Online Reputation Management Techniques
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A handful of companies offer free and paid online reputation management services for consumers and businesses, including Reputation.com and Brand Yourself. In addition to using these services, or in lieu of them, both small and midsize businesses and enterprise digital marketers can take strategic steps to ensure their companies' online reputations are solid.The following 15 tips and eight tools are all valuable and effective ways to help manage your organization's corporate reputation online.Top 15 Online Reputation Management Tips1) Monitoring your online reputation regularly will "increase the chance that by the time there's negative content out there, it will be overshadowed by the content you want to be seen," says Jason Brietstein, founder, Brandamos. 2) Google your company's name and see what shows up. "If there are any sites that are negative or that you don't control, try to push them down in the search results with your own profiles on social media sites," as well as with Wikipedia, BBB.org, and CrunchBase (if relevant), says Takeshi Young, SEO team lead for EntirelyPets.3) Several experts suggested using Google Chrome's Incognito mode to search for your company or brand names. Incognito strips out some, though not all, of the personalized search results Google serves to recognized users and presents a more generic view that's closer to what others might see.4) Look at the first three pages of your search results, not just the first page, because a negative piece of content on page 3 can eventually make its way to page 1. 5) Create a spreadsheet that contains all of the search results from the first three pages of your search. Indicate which results are positive, negative or neutral, as well as which ones you control or influence and the ones you don't. This establishes a baseline for your online reputation that you can later use to assess your reputation enhancement efforts. Take screen shots of each Google search results page at the beginning and periodically repeat the exercise. 6) Immediately respond to unhappy customers on social media and directory sites such as Yelp. "Try, if you can, to respond publicly," says Daniel Scalco, owner, Digitalux. "Showing compassion and owning up to any mistakes you make goes a long way toward repairing the damage and proves to anyone viewing the conversation that you take customer service seriously.""Give yourself time to think about the response" to a negative review, says Jayme Pretzloff, marketing director, Wixon Jewelers. "Don't go on the defensive. Try to understand why the client had a bad experience. Respond to the review to address not only the upset client, but also to reassure other readers that the client's experience isn't routine."7) If someone mentions something positive about you on a site such as Yelp, reward him or her with a coupon, freebie or a simple thank you. "People will remember and they'll become brand evangelists," according to Clayburn Griffin, senior SEO content strategist, 360i.8) Brandon Seymour, owner, Beymour Consulting, suggests getting as many positive online reviews as possible. "Not only do consumers usually trust online reviews, but Google usually gives higher search result placement to listings with a higher number of positive reviews."9) If your customers are active on Twitter, "make sure you have someone on your team dedicated to responding to them," says Young of EntirelyPets. "Customers on Twitter generally expect a quick response to their requests."10) Optimize brand video with your company name on YouTube, which is widely considered to be the second largest search engine. "In some cases, Google ranks YouTube videos higher than actual websites," according to Brandamos's Brietstein."Google Images also display for some search results," Brietstein says. "In some of our clients' cases, there are negative images, such as mug shots, that rank for their names." Posting video and image content related to your business or personal name can help push the negative content further down in search results.11) Be cautious about your personal activities, both past and present. "More reputations have been compromised by nonbusiness activities than actions taken on the job," says Karen Kessler, founding partner, Evergreen Partners."It's the doctor's social calendar that gets her in trouble, not her dermatology practice. The CEO's out-of-control behavior as a Little League parent caught on someone's cellphone video is what goes viral, not a decision to downsize the company." Even if you're a Boy Scout now, Kessler says, "you have to worry about what you've done in the past." Be on the lookout for "old friends who, in a fit of nostalgia, post photos or reminiscences of wild escapes of their youth — the usual sex, drugs and rock-and-roll stuff — and who drag you into it, linking your name to the good times on their social media site." 12) Andrew Herrault, lead strategist, Connective Insights, says quality content is key. "The more awesome blog content you publish and promote, the more authority your brand name will carry. It will also serve to help push down in search results any negative reviews you may have accumulated."13) Connect with the media. "Developing relationships with journalists locally and in your field should be part of your overall marketing and reputation management plan," says Anthony Kirlew, co-founder, Imagine WOW! "You should also use trusted resources such as Help a Reporter Out, which can help you get positive media exposure."14) You should claim all of your online directory and review site listings right away, according to Josh Rubin, owner, Creative California. If someone else, such as a disgruntled employee, claims or has access to those accounts, "it could cause major (reputation) issues down the road."15) Focus is essential. "Monitoring your online reputation can be a huge, ongoing responsibility, and the bigger the brand, the bigger the job," says Chase Anderson, online operations director, Clicks and Clients. As a result, focus on monitoring "the biggest portals" such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp.Top 8 Online Reputation Management Tools1) The no. 1 tool for online reputation management, according to the digital marketers we consulted, is Google Alerts. The free service lets you set up automated email alerts for your business name, product name and high-level executives' names, so you'll know as soon as a new mention is posted online. 2) Brand Yourself "is a good site for helping you manage your online reputation if you don't have much experience with SEO," according to EntirelyPets' Young. "It provides recommendations for things you can do to optimize your site so it shows up higher in the search results for your brand terms." Other experts recommend Reputation.com for online reputation management.3) You should use platforms that help you monitor your online reviews, such as ReviewPush, Sendible and Trackur, as well as any other sites specific to your industry, according to Herrault of Connective Insights. 4) The Google My Business toolset is impressive and it includes great visualizations of your reviews, according to Digitalux's Scalco. "Gaining favorable reviews on your Google My Business page will increase your chances of making it into the local search results."5) Social Mention is useful for monitoring your reputation on social media, according to Seymour of Beymour Consulting. It's a free service that lets you "see who's talking about your brand on social media and more importantly, what they're saying, Seymour says. "It even provides a breakdown of brand sentiment, which can help businesses identify and address negative brand mentions."Social Searcher, another free tool, can help you monitor mentions of your business on social media, says to Paul Shapiro, SEO director of GroupM. 6) Shapiro suggests using services such as NameChk or KnowEm to create online profiles across social networks for your business to help outrank negative content. 7) IFTTT lets you set up customized processes and automatic alerts in addition to Google Alerts. For example, with IFTTT, "if someone is asking a question about your vertical industry on AskReddit, you can get an email alert so you know to respond, further cementing your place as an industry expert," says Griffin of 360i.8) There's no tool that "provides as many actionable insights into your website as Google Analytics," according to Guy Martin Smalley, founder of Bowery Creative. "It can be used to monitor referral traffic, see geographically where your visitors are coming from, and monitor exactly what they're doing when they get to your site."For example, if you spot a surge in traffic, Google Analytics can help you see exactly where it's coming from. The traffic could be coming from a positive article about your company — or from a terrible review. Either way, you should be aware of the source.For more advice on how to manage your organization's online reputation, read "Mastering the Business Basics of Online Reputation Management." Next read this: Why IT projects still fail The skills and traits of a next-generation CIO 9 forces shaping the future of IT An inside look at 10 real-world digital transformations 12 'best practices' IT should avoid at all costs 10 old-school IT principles that still rule 7 hot IT outsourcing trends — and 7 going cold 6 trends shaping IT cloud strategies today The 13 most valuable IT certifications today Depending on the amount of time and effort you put into social media marketing, you may find that there are forces at play that are out to get you. Business competitors, former work colleagues, even complete strangers are constantly trolling Facebook and other sites in a concerted attempt to make you look bad.So what can you do to defend yourself against this cyberspace reality? One option is to go Luddite and remove your Internet identity. However, if you are a modern entrepreneur, not using online marketing techniques to generate leads and grow your business is increasingly unfeasible. In the U.S. and around the world, people are networking and cutting deals on the Internet. Being left behind is not an option.Online reputation management techniques are increasing in popularity, in response to threats to online privacy and people's good names (did you know you can find out the contact details for any website using this free tool?)As the topic and professional field of reputation management develop, we analyze some important issues for the online business owner:1. Protect Your Reputation to Get Business OpportunitiesIncreasingly, your digital reputation is superseding your “real” reputation when it comes to business opportunities. Thanks to the internet, you have access to people and resources that used to be off-limits to all save the privileged few. However, if “skeletons” from your closet keep floating online, they can do considerable damage today. Take whatever means necessary to flush out irrelevant and outdated personal data, even if it is factual.2. Cleaning Up Your Profiles on Major Social Media WebsitesRegardless of how widespread some of your past indiscretions may have spread online, you can do a lot of good by keeping quality posts online and staying active on a few, select websites. Be consistent across business networks (e.g. LinkedIn) and blogs, and monitor closely any Twitter and Facebook use. The latter two, in particular, are notorious for creating controversy and attracting people who are nothing but trouble. That being said, mainstream websites generate a lot of traffic, so don't ignore them completely.3. Hire Professional Reputation ManagersThe need may not arise right away, but there may come a time when you will need professional reputation managers. These people have a rare combination of public relations (PR) savvy and technical know-how that are no match for individual smear-mongers. They can be a great asset when it seems that the cyber world is crashing all around you.Professional reputation managers don't erase negative information, but rather find ways to highlight your best characteristics and raise positive content in the search engine rankings.You may also want to consider hiring a social media manager to monitor your social media accounts and respond to negative issues and comments online.4. Use Indicators and Safeguards to Protect your Professional ReputationFor now, you can take advantage of a number of tools that help you fight forces looking to soil your reputation. Google Alerts is a great example of a way to track how your name, company, activities etc. are being seen and commented on online. Occasional contributions on mainstream and niche websites are a good way to enhance positive reputation online.ConclusionThe Internet economy is here to stay, and small entrepreneurs are at the forefront. However, they should be aware of the pitfalls of online activity, and how unscrupulous others can be towards you. That's why reputation management is so important – to ensure that you don't lose customers, leads, even friends – for non-business reasons.Hiring consultants to fix your reputation can work, but often at a steep price. