Reputation management is important part of a successful marketing. If you would like your business to do well, you have to work on creating a great business image. Poor reputation will harm your business considerably. Continue reading and learn what it takes to manage your business the right way.
Invest in a company that specializes search engine optimization
If your website does not rank on the first few pages of an Internet search, it may be time to invest in a company that specializes search engine optimization. This company will take each of the pages in your website and incorporate keywords throughout it using the latest in SEO practices.
Setting up an alert system for your reputation management
To keep a more careful eye on your business reputation, try setting up an alert system. This is a daily email you receive that lets you know when your company has been mentioned online. They do cost some money and take a short time to set up, but they can give you plenty of useful information. Monitoring your personal reputation or business brand is very critical to online reputation management. Use Trackur to monitor this and Google Alerts to send you notices when new content comes up. That way, you can know the very next day, if not sooner, when someone is talking about you.
If you make a public snafu, show the world that you are mature and apologize. Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a big person to acknowledge that. If people see that you are truly apologetic for the wrongs you have done, it will make it more likely that they will work with you in the future.
Guest blogging is good for reputation management
Write articles on other sites for a better online business reputation. This can help many people see you as a professional. End your articles with your name, company, and a link back to your website. Where you write will depend on the purpose of your business, your niche, and your target audience. Try to keep the content as relevant to these items as possible.
If you receive negative feedback here and there, you should not remove it. Most businesses will have unsatisfied customers every once in a while. If you only have positive reviews all over the place, people will start wondering if you are doing things to make yourself look better than you are.
To boost your business reputation among your customers, give them a chance to get to know your company better. Interact with them more on social networks. When people see that your company is not just a faceless corporate entity, they will receive you better, and your business reputation will improve.
Getting more involved with your community
If you want to improve the reputation of your company, consider getting more involved with your community doing volunteer work. Consumers like companies that take social responsibility seriously. By donating your time or money to your local community, you are putting a positive spin on your company’s reputation, and customers will see that.
Have a plan to handle negative communication
Have a plan available to deal with individuals who post numerous poor reviews with the intent of harming your business. It is better to have a plan and never need it than to find yourself the victim of such an attack and be unaware of your rights with no idea on how to manage the situation.
Talk to your friends to make sure that they are not doing anything that can make you look bad. For example, if there are pictures of you drunk and acting silly, make sure that your friend does not post them anywhere online. While it may seem like a joke, it can definitely do a number on you.
Check your search results every month. See what comes up when you put your company name on Google. Make sure there are no negative comments on the site. Keep track of where the negative things are coming from. Take steps to mitigate it as needed.
Often when you purchase a .com domain name, you are offered the option to purchase the name with .org, .net and .info suffixes as well. It’s smart to do this, and it’s even smarter to develop these into related sites rather than simply having them all end up on your main website. If you have several different sites with high quality, pertinent content about your niche, it will help establish your authority and build your reputation online.
Join your local chamber of commerce. This is another way to lend credibility to your business, especially if your company is still fairly new. Becoming a member of your local chamber of commerce helps you in establishing your business as a visible part of your community. This can give your reputation a boost. And do not forget to show appreciation to your customers for their business. Send them a card during the holidays. Your customers will like this bit of personal attention. This helps in developing your reputation as a customer-focused company. Your customers will have good reason to call you back when they need similar services again.
Train your staff
Make sure the people working in your customer relations department can keep their cool under any and all circumstances. When you’ve got an irate customer to work with, the last thing you need is your own personnel getting upset. Send your employees to workshops where they will learn self-control, along with amazing customer relations tactics.
Be prepared for anything when it comes to managing the reputation of your business. From nasty made-up rumours to seriously upset customers, you never know what may suddenly come up and harm your ability to conduct business. A good crisis management plan should be in place at all times and handled by a very competent team.
When reputation management is a concern for your business, learn to use press releases to your advantage. A positive press release can send a good message to customers and the media, and help your sale or other event be a smashing success. Post the reviews to your homepage where people can see all the great things they were missing out on!
Profits may suffer if significant mistakes occur due to customer backlash over a perceived problem. You learned about preventing these things, and managing them the right way when they happen. Now you should take your time to put what you’ve learned into practice. Reputation management should be part of your ongoing marketing activities.
