Reputation management is the process of taking control of your online presence and participating in discussions about your brand names and products. Instead of letting people passively share negative reviews and unfair social media comments, your brand has the opportunity to improve the situation with customer service and support.
There are many Online Reputation Management (ORM) strategies you can use for your brand. Here are three key tactics and explanations of why they work.
1. SEO Reputation Management
When it comes to SEO reputation management, an SEO agency takes into account how your brand ranks in the Google SERPs (search engine results pages). When searching for your brand, does your homepage come up first? What about an interview with Forbes about how you’re building your brand? These are positive stories that will make your company name stand out and increase your trustworthiness and brand reputation.
However, there are times when search results are not as flattering. There could be one negative article that ranks high for your brand name. Your competitors may also be trying to rank for your terms.
The agency you hire develops a content marketing strategy to improve the ranking for your brand and the associated search queries in your industry. This process includes creating blog posts with targeted anchor text, as well as building links on high authority websites. While these agencies cannot promise that any single piece of content will rank first on Google, they will ensure that most of the results translate directly into relevant and accurate information for your brand.
2. Reputation management for online reviews
Your online reputation goes beyond search engine results. There are many places outside of Google where people can leave negative ratings and comments about your brand. For example, Yelp is a major traffic driver for businesses. Potential customers read the reviews before deciding whether or not to visit a company. A few bad reviews can lower your overall star rating and encourage new customers to stay away. Many local businesses have lost their earning potential due to negative reviews.
ORM tries to address this negative content. The teams search the web for online reviews and respond to both negative and positive reviews. Responding to negative reviews gives companies a chance to fix issues that some customers have encountered and to fix issues they are having. This is important in order to maintain retention rates so that employees will come back to your company. Responding to positive reviews from happy customers creates goodwill and shows that your brand is actively involved in social listening.
3. Social Media Reputation Management
Another source of online reputation management opportunities is social media. If your customers have a bad experience with your small business, they will post it on their social profiles.
This can affect businesses on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn. Through Social ORM, teams identify social media accounts that post about your brand and engage with those fans or customers. This ORM is usually done through a social media agency or a comprehensive digital marketing company.
The fact is, customers are talking about your brand online, whether they’re writing Google reviews or sharing their experience on social media. ORM enables brands to listen to what is said and act on the news. It also gives a voice to a small business to share their side of the story.
Reputation management is a long-term process. Rather than expecting all of the negative content to be removed from the web overnight, focus on positively marketing your small business and identifying the best ways to fix your customers’ problems. This is a great way to influence your online narration for proactive ORM.
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