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be proactive about your online reputation and address and respond to issues as they arise. Skip to main content Sprout Social Solutions Solutions For Enterprise Enterprise platform for large social business teams. For Agencies Flexible social software built for the agency model. For Small Business Tools to save time and manage social business. 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Log In Start Your Free Trial Log In Expand Menu Search Search Filter Sprout Blog » Engagement Engagement 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Online Reputation Management Photo of the author, Jason Mudd by Jason Mudd on May 27, 2015 When my grandfather couldn’t get his Internet issue resolved with the cable company, I took to social media to get the matter escalated, knowing the company cared about its online reputation and maintained an account dedicated to solving customers’ problems. After just one Tweet, my grandfather’s issue was resolved. Social media has become a huge part of every stage in the buyer’s journey. However, many businesses are still not taking advantage of it for maximum benefits and profitability. For example, some may be unaware that you can use social media to boost your online reputation management efforts. Use these tips to jumpstart your company’s own reputation and visibility. 1. Get Customers to Share Positive Reviews & Experiences You can do this with a simple, gentle reminder or request, such as “Did we exceed your expectations today? Please share your positive experience!” You can place this on the bottom of a receipt, various webpages or on a sign in your establishment. Many customers are quick to share a negative comment or complaint, but most don’t think about voicing appreciation or offering props for good service. It’s important to note that this works best if you do it in advance of negative reviews. In other words, don’t wait until there’s a problem before you begin working on your reputation. 2. Connect With Consumers & Solve Problems This can demonstrate how your company is adding value to their lives. As mentioned, many large companies have created special social media accounts specifically to address consumer complaints. When customers see that you care and are working to have a positive effect on their lives, it can be quite a boost to your reputation. 3. Find Creative Ways to Tell Your Company’s Story One of the best ways to do this is with your content. You can give consumers a more personal connection with your company by revealing your history—mistakes and all. You can also use real-life examples of how your product or service has helped someone. Remember to use a friendly, conversational tone instead of spouting corporate speak and confusing jargon. This can all humanize your company and allow you to better relate to consumers, which will enable you to jump ahead of competitors who don’t. 4. Monitor Your Presence & Direct the Conversation Even if you’re not posting about your company, rest assured that others are, and you should know what they’re saying. For example, customers could be taking to social media in droves to complain about your customer service. If you were unaware of this, you wouldn’t realize how much the issue was affecting your reputation or that you needed to make improvements. 5. Give Your Employees an Avenue to Share Content It seems like every week there’s another news story about some employee somewhere using the company social media account for an offensive Tweet or ill-conceived comment. This can make your company a national laughingstock and damage your brand for weeks or longer. It’s great when employees have something wonderful to share about your company, and they should feel welcome to do so, but this must be accompanied by a clear set of rules, management oversight and consequences for any misbehavior. Give your employees an easy way to share curated content through a platform designed for advocacy. 6. Rethink How You Use Social Media You can use it for more than just adding your two cents to a trending topic or directing followers to your latest YouTube video. With so many people checking in on social media so often and others listing it as their preferred method of communication, you may want to expand how you use it. You can use it to post announcements, deliver crisis communication responses and provide information that will help you position your company as a thought leader in your industry. 7. Remember the Power of Social Media Now that Google has re-established its agreement with Twitter, allowing Tweets to appear in search results, social media can have an even bigger effect on your reputation. For example, if there are just a few negative comments about your company, that may be the first thing prospects see when they Google your company name, instead of the all the good news you wish to share. Increasingly, news media are also picking up on social media posts. It’s clear that your social media posts are not just for a chosen few; potentially everyone could see them, so what you say on these platforms matters to your company, your reputation and your profitability. The Right Resources for Reputation Management This can be a lot for any company to take on alone; it may be best to find a qualified PR firm to help you craft exciting content, create inventive campaigns and develop a comprehensive social media strategy that will improve your reputation and boost sales. The right social media tools will help too. For more insights into online reputation management—including how to stop a social blowup—download the free guide below. Jason Mudd: Jason Mudd is the CEO and Principal of AXIA, a boutique public relations firm specializing in media relations. Follow him on Twitter @jasonmudd9. /* Search Search Filter Sprout Blog » Engagement Engagement 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Online Reputation Management Photo of the author, Jason Mudd by Jason Mudd on May 27, 2015 When my grandfather couldn’t get his Internet issue resolved with the cable company, I took to social media to get the matter escalated, knowing the company cared about its online reputation and maintained an account dedicated to solving customers’ problems. After just one Tweet, my grandfather’s issue was resolved. Social media has become a huge part of every stage in the buyer’s journey. However, many businesses are still not taking advantage of it for maximum benefits and profitability. For example, some may be unaware that you can use social media to boost your online reputation management efforts. Use these tips to jumpstart your company’s own reputation and visibility. 1. Get Customers to Share Positive Reviews & Experiences You can do this with a simple, gentle reminder or request, such as “Did we exceed your expectations today? Please share your positive experience!” You can place this on the bottom of a receipt, various webpages or on a sign in your establishment. Many customers are quick to share a negative comment or complaint, but most don’t think about voicing appreciation or offering props for good service. It’s important to note that this works best if you do it in advance of negative reviews. In other words, don’t wait until there’s a problem before you begin working on your reputation. 2. Connect With Consumers & Solve Problems This can demonstrate how your company is adding value to their lives. As mentioned, many large companies have created special social media accounts specifically to address consumer complaints. When customers see that you care and are working to have a positive effect on their lives, it can be quite a boost to your reputation. 3. Find Creative Ways to Tell Your Company’s Story One of the best ways to do this is with your content. You can give consumers a more personal connection with your company by revealing your history—mistakes and all. You can also use real-life examples of how your product or service has helped someone. Remember to use a friendly, conversational tone instead of spouting corporate speak and confusing jargon. This can all humanize your company and allow you to better relate to consumers, which will enable you to jump ahead of competitors who don’t. 4. Monitor Your Presence & Direct the Conversation Even if you’re not posting about your company, rest assured that others are, and you should know what they’re saying. For example, customers could be taking to social media in droves to complain about your customer service. If you were unaware of this, you wouldn’t realize how much the issue was affecting your reputation or that you needed to make improvements. 5. Give Your Employees an Avenue to Share Content It seems like every week there’s another news story about some employee somewhere using the company social media account for an offensive Tweet or ill-conceived comment. This can make your company a national laughingstock and damage your brand for weeks or longer. It’s great when employees have something wonderful to share about your company, and they should feel welcome to do so, but this must be accompanied by a clear set of rules, management oversight and consequences for any misbehavior. Give your employees an easy way to share curated content through a platform designed for advocacy. 6. Rethink How You Use Social Media You can use it for more than just adding your two cents to a trending topic or directing followers to your latest YouTube video. With so many people checking in on social media so often and others listing it as their preferred method of communication, you may want to expand how you use it. You can use it to post announcements, deliver crisis communication responses and provide information that will help you position your company as a thought leader in your industry. 7. Remember the Power of Social Media Now that Google has re-established its agreement with Twitter, allowing Tweets to appear in search results, social media can have an even bigger effect on your reputation. For example, if there are just a few negative comments about your company, that may be the first thing prospects see when they Google your company name, instead of the all the good news you wish to share. Increasingly, news media are also picking up on social media posts. It’s clear that your social media posts are not just for a chosen few; potentially everyone could see them, so what you say on these platforms matters to your company, your reputation and your profitability. The Right Resources for Reputation Management This can be a lot for any company to take on alone; it may be best to find a qualified PR firm to help you craft exciting content, create inventive campaigns and develop a comprehensive social media strategy that will improve your reputation and boost sales. The right social media tools will help too. For more insights into online reputation management—including how to stop a social blowup—download the free guide below. Jason Mudd: Jason Mudd is the CEO and Principal of AXIA, a boutique public relations firm specializing in media relations. Follow him on Twitter @jasonmudd9. /* Top-notch brands invest a lot when it comes to the reputation management of their brand(s). Pick any brand you like and imagine all the hard work they have been through to establish the current reputation they have online. Why go far? Just look up yourself on Google and you will find a Facebook page, probably a LinkedIn account. There are also other sources that you may have not heard of but they have some information on you. It is absolutely imperative to alter the way your name appears anywhere in the search engines. This also falls in the category of search engine optimization. While it is essential for any business to flaunt only the neutral or positive content online, there are ways in a small budget that can help the small businesses protect their online reputation. Better control the way how your business, and its products/services, is perceived now, when you have only commenced, before it’s too late to cover up. Here are 10 tips that can help you protect and manage your brand’s reputation online. 