and non-branded keyword mentions to stay on trend with relevant conversations.
Use reputation monitoring software like ReviewTrackers or RateItAll.
Check websites, forums, and blogs relevant to your industry for timely discussions.
Sign up for Google Search Console to monitor indexed pages about your brand.
Seek out both positive and negative customer feedback. This allows you to get a balanced view and see what customers do or don’t like about your business.

Respond To Negative Reviews

Don’t ignore negative reviews. Responding professionally demonstrates you care about customers. Here are some tips for responding to negative reviews:

Thank the customer for the feedback and express concern. Don’t get defensive even if their claims seem unfair.
Invite the poster to contact you directly so you can investigate the issue fully. See if you can offer a resolution – sometimes a free product or discount calms unhappy customers.
For false claims or argumentative comments, don’t take the bait. Invite them to contact you directly and keep your messages civil and factual. Do not engage with them publicly.
On reputable sites, you can flag content that violates policies. Avoid censoring all bad reviews, though, as this can result in the site itself flagging you.
Address widespread issues publicly through an official statement owning up to mistakes and offering solutions. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Learn from feedback so you can fix problems before more customers have the same complaint.
Follow up with unsatisfied customers until the matter is resolved to their satisfaction. This helps mitigate long-term reputation damage.

The goal is to kill them with kindness and demonstrate how much you value your customers – even dissatisfied ones.

Encourage Positive Reviews

Positive reviews are social proof that you offer a great product or service. Here are ways to get more happy customers to share their experiences:

Make reviewing extremely easy by sending review request emails with direct links after the customer has received their product or service.
Offer discounts, free gifts, or sweepstakes entries as an incentive for reviews.
Place call-to-actions in email signatures and on packaging directing customers to leave reviews.
Personally reach out to delighted customers asking them to share their positive feedback.
Spotlight and share five-star reviews on social media and in marketing materials.
Survey customers about their experience and satisfaction levels to uncover happy advocates.
Train employees to proactively request reviews from customers they interact with.
For physical businesses, put up signs with QR codes or add review links to receipts.

The more positive reviews you can generate, the more you drown out old negative remarks.

Repair A Damaged Online Reputation

If your brand reputation has taken a hit from complaints or scandals, here are some ways to restore your image:

Issue an official apology and communicate the steps you are taking to fix problems. Don’t make excuses. Take accountability and show contrition.
Increase community engagement efforts to demonstrate your values. Sponsor local events, engage on social media, volunteer, etc.
Release a steady stream of positive company news like new products, new hires or employee spotlights, and achievements to bury past negativity.
Hire a reputation management agency to implement SEO and content strategies to suppress damaging search results.
Initiate legal action if absolutely necessary to remove libelous or intentionally misleading content. This tactic should only be used if the root of the negativity is fake or deliberately misleading.
Commit to transparency and announce internal changes you are making to address root issues.
Make sure to follow through on your promises, or else you will only damage your reputation further.

With consistency over time, you can repair even severely damaged brands. The key is taking ownership and righting wrongs.

Protect Your Online Reputation

Guarding your good name starts with being proactive. Here are tips:

Set up Google Alerts to monitor name mentions and nip issues in the bud.
Maintain professionalism online. Pause before posting anything as everything is public forever. Have multiple people review content before posting to be safe.
Curate positive social media profiles showcasing your skills and achievements.
If necessary, remove personal contact information from public directories to prevent doxxing and personal harassment.
If you find your company banned or suspended from an online platform, it can hamper your reputation. Work to get unbanned by being cooperative, acknowledging mistakes, and appealing decisions through proper channels.
Google yourself regularly to see what comes up. Push down unflattering results with new positive content and strong SEO.
Be selective about who and what you associate with online. Remember that nothing can be fully deleted.
Don’t engage, retaliate, or respond emotionally to online attacks, criticism, or false claims. Ignore them or report them.
Monitor any web properties closely for suspicious reviews, comments, or inappropriate content. Delete and block offenders.

Your online reputation takes years to build but can be quickly ruined. So staying vigilant is key.

Conclusion

As the online landscape shifts, brands must take a cross-channel approach to managing their online reputations. Proactively building a great reputation now will pay dividends.

By listening to customer feedback, encouraging and appropriately responding to reviews, optimizing all web properties, and pushing down negative content, you can craft an accurate, positive reputation. This in turn drives customer trust, brand loyalty, and sales.

With some diligence, you can both build and safeguard your brand’s reputation even in an era of viral backlash. Your reputation is the foundation of business success, so online reputation management should be an integral part of every marketing strategy.