1. Authenticity and Originality People like to read content that is human and sounds not-so-corporate, given your target market. For this you need to portray all the originalities and be as transparent to the audience as possible. It helps them to stay connected and aids you in developing an understanding of the consumer behavior. 2. Combating Negative Reviews If you are to go for a vacation, you are instantly going to check the resort before you book, look up its social media profiles and read the reviews. The last part is important, yes, reviews. This is what all of us are relying on these days because reviews come first-hand from the consumers of the very services. That’s where negative reviews come in too. What most businesses do is that they encourage the consumers with positive experiences to post on various sites they have created like Google Places, Yahoo! Local and even Yelp.com. What about when you are to respond to a negative review? Don’t throw a marketing-spiel or you will be experiencing Internet trolls. Be open to them and promise to make corrections or offer them something positive. 3. Writing Press Releases PR Web is available for help every time you look out for tools or websites to help you build your reputation. You can create articles here for your business featuring news, new product releases or anything you are expert in. Invest in writing quality content and it is sure to outrank any websites that don’t have too much authority over the internet. 4. Removing/Replacing Content Many at times certain websites have negative reviews about your brand. You can simply ask them if the particular content can be removed. If that is not possible in any way then request them to add something neutral that may replace the negative content in the Google search results. 5. Creating a Business Blog Create a blog with your business name and get the word out about your company, its products/services, share latest trends or news in the same industry, or expert opinion in the form of useful tips and tricks, like an industry expert. Make use of sub-domains that bear your business name for the existing websites and they will eventually get you the traffic you require. 6. Guest Blogging There are many influencers and websites out there that allow guest blogging feature. It is a way of allowing external contribution to their website so that it has a blend of quality content from elsewhere. Later when the contributor promotes it on their channels, the website and the contributor together tastes the fruit of success. Offer to write guest posts and ask for a link back to your website. Make sure that you look for a prominent blog over the Internet so that it can push down any negative publicity and get you traffic. 7. Business Profiles on Social Media Networks Create pages for your business profiles on various social media networks. If there are so many for you to manage then it is not necessary to get your presence just about everywhere. Simply take some time out to figure out where your audience is and set up accounts over there only. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are a must though under any circumstances for everybody has at least one account here. 8. Encourage Positive Reviews While many may call it feedback but if you call it so then get ready to receive some negative comments too. A wiser way to concede positivity is to ask the customers to submit reviews regarding what they like best about the services you have provided them with. If they have any complaints, deal with them immediately before the matter gets out of hand and they write it online. One bad review and who knows, it can trigger bad memories from previous customers too. Beware! 9. Be Nice to them If you are good to your customers in the first place, offer authenticity, don’t brag about anything, chances are your reputation will never be haunted. If you do that, you will be cautious about making mistakes, or cleaning up the mess instantly. Customer relationships are everything, keep them very close and at the heart of your business and success won’t be too far. 10. Regular Monitoring Keep a close check on your business. Often look up in different search engines and see what comes up. Check all the links mentioned and see what you can control. Regular monitoring will save you from a series of crisis created in the future. Reputation is a sensitive matter. Once established, it needs to be constantly maintained in order to protect the brand. Use the aforementioned tips as tools to help you manage your reputation online and you will never regret a day in your life. Take the matter of online reputation management of your brand into your very own hands or get a reputation management agency to do it for you. Either ways, just get it done before it’s too late. Good luck! When my grandfather couldn’t get his Internet issue resolved with the cable company, I took to social media to get the matter escalated, knowing the company cared about its online reputation and maintained an account dedicated to solving customers’ problems. After just one Tweet, my grandfather’s issue was resolved. Social media has become a huge part of every stage in the buyer’s journey. However, many businesses are still not taking advantage of it for maximum benefits and profitability. For example, some may be unaware that you can use social media to boost your online reputation management efforts. Use these tips to jumpstart your company’s own reputation and visibility. 1. Get Customers to Share Positive Reviews & Experiences You can do this with a simple, gentle reminder or request, such as “Did we exceed your expectations today? Please share your positive experience!” You can place this on the bottom of a receipt, various webpages or on a sign in your establishment. Many customers are quick to share a negative comment or complaint, but most don’t think about voicing appreciation or offering props for good service. It’s important to note that this works best if you do it in advance of negative reviews. In other words, don’t wait until there’s a problem before you begin working on your reputation. 2. Connect With Consumers & Solve Problems This can demonstrate how your company is adding value to their lives. As mentioned, many large companies have created special social media accounts specifically to address consumer complaints. When customers see that you care and are working to have a positive effect on their lives, it can be quite a boost to your reputation. 3. Find Creative Ways to Tell Your Company’s Story One of the best ways to do this is with your content. You can give consumers a more personal connection with your company by revealing your history—mistakes and all. You can also use real-life examples of how your product or service has helped someone. Remember to use a friendly, conversational tone instead of spouting corporate speak and confusing jargon. This can all humanize your company and allow you to better relate to consumers, which will enable you to jump ahead of competitors who don’t. 4. Monitor Your Presence & Direct the Conversation Even if you’re not posting about your company, rest assured that others are, and you should know what they’re saying. For example, customers could be taking to social media in droves to complain about your customer service. If you were unaware of this, you wouldn’t realize how much the issue was affecting your reputation or that you needed to make improvements. 5. Give Your Employees an Avenue to Share Content It seems like every week there’s another news story about some employee somewhere using the company social media account for an offensive Tweet or ill-conceived comment. This can make your company a national laughingstock and damage your brand for weeks or longer. It’s great when employees have something wonderful to share about your company, and they should feel welcome to do so, but this must be accompanied by a clear set of rules, management oversight and consequences for any misbehavior. Give your employees an easy way to share curated content through a platform designed for advocacy. 6. Rethink How You Use Social Media You can use it for more than just adding your two cents to a trending topic or directing followers to your latest YouTube video. With so many people checking in on social media so often and others listing it as their preferred method of communication, you may want to expand how you use it. You can use it to post announcements, deliver crisis communication responses and provide information that will help you position your company as a thought leader in your industry. 7. Remember the Power of Social Media Now that Google has re-established its agreement with Twitter, allowing Tweets to appear in search results, social media can have an even bigger effect on your reputation. For example, if there are just a few negative comments about your company, that may be the first thing prospects see when they Google your company name, instead of the all the good news you wish to share. Increasingly, news media are also picking up on social media posts. It’s clear that your social media posts are not just for a chosen few; potentially everyone could see them, so what you say on these platforms matters to your company, your reputation and your profitability. The Right Resources for Reputation Management This can be a lot for any company to take on alone; it may be best to find a qualified PR firm to help you craft exciting content, create inventive campaigns and develop a comprehensive social media strategy that will improve your reputation and boost sales. The right social media tools will help too. For more insights into online reputation management—including how to stop a social blowup—download the free guide below. + – Bonus eBooks 3 Lectures 00:00 As a hotel owner, you may be wondering just how much an impact customer reviews can have on your ability to generate new guests. Or, maybe you’re not even aware that customer reviews exist online. Here are ten common questions many hotel owners ask about customer review marketing. Top 10 QA Customer Reviews 7 pages Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Here are 10 common questions regarding how to fix a negative online reputation. Top 10 QA Fixing a Negative Online Reputation 7 pages Even if you do not currently have a negative online reputation, you should still work towards building your brand and monitoring what is being said about your company; all so you can avoid any future damage. Let’s take a look at 10 of the most common questions most hotel owners have about online reputation management. Top 10 QA Reputation Management 7 pages As a hotel owner, you may be wondering just how much an impact customer reviews can have on your ability to generate new guests. Or, maybe you’re not even aware that customer reviews exist online. Here are ten common questions many hotel owners ask about customer review marketing. Top 10 QA Customer Reviews 7 pages Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Here are 10 common questions regarding how to fix a negative online reputation. Top 10 QA Fixing a Negative Online Reputation 7 pages Even if you do not currently have a negative online reputation, you should still work towards building your brand and monitoring what is being said about your company; all so you can avoid any future damage. Let’s take a look at 10 of the most common questions most hotel owners have about online reputation management. Top 10 QA Reputation Management 7 pages Is Google showing negative results for your website? Well, you definitely might be a victim of negative reputation. Kindlebit's online reputation management will handle and support your company's present online resources to promote them through the rankings. This would automatically make the negative content go out of sight. Hiring Kindlebit's services would mean that the negative listings would not be visible ever again. Sham competitor's reviews and negative campaigns in an effort to challenge your company's credibility are very common these days. Our experts can get these erased and substitute these with an efficient strategy to identify and stay away from these in the future. Online defamation can be so extreme that conventional online reputation management techniques fail to evade them. There are numerous techniques like campaigns or websites that can destroy the image of your online business. The experts at Kindlebit will tailor-make an efficient online reputation management strategy that would trim down the negative reviews and enhance the image of your company via articles in particular. Request Quote We at Kindlebit would love to know how we can help you. Fill in the required details and let us know whether we can contact you via Skype or G-Talk ID. Let us know what your expectations and our professionals will get back to you as soon as possible. CLICK FOR A QUICK QUOTE Success Stories Swiss Phone FFRS The Fire Fighter Response System was designed to keep track of who is responding to a call instantly after it's been dispatched. The system is designed to allow members to change their responding status in a variety of ways, depending on how they are alerted of an incident. Search results are algorithmically generated. Your online reputation is determined by complex calculations run automatically by computers. After all, nobody has time to take in all the information that’s out there, so search engines and social media sites make educated guesses about what people will find interesting.Popularity over accuracy. No algorithm can tell whether information accurately reflects you or not, so popularity becomes the main measuring stick. That’s why embarrassing party photos, frivolous lawsuits dismissed years ago, and other kinds of irrelevant but intriguing “click bait” often dominate online reputations.Don’t click. It can be tempting to visit the negative pages in your search results over and over again. Don’t. This tells search engines that the page is relevant, driving it up in the results. For the same reason, don’t tell all your friends to go visit the page. And under no circumstances should you link to it on social media or from another website.Don’t engage with detractors. If someone writes something unflattering about you, don’t write back, don’t post a comment, and don’t refer to the offending item in online forums. All this does is send more attention to the issue you don’t want seen. There’s also the danger that truly malicious posters might take your response and twist the words against you. Why give them additional ammunition? It’s better to fight their taunts with radio silence.Get your story out there. You can only promote the materials that are out there. That means you need a solid base of positive, accurate content to improve your online reputation. You can do this yourself to some extent—starting a blog, posting YouTube videos, etcetera—but you may need a publication team in order to affect competitive search results.Use social media. Not on Twitter? Sign up, using your full name as your handle (e.g. @johndoe). Are you active on LinkedIn? Make sure your resume is up to date. Social media sites often rank well in your search results, and you control the content they display, so they can make a big difference to your online reputation.Protect your privacy. Keep tabs on the personally identifiable information about you posted online. Opt out of services that sell your personal information, and remove your data from people-search sites. This makes it less likely that sensitive personal details can be used to hijack your online reputation.Assume everything lasts forever. If something has been published online, it’s potentially part of your permanent online reputation. Search results aren’t arranged chronologically, so old news items, outdated information, and stories from years ago can continue to rank if they’re seen as relevant by search engines. This can work for or against you. Reputation management refers to the influencing and controlling of an individual's or group's reputation. Originally a public relations term, the growth of the internet and social media, along with reputation management companies, have made search results a core part of an individual's or group's reputation. Online reputation management, sometimes abbreviated as ORM, focuses on the management of product and service search website results. Ethical grey areas include mug shot removal sites, astroturfing review sites, censoring negative complaints, and using search engine optimization tactics to influence results. Google Alerts is a great example of a way to track how your name, company, activities etc. are being seen and commented on online. Occasional contributions on mainstream and niche websites are a good way to enhance positive reputation online.ConclusionThe Internet economy is here to stay, and small entrepreneurs are at the forefront. However, they should be aware of the pitfalls of online activity, and how unscrupulous others can be towards you. That's why reputation management is so important – to ensure that you don't lose customers, leads, even friends – for non-business reasons.Hiring consultants to fix your reputation can work, but often at a steep price. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be proactive about your online reputation and address and respond to issues as they arise. Specifically, reputation management involves the monitoring of the reputation of an individual or a brand on the internet, addressing content which is potentially damaging to it, and using customer feedback to try to solve problems before they damage the individual's or brand's reputation. A major part of reputation management involves suppressing negative search results, while highlighting positive ones. For businesses, reputation management usually involves an attempt to bridge the gap between how a company perceives itself and how others view it. Reputation is a sensitive matter. Once established, it needs to be constantly maintained in order to protect the brand. Use the aforementioned tips as tools to help you manage your reputation online and you will never regret a day in your life. Take the matter of online reputation management of your brand into your very own hands or get a reputation management agency to do it for you. Either ways, just get it done before it’s too late. Good luck! Google yourself. What do you see? Are you represented fairly?Online reputation management (ORM) means taking control of the online conversation. Its techniques and strategies ensure that people find the right materials when they look for you on the Internet.Done well, online reputation management creates balance, counteracts misleading trends, and allows you to put your best foot forward. Given how advanced search engines and other information technologies have become, why do we even need to manage our online reputations? Shouldn’t these issues go away on their own over time?Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen. Online reputation mismatches are not technology problems, they’re human problems.Google’s algorithms can only give us what we ask for. So if we ask for juicy gossip, conspiracy stories, and negative reviews, that’s what gets associated with our search terms.Online reputation management counteracts that human bias for gossip, ensuring that the materials that actually matter aren’t overwhelmed by the rumors.This need will always exist. In fact, it’s probably going to get more and more important to manage our online reputations as search engines and other online algorithms become a bigger part of everything we do. Bas Jun 16, 2013 at 6:21 pm Some good points raised here and finally a focus on a variety of online reputation aspects instead of the usual one. In my experience business owners associate reputation management with SEO, and just SEO. In my experience a radical change in the way of thinking is required from business owners who suffer from shaky online reputations. No point of us reputation managers plugging the holes in the ship if the business owners keep creating leaks. Sometimes you end up more a business consultant than a reputation manager, especially in hospitality. Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Here are 10 common questions regarding how to fix a negative online reputation. Top 10 QA Fixing a Negative Online Reputation 7 pages Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Here are 10 common questions regarding how to fix a negative online reputation. Top 10 QA Fixing a Negative Online Reputation In this practical guide I’ll share some of the techniques used by professional reputation management firms to ensure their clients brands are well represented online. You’ll see these techniques aren’t especially difficult, but as with all areas of online, executing them badly can in some cases cause more harm than good. Online reputation is becoming so pervasive that it’s almost time to drop the word “online.” Essentially, your online reputation is your reputation, professional and personal. Here’s why: Ronny Adak Dec 11, 2015 at 10:25 pm You have covered all the aspects required to maintain Online Reputation Management. Online Businesses ignore the importance of reputation management. We must monitor what our customers is saying on forums or review sites and act accordingly to retain them. Yes, its true “trust is a perishable asset and it is hard to gain.” Thanks for such great article. Online reputation management companies can, of course, alleviate the pressure you feel about maintaining a positive image. With some assistance, you can better regulate the content bound to your name and take some solace in securing your image. However, simply obtaining online reputation management services isn’t enough. You must stay vigilant and take the proper steps towards ensuring that your positive image continues to remain firm. Claiming and managing your brand name are only 2 parts of the equation when it comes to establishing and improving your online reputation. One of the most important pieces of reputation management is actually monitoring your brand online. Monitoring search results, blog posts, tweets, status updates and other mentions online can be an extremely difficult and time consuming task. Fortunately, there are some fantastic tools available for businesses to properly monitor their brand name. Online reputation management is the process of controlling what shows up when someone looks you up online. We'll show you how to identify and clean up any damaging content about you online, like negative Google results, risky social media posts, and images as well as help you promote positive content that helps you look great online. The practice of reputation management raises many ethical questions. It is widely disagreed upon where the line for disclosure, astroturfing, and censorship should be drawn. Firms have been known to hire staff to pose as bloggers on third party sites without disclosing they were paid, and some have been criticized for asking websites to remove negative posts. The exposure of unethical reputation management can itself be risky to the reputation of a firm that attempts it. Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Here are 10 common questions regarding how to fix a negative online reputation. Some firms practice ethical forms of reputation management. Google considers there to be nothing inherently wrong with reputation management, and even introduced a toolset in 2011 for users to monitor their online identity and request the removal of unwanted content. Many firms are selective about clients they accept. For example, they may avoid individuals that committed violent crimes that are looking to push information about their crimes lower on search results. A handful of companies offer free and paid online reputation management services for consumers and businesses, including Reputation.com and Brand Yourself. In addition to using these services, or in lieu of them, both small and midsize businesses and enterprise digital marketers can take strategic steps to ensure their companies' online reputations are solid. There’s a lot that goes into online reputation management, but that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. As you can see, broken down in step-by-step pieces, you can get the tools and strategies necessary to improve your reputation online, and continue to ensure your hotel puts its best foot forward when potential guests do a search. There's no shortage of examples of online reputation management catastrophes, and all it takes is one messy situation to tarnish your brand for good. But while larger organizations can work with pricey PR firms to orchestrate a rebound, smaller businesses aren't usually so lucky. In fact, failing to properly manage your company's reputation online could be a kiss of death to your business. Last week I spent Wednesday at ad:tech in London where I spoke about advanced analytics and online reputation management. I thought the online reputation stuff would make a good Monday morning post. The audience was mainly brand and advertising people so I didn't assume too much knowledge of SEO or ORM, but instead ran through why you would want to monitor for your brand, how to determine if something is going to be a problem and some tips and tricks we've picked up along the way. I wanted to start with something topical so I used some examples from London Fashion Week (including brands and models) to demonstrate the impact of news events (interestingly, I found no significant correlation between spikes in search volume for the brands or models during fashion week). The following Online Reputation Management Guide will show small businesses how to assess, build, track and monitor their online reputation. In most cases, you can follow these simple steps to easily grow your personal brand and/or small business. Online reputation management, sometimes abbreviated as ORM, focuses on the management of product and service search results within the digital space. A variety of electronic markets and online communities like e-Bay, Amazon and Alibaba have ORM systems built in, and using effective control nodes these can minimize the threat and protect systems from possible misuses and abuses by malicious nodes in decentralized overlay networks. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that hard – or time consuming. There’s a better way to avoid getting bad reviews online, and an easier way to make positive reviews stand out more. By knowing what is being said about your hotel online, and how to respond to a bad review, your online reputation management becomes a lot more effective. In turn, you increase your REVPAR, while also helping your hotel to rank higher in the search engine results. Neither the executive, the business owner, the industry leader nor the small business were proactive in managing their online reputation. The executive’s name only appeared in legal documents from two decades ago that were now public record online. The business owner had no presence online outside of small news blurbs and people searches. The industry leader only had a brochure site and a number of casual references. The small business was only mentioned online in their flash site, a handful of press releases and on competitive research sites. Online and offline are blendingWith each passing day, the online world becomes more and more enmeshed with the rest of our activities. From smartphones to smart TVs, from the “Internet of things” to the self-driving cars of the future—you are living each day increasingly online, even if you never touch a computer.That means there are more and more ways for you to leave an online mark, positive or negative.Now, you might not think that people are searching for you, but chances are they are. Common reasons include:Employers doing pre-interview researchLandlords looking into prospective rentersChildren searching for details of their parents’ “real lives”Curious significant others, past and presentFormer colleagues looking to share professional opportunitiesNo matter how “under the radar” or “low-tech” your lifestyle, there is a good quantity of information about you online—and people are seeing it. Stay informed about the latest online reputation management and monitoring news, products and techniques. Here are some industry books, additional guides and articles to read if you can’t get enough ORM. Whereas, off-line reputation management refers to the process of managing public perception of a said entity out-side the digital sphere using select clearly defined controls and measures towards a desired result ideally representing what stake-holders think and feel about that entity. Wherein, the most popular controls for off-line reputation management include social responsibility, media visibility, press releases in print media and sponsorship amongst related tools. About the Author: Dan Virgillito is a content strategist for Massive PR, providing online reputation management services (i.e., helping companies monitor, defend, and restore their brand reputation on the internet). Why do reputation management campaigns typically center on the first page of Google search results—the first ten listings, and no more? Consider that it would be impossible to prevent people from posting negative reviews about a company; consider also, that it is impossible to have existing listings removed. The best approach is to control the damage by managing your brand’s online reputation as effectively as possible. Social media has become a huge part of every stage in the buyer’s journey. However, many businesses are still not taking advantage of it for maximum benefits and profitability. For example, some may be unaware that you can use social media to boost your online reputation management efforts. Use these tips to jumpstart your company’s own reputation and visibility. The exception to this is when you share a name with a celebrity, politician, another company, etc. Unless you have a reputation management disaster, it’s unlikely that you or others will be able to rank well for your name when you share it with a high profile subject. With that said, people will still want to find you online, so consider how others will refine their searches to locate you. Will they add an industry, location or product to the search terms? Filter the search results to locate oddities and a significant lack of results, both of which can negatively impact your reputation. Absolutely stunning article. Reputations are one of the ways that markets regulate themselves, that’s why it is a growing business. But what I think online reputation is simple flooding with false marketing. Many times people got trapped into pyramid scheme by investing their money into these. So, online reputation must need to be regulated and need some kinds of rules as none can hurt in this process. Replying back with bricks and lava on receiving sticks and stones from customer, is definitely not gonna help you to maintain that clean and clear reputation over the internet. I liked the way you have mentioned each scenario which may harm the reputation of a business or person in this virtual world. Expected and unexpected “should have been’ and “ought to be” reactions of those people who were on the receiving end, are a lesson for any online business as it definitely tops the DO NOT list of online business protocols. raffal Aug 30, 2014 at 7:31 am Absolutely stunning article. Reputations are one of the ways that markets regulate themselves, that’s why it is a growing business. But what I think online reputation is simple flooding with false marketing. Many times people got trapped into pyramid scheme by investing their money into these. So, online reputation must need to be regulated and need some kinds of rules as none can hurt in this process. sagar jawa Sep 01, 2015 at 5:44 am Replying back with bricks and lava on receiving sticks and stones from customer, is definitely not gonna help you to maintain that clean and clear reputation over the internet. I liked the way you have mentioned each scenario which may harm the reputation of a business or person in this virtual world. Expected and unexpected “should have been’ and “ought to be” reactions of those people who were on the receiving end, are a lesson for any online business as it definitely tops the DO NOT list of online business protocols. Many people currently on social media have had certain accounts for nearly a decade. That means the average person can accumulate hundreds or even thousands of posts, comments, likes and photos over the years. All of this data can be near impossible to sift through and monitor. A new feature of BrandYourself’s DIY online reputation tool is our Social Scanner. It scans your social media accounts for anything risky posted by or about you as well as polarizing topics you should be mindful of discussing on the web. We also help you continue to monitor your entire online reputation for anything risky that pops up in the future. BrandYourself offers a DIY tool as well as custom services to help you monitor, clean up, improve, and protect your online reputation. Get started with our DIY tool for free, give us a call at 863-8226, or schedule a free consultation to begin taking control of your online reputation today. Rather than having personal information about yourself shared, you might want to share things that you like, that are part of your sphere of interest, or to write about topics that you are very good at, thus creating original and useful content that will definitely help you individualize online. We recommend a very useful article about online reputation management on KissMetrics blog. 1) The no. 1 tool for online reputation management, according to the digital marketers we consulted, is Google Alerts. The free service lets you set up automated email alerts for your business name, product name and high-level executives' names, so you'll know as soon as a new mention is posted online. This isn’t your run of the mill online reputation management training. We’ve seen those, and agree. You can’t get the information you need to really know how to manage what’s being said online. When you’re trying to grow your hotel business, you need straightforward, easy to understand training that gets the job done fast! Neil Apr 01, 2013 at 7:26 am Nice article Dan. I don’t deal too much with online reputation management clients, but it’s such a vital component of any business with an online presence. The way a business responds really comes down to the mindset of the owners. For example, that coffee shop example shows the owner or person who replied that tweet, has a “we are what we are, if you don’t like it, fuck off!” You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But people with adaptive mindsets would have responded with, “Oh, sorry for the inconvenience, we’ll try and sort that out as soon as possible, thanks for feedback.” As you said, if a business can be transparent and lose that defensive attitude from the very beginning, then they’re in a much stronger place. In a world where the first thing angry customers do is vent about their bad experience on the internet, online reputation management has become more important than ever. Every business ought to pay more attention to it, since the best way to connect with your main audience in this digital age is by building a trusty brand presence online. As mentioned previously, search results are highly important to your online reputation management. They lead individuals towards not only your personal website but any mention of your name on various social media, forums, blogs, etc. Maintain online alerts to stay notified on where, how, and why your name is being discussed. The first step to managing your online reputation is to claim your brand name online. Whether your brand is your name itself, your business name or your product name, you need to make sure that no one else has control of misrepresenting you online by controlling a piece of your brand. Your online reputation is foreverIf someone writes something negative about you online, it can put you at a serious disadvantage over the long term—especially if you’re not aware of it. You might never know why you didn’t get that apartment you wanted, or why a job offer never materialized after that phenomenal interview.It’s important to keep tabs on what people are saying about you online and then take steps to correct any inaccuracies. Kyle IrwinIt’s disgusting how much phenomenal content gets posted on your blog. Vinny La BarberaHa, thanks Kyle! We never thought the word “disgusting” could be so positive. Michelle M RuizHi, was just going through the google looking for good info and stumbled across your website. I am stunned at the design and content that you have on this site. It shows how you appreciate this subject. JasonYou presented some great ORM tips, thanks for sharing! Bas EllenbroekGreat article. I would like to add one more item to your list if I may: stimulating positive user reviews. Most review sites encourage business owners asking their customers to drop a review on Google Places, Yelp, Tripadvisor etc.As long as you don’t force anyone to do so a business proprietor might end up with a steady stream of legitimate positive client feedback, greatly boosting their online reputation.While you’re at it, why not respond to these positive reviews? Vinny La BarberaFantastic points, Bas – especially since reviews are becoming increasingly more important when it comes to driving Local SEO and click through rates in local search results. Ricky PontingORM is the best option if you really need business. This is a great post about ORM. Thanks CasWhere can I can details on ORM for target groups, such as a breakdown of the number of businesses and individuals using ORM? For example, 50% are doctors, 20% politicians, 30% lawyers, 10% lawyers, etc. Vinny La BarberaGreat question, Cas. Your best is to do some digging through Google and/or going straight to some of the larger ORM companies to see if they have any data they have published. WolfgangAs a business owner you will understand that you need to have a direction and a way to measure your progress for everything you do. It is only with tracking and measuring that you can adjust to ensure you stay on track towards your goal. This can be a lot of work for the already busy business owner hence a lot of marketing methods we see being conducted by businesses are fairly scattered. Hayden Stahlman-DwyerHi Wolfgang, I noticed your comment about tracking and measuring your reviews. I have a great solution for you that can do just that and help you stay on track. That is exactly why we created RepRevive to tackle all the reviews in one spot and before other review sites. You can manage everything in one place. This helps lessen the workload and allow time for other important issues.Please check out the link listed and email me with any questions. I would love to help you./* */ kobyparsonsIs it possible to use other link building techniques like bookmarking, classified ads and citation for ORM? Vinny La BarberaAbsolutely. Those things still work, but they’re most likely going to be less effective than developing and distributing quality content that other websites will want to link to. AtulNice post shared over here, related to ORM. Thanks for this great post. Barbara Sumner BurstynNice Post Realy like blog about ORM Slate ORMIn addition to the social media outlets you listed above, I’d also suggest using About.me, BrandYourself, and Angel.co. These three sites, while not as well known, rank wonderfully when repairing the reputations of individuals. 2) Engage in reputation management. Now, I know you have done this and it was ineffective. If you’ll indulge me, my firm does this kind of work, but we are very different from the corporate firms you’ve hired. We’re extremely affordable (usually half the cost of firms like reputation.com and brand.com) and we give you a flat fee to run your campaign. One price, no recurring monthly fees. We ask for 50% up front and don’t collect the rest of our fee until your ripoffreport and pissedconsumer reviews are off page 1. This way, we’re as motivated as you are to finish the job. 5) Create a spreadsheet that contains all of the search results from the first three pages of your search. Indicate which results are positive, negative or neutral, as well as which ones you control or influence and the ones you don't. This establishes a baseline for your online reputation that you can later use to assess your reputation enhancement efforts. Take screen shots of each Google search results page at the beginning and periodically repeat the exercise. The other is what I define as “online reputation bombs,” which affect your reputation and sales long term and can severely damage a business. They are very powerful because, unlike social network content, they are prominent in search engine results. What if someone googles your brand name and finds defamatory content? Let’s see what they are: Repairing and suppressing negative comments and reviews should be an ongoing process at your hotel. Never let it get so bad that you have a bad reputation in the first place. However, if that ship has already sailed, there are some questions you are likely to have about repairing your online reputation. Hiring consultants to fix your reputation can work, but often at a steep price. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be proactive about your online reputation and address and respond to issues as they arise. The results of a negative online reputation may be as subtle as a user clicking on a competitor’s search result instead of yours or as damaging as an industry-wide boycott of your products and/or services. Besides the obvious financial implications of having a company’s credibility called into question, there are potential legal ramifications that could dominate your time and cripple your financial sustainability, as well. This will often cement trusted news and legal results in the top search rankings so that even if a case is dismissed or resolved, you’ll be living with the consequences for years to come. Things like, determining who is responsible for the negative reputation, if you’ll have to reposition or remove certain employees or dealing with potential losses in workforce, add further monetary, morale and growth consequences. If you find that you have a number of search results ranking for your name/company that aren’t about you (especially in the top 10), you will need to start building your reputation. Even though there isn’t an obvious problem, you still need to worry. If you haven’t actively grown your search results, then it’s much easier for something to creep to the top when someone does have a problem with your company or personal brand. By not being proactive about creating your online reputation, you leave yourself vulnerable for someone to do it for you. The easiest way to explain online reputation management (ORM) is to show you. Go to Google, do a search for your name, your company’s name or your product’s name and take note of what shows up in the search results. For business connections, nothing beats LinkedIn. As with any social media site, completely fill out the profile and make sure you include web site links in your contact information. An additional online reputation management tip: customize your URL with your name or business. Removing the negative post, link, image or blog post is possible but frankly, however, it’s usually extremely difficult to delete content once something has been published. Politely contact the author or webmaster and professionally state your case and request the item to be removed. Be sensitive that you don’t want to open a “hornet’s nest” by reaching out to the author, however. There might be options that an online reputation management specialist might have, such as reaching out to Google too. Google is using cues from social media engagement more and more so after Facebook, Twitter is an excellent online reputation management tip. Gain good followers, put out helpful information, and link back to your site. Tweet consistently several times a day. Although Google Plus is on it’s way out, it still can be helpful since it’s a Google property and post and comment daily. Follow influencers in your field and engage with them. Since it’s a Google platform, it will be indexed very quickly making it a great online reputation management tip. A Meetup is a great online and “offline” reputation management tip. It is free to participate in a Meetup group, so join several in your area and post comments after attending a meeting. If you’d like to create a Meetup, it costs about $79 to start a group for six months. Managing a group can be time consuming to create frequent group meetings but focus them around your expertise. Remember to announce the Meetups on your social media platforms. There are a lot of misconceptions about online reputation management. Some people think it’s just social media monitoring, while others believe it has something to do with public relations, and still others literally have no idea how it can impact business and sales. Inside this training, you’ll get a step-by-step plan that is easy to follow, and easy to implement. As you begin the process, it’ll become instantly clear that online reputation management isn’t as burdensome as you may have thought. What are people saying about you? Good online reputation management is not only about reacting well to what people say about you, your brand, or your products and services, but also about whether to react at all and, if so, when. Sometimes a reaction is not necessary, and sometimes a reaction that is too late can cost you millions. In the online reputation management scenario, there are two types of negative content that companies should be aware of. One is represented by complaints on social networks. They need to be addressed properly, but unless your company has serious problems, they do not pose a real challenge to your business. Online Reputation Management For Independent Hotels 5.0 (1 rating) Instead of using a simple lifetime average, Udemy calculates a course's star rating by considering a number of different factors such as the number of ratings, the age of ratings, and the likelihood of fraudulent ratings. 15 students enrolled There are a lot of misconceptions about online reputation management. Some people think it’s just social media monitoring, while others believe it has something to do with public relations, and still others literally have no idea how it can impact business and sales. Thanks for sharing those guides to us. Haroun Kola Mar 27, 2013 at 12:05 pm Thanks Dan. Great article. Online reputation management is probably the most critical element in any business at the moment, with the proliferation of social media sites and the time of everyone’s voice being heard. Depending on how it's handled, your online reputation management can help your business grow your customer-base and transform customers into brand advocates — or, it can drive current and prospective customers into your competitor's door. By using the three tips above, you can enjoy a more positive outcome. Debra Apr 25, 2013 at 6:13 pm There are a lot of misconceptions about online reputation management. Some people think it’s just social media monitoring, while others believe it has something to do with public relations, and still others literally have no idea how it can impact business and sales. Thanks for sharing those guides to us. The Internet economy is here to stay, and small entrepreneurs are at the forefront. However, they should be aware of the pitfalls of online activity, and how unscrupulous others can be towards you. That's why reputation management is so important – to ensure that you don't lose customers, leads, even friends – for non-business reasons. Yes, ORM does involve social media, but that’s not all. With this guide, you will learn the principles and tips about online reputation management. Now that you have your domain, it's time to build a personal hub on the web where you can display everything from your work history to your personal interests. Today, anybody can create their own personal website, without having any technical knowledge. This is an extremely powerful tool for practicing effective search engine reputation management. There are a lot of options out there but we usually recommend WordPress. It's easy to get set up, but also allows for a lot of customizing as you develop your personal identity online and get more comfortable (or if you're interested in tweaking your design, etc.). Before developing an online reputation management strategy, your primary task is detection. It’s impossible to tackle any issues without understanding whether they initially exist or not. Therefore, before attempting to take any further steps, you’d do well to perform a quick Google search on yourself or your company. This allows you to observe what other parties will find when determining your suitability. Your domain name is instrumental in your personal online reputation management. A well-chosen one provides a number of benefits, which includes hindering others from trying to benefit from your name by creating websites with your identity. As important as your domain name is, you should also take heed in creating a professional website with appropriate content, including any information advantageous to your image. If someone reports your company to a consumer watch group, a competitor follows you around leaving negative comments or an angered customer devotes hours to publicly hating you, then it’s pretty obvious you have an online reputation management problem. Is that negatively impacting the search results though? If you find a number of, or even one, negative search result, you need to fix it. Keeping your brand name and online reputation completely spotless can be challenging if your business has had a checkered past. Fortunately, as we have shown, there are many ways to manage and monitor your brand online. In the case where you do happen to come across something that is less than favorable for your company, immediate action needs to be taken so your company and brand do not suffer from the wrong kind of publicity. Before action can be taken and you get worried, it is important that you understand what can and cannot be done. The best thing you can do to protect, manage and monitor your brand and online reputation is to post a lot of really good, interesting, useful content. This content should be / could be about pretty much anything that has to do with your business, clients, products, solutions, challenges, etc. There are literally thousands of things you can write about and post online. In addition, content does not just need to be text. Content can and should be videos, photos, podcasts, e-books and newsletters as well. One of the most important rules when practicing business online is that you must be proactive — not reactive — in all of your dealings. Begin by staying on top of any negative remarks about your business or products on Google, blogs, forums and websites, and you’ll never be playing catch-up when it comes to your online reputation. 9. Actively participate and keep in touch with people in your online community. Post on blogs and forums in the same area, give positive feedback to others. If you interact with other people on their sites, these interactions will help in building your online reputation. 15) Focus is essential. "Monitoring your online reputation can be a huge, ongoing responsibility, and the bigger the brand, the bigger the job," says Chase Anderson, online operations director, Clicks and Clients. As a result, focus on monitoring "the biggest portals" such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. Monitor your online reputation by signing up for free Google Alerts. Note that you need a Google account, but you should have one already—if you don’t, get one immediately. Here you simply enter the word or phrase you want to monitor and when it shows up online, you’ll get an email notification. Usually, enter your name or your business name. If it’s a common name, you can include an attribute about your name, such as, “Jane Smith Finance”. You can also select how often you want alerts (select immediately) as well as other options. You’re right. We’ve heard the same worries from numerous hotel owners when they learned how critical monitoring their online reputation is too. The truth is, search results are constantly changing, and it feels impossible to keep up with everything being talked about your property online. As in your examples above and the recent debacle @ NBC, the first rule needs to be open communication within your corporate culture that allows people to vent frustrations openly without using media tools, i.e “don’t air you dirty laundry in public”; it’s bad manners. Secondly as the coffee example illustrated, don’t make excuses, understand that if it’s voiced, it’s an opportunity not a problem (first rule of sales). Lastly, just as in relationships, reputation is the sum total of all the things you are and whether mentions are on offline, online or in-person understand that some people have only one perspective or one opportunity to know who you are while others have many, drawn from multiple interactions, i.e. they are invested! One final point, decide who you are and focus on that. If you are a coffee shop and want to only sell coffee, then buy a food truck or cut your square footage down to a counter and if you don’t like people wanting more from you then get out of retail! It’s a people business. If you need lobbyists, government backing or investiture, remember that those organizations are made up of people who impressions come from many sources. Don’t expect them to work too hard to understand who you are and what you can do for them and expect passive exposure to count. Online reputations should reflect who you are, not define it. Many organization try to “tell” people who they are while the best stories allow people to identify the heroes and the protagonists on their own. Ellen Mar 28, 2013 at 6:55 am As in your examples above and the recent debacle @ NBC, the first rule needs to be open communication within your corporate culture that allows people to vent frustrations openly without using media tools, i.e “don’t air you dirty laundry in public”; it’s bad manners. Secondly as the coffee example illustrated, don’t make excuses, understand that if it’s voiced, it’s an opportunity not a problem (first rule of sales). Lastly, just as in relationships, reputation is the sum total of all the things you are and whether mentions are on offline, online or in-person understand that some people have only one perspective or one opportunity to know who you are while others have many, drawn from multiple interactions, i.e. they are invested! One final point, decide who you are and focus on that. If you are a coffee shop and want to only sell coffee, then buy a food truck or cut your square footage down to a counter and if you don’t like people wanting more from you then get out of retail! It’s a people business. If you need lobbyists, government backing or investiture, remember that those organizations are made up of people who impressions come from many sources. Don’t expect them to work too hard to understand who you are and what you can do for them and expect passive exposure to count. Online reputations should reflect who you are, not define it. Many organization try to “tell” people who they are while the best stories allow people to identify the heroes and the protagonists on their own. Google Alerts is a great example of a way to track how your name, company, activities etc. are being seen and commented on online. Occasional contributions on mainstream and niche websites are a good way to enhance positive reputation online. Assume everything lasts forever. If something has been published online, it’s potentially part of your permanent online reputation. Search results aren’t arranged chronologically, so old news items, outdated information, and stories from years ago can continue to rank if they’re seen as relevant by search engines. This can work for or against you. It is absolutely imperative to alter the way your name appears anywhere in the search engines. This also falls in the category of search engine optimization. While it is essential for any business to flaunt only the neutral or positive content online, there are ways in a small budget that can help the small businesses protect their online reputation. Better control the way how your business, and its products/services, is perceived now, when you have only commenced, before it’s too late to cover up. Simply preparing a solid identity online isn’t enough. In order to establish a long-lasting online reputation, you must remain on top of the aforementioned Google rankings. This calls for regular updates on your website, blog, social media, etc. When doing so, keep in mind that anything you post must be relevant to your target audience, since gratuitous posts can do as much harm as damaging content. Frequent, high-quality content will convey your expertise and dependability through both information and search result positions. I’ve been working in online marketing since 2000 and have helped thousands of companies improve their online presence and grow their business through better web / mobile design, development and online marketing.Learn more about me or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn. Vinny La BarberaI’ve been working in online marketing since 2000 and have helped thousands of companies improve their online presence and grow their business through better web / mobile design, development and online marketing.Learn more about me or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn. From there, work on building up your online assets. Think about it this way: your goal is to control the first page, which means controlling at least ten online assets. The trick is finding ten online assets that you can use to populate the first page. Multiple targets. In an SEO campaign, you typically aim to make a certain page rank as highly as possible, ideally in the very first position in the search results. In ORM, it’s not as important if Site X is in the first or the fifth position, but it is important to control what gets onto the first page. Therefore, ORM techniques are designed to create an ecosystem of materials, each telling related stories in different and complementary ways.Displacement versus promotion. The goal of SEO is usually to move a specific site or sites up. Amazon wants people to click on its website and not on a competitor’s site, so they work to make their website rank as highly as possible. The goal of ORM is usually to move a specific site or sites down—displacing misleading information or gossip with higher quality materials. It’s less important whether someone clicks on your business website or your LinkedIn profile as long as they don’t click on the rant posted by a disgruntled former employee.Lack of virality. Most SEO campaigns would be more than happy to have their sites go viral. In ORM, on the other hand, virality is not always beneficial. Even if good sites go viral, they will add to the competitiveness of the search results. More people will be digging around in the search results, changing the balance of which sites rank where. At the same time, any problems that arise will be much harder to deal with, because the search volumes will be higher.Keyword focus. SEO typically targets a group of related search terms or keywords, with the goal of attracting site visitors from as many different searches as possible. A travel agency might try to target “Hawaii vacations” and “budget resorts in Maui”, for example. In an ORM campaign on the other hand, we target very specific search terms that have a reputation impact. The goal is not to attract as many site visitors as possible, but to make sure people looking for something in particular see relevant information, regardless of which site they decide to visit. Increasingly, your digital reputation is superseding your “real” reputation when it comes to business opportunities. Thanks to the internet, you have access to people and resources that used to be off-limits to all save the privileged few. Now that Google has re-established its agreement with Twitter, allowing Tweets to appear in search results, social media can have an even bigger effect on your reputation. For example, if there are just a few negative comments about your company, that may be the first thing prospects see when they Google your company name, instead of the all the good news you wish to share. Increasingly, news media are also picking up on social media posts. It’s clear that your social media posts are not just for a chosen few; potentially everyone could see them, so what you say on these platforms matters to your company, your reputation and your profitability. However, if you are a modern entrepreneur, not using online marketing techniques to generate leads and grow your business is increasingly unfeasible. In the U.S. and around the world, people are networking and cutting deals on the Internet. Being left behind is not an option. 13) Connect with the media. "Developing relationships with journalists locally and in your field should be part of your overall marketing and reputation management plan," says Anthony Kirlew, co-founder, Imagine WOW! "You should also use trusted resources such as Help a Reporter Out, which can help you get positive media exposure." This is a great and comprehensive post, Sean. I love Google Alerts– and use it for myself and my business clients, so I am aware if something negative is lobbed at them by a competitor and can take measures to control the damage. I have also found a company that helps with reputation management (reputationmanagementagency.com) if the damage is more than you can deal with. Hi Rudy, sorry to hear you company has been attacked. I understand you want to get rid of those “stains” as soon as possible. Honestly, I think there is no point in hiring a reputation management company if they don’t guarantee results! Dan Mar 28, 2013 at 2:23 am Hi Rudy, sorry to hear you company has been attacked. I understand you want to get rid of those “stains” as soon as possible. Honestly, I think there is no point in hiring a reputation management company if they don’t guarantee results! If you want to know more about how we can help you, I just added you on Facebook and emailed you. Reico Apr 12, 2013 at 9:54 am Great article. Reputation management has to be a part of regular brand maintenance instead of a reaction to attack. Being proactive not only strengthens your brand, it also creates a history of responsible and credible content that can create a cushion should your brand take a hard fall. Bad comments should be looked at as opportunities to add value to your customers experience and work out any kinks that may have been invisible before. Aloha. Alex Pavlov May 03, 2014 at 3:05 pm The most important part of reputation management is being proactive. Always taking an opportunity to get a good review from your happy customers. So by the time you get a bad review (an it is just a matter of time), you will have twenty or may be even hundreds (depending on your business volume) good reviews to vouch for your company. We recently completed an interesting reputation management project and I thought it'd be helpful to post our strategy and results to the SEOmoz community. My hope is that you'll read this and get some ideas, or even better, you'll point out some areas that we overlooked or things we can do to improve our approach. As we mentioned in Part 2, social media profiles are excellent results that you can push to the top of search engines. The "big four" of social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. These sites rank high in search results, so if you haven't done so already, make sure to create profiles for these sites. The following tips will help you ensure they are as SEO friendly as possible and the most effective for your search engine reputation management strategy: Once you start monitoring your online reputation and you discover there are negative comments being made, how should you respond? If someone is genuinely upset, contact them and try to resolve the issue. Don’t get defensive, just apologize and give them something comparable to the situation whether it’s a promise that they’ll be treated differently in the future, a refund or free products/services. If the user appears to be a troll, a response may not be the best solution, learn how to respond to negative reviews and print out the Air Force Blog Assessment to help you assess users. Great article. I would like to add one more item to your list if I may: stimulating positive user reviews. Most review sites encourage business owners asking their customers to drop a review on Google Places, Yelp, Tripadvisor etc.As long as you don’t force anyone to do so a business proprietor might end up with a steady stream of legitimate positive client feedback, greatly boosting their online reputation.While you’re at it, why not respond to these positive reviews? At the core of any successful large company is a strong desire to be on the forefront of its industry. Apple, for example, has built an excellent online reputation by perfecting new products and then surrounding them with irresistible hype. Customer service should always come before your own profits, especially if you want a positive online reputation. The Walt Disney Company, for instance, has always put its customers before profits. If your product or service elicits good feelings from your customers, you’ll be well on your way to more sales and a positive online reputation. Even if your business has to do with traditionally unappealing activities (sorry, dentists), implementing ways to lighten the experience will put you in high demand. However, this is not the only advantage that you can obtain through the SEO process. You can manage your online reputation, a very important thing nowadays, considering the great development of social networks and the amount of information you can learn about a person only by searching their brand name on Google. Does Google know everything? Sort of, but we already know that. 4. If you can not completely eliminate the negative things, the only solution is to create as much positive content and thus, the negative results will be pushed lower and lower in ranking and top positions will be occupied with positive content that you create about yourself. Social networks play an important role in this whole process of “changing your online reputation”. Facebook and Twitter matter to SEO, so your activity on these two networks is important. 14) You should claim all of your online directory and review site listings right away, according to Josh Rubin, owner, Creative California. If someone else, such as a disgruntled employee, claims or has access to those accounts, "it could cause major (reputation) issues down the road." Yelp is a very popular review site, and having a presence there is a way to boost your online reputation. Create some legitimate reviews for places you genuinely like, and avoid the temptation to write a glowing review for yourself posing as someone else—it’s illegal and if you get caught, this could damage things further. In this comprehensive training, you will receive step-by-step videos, PDF reports, plus worksheets to help you get started on the right foot. Before you know it, your online reputation will be clean of negative remarks, giving the travellers looking for a hotel in your area a raving review of what you have to offer. Great post as usual. While it is unfortunate that most companies who are lambasted by negative social comments don’t do much about it, there are those companies who legitimately do try to respond but lack the resources or knowledge in doing so. Some of them that I know, had to cut down on their resources – social listening included – due to internal company issues/woes. This post should/could definitely help those types of companies out in dealing with negative online reputation. David May 10, 2013 at 10:30 am Great post as usual. While it is unfortunate that most companies who are lambasted by negative social comments don’t do much about it, there are those companies who legitimately do try to respond but lack the resources or knowledge in doing so. Some of them that I know, had to cut down on their resources – social listening included – due to internal company issues/woes. This post should/could definitely help those types of companies out in dealing with negative online reputation. I love how Ellen talked about the nature of sales and retail in her coffee example retort. I agree that in this information/hi-tech age, it is better to cater to the customers who DO WANT to engage with your business and bring their technology along with it. Not supplying the needs of your customers who are interested in becoming repeat business/customers is turning away revenue that is willingly being given to that business. When my grandfather couldn’t get his Internet issue resolved with the cable company, I took to social media to get the matter escalated, knowing the company cared about its online reputation and maintained an account dedicated to solving customers’ problems. After just one Tweet, my grandfather’s issue was resolved. Search results are algorithmically generated. Your online reputation is determined by complex calculations run automatically by computers. After all, nobody has time to take in all the information that’s out there, so search engines and social media sites make educated guesses about what people will find interesting. Get your story out there. You can only promote the materials that are out there. That means you need a solid base of positive, accurate content to improve your online reputation. You can do this yourself to some extent—starting a blog, posting YouTube videos, etcetera—but you may need a publication team in order to affect competitive search results. Use social media. Not on Twitter? Sign up, using your full name as your handle (e.g. @johndoe). Are you active on LinkedIn? Make sure your resume is up to date. Social media sites often rank well in your search results, and you control the content they display, so they can make a big difference to your online reputation. Once you know where you stand, it's time to be proactive and start improving your online reputation. Your goal is to fill your first page with as many positive results as possible. Depending on your web presence, you can figure out how much work lays ahead and plan accordingly. We'll cover how to tackle each situation in the next few sections of the guide. You spend a lot of time building your reputation—you work hard, treat others well, follow through on duties and show up on time. Now it's time to apply that same discipline to your online presence. The rest of this series will cover everything from the basics to advanced tactics for controlling your search results. Your next move is to admit to mistakes and do your best to fix them. In many cases, people like to give second chances; this means you can redeem yourself. Be frank about the mistake, even if you don’t go into detail. Apologize, and describe the steps you are taking to fix it. Digging in and denying the problem won’t help–it will only make things worse. You can overcome a poor online reputation, but you need to start by projecting openness and regret to win back trust. Your online reputation defines who you are at first glance, and therefore, your websites must secure strong positions in Google rankings. By doing so, you convey a sense of importance to anyone searching for you, or simply for a company within your industry. This allows you to thwart your competitors’ efforts by overtaking their positions in the search results, and thus, shining the spotlight on yourself. In order to fully secure your personal online reputation, you must ensure that you have absolute control. You can do so by reg ...