How to Manage Online Reputation of your Business

Reputation plays a very big role in the success and growth of any business. The perception of people about your brand is very important to consider for making your business a success. It is also about the image of your products or services in the mind of potential and existing customers. The process of controlling and managing your online conversation is called online reputation management.

With the rise of internet and digital media, online reputation is now more important than your offline branding activities. All you need for managing your online footprint is to build an online presence through website, mobile app and social media platforms. Your website or mobile app is like a central hub of information about your business. There are so many strategies that can help to manage online reputation of your business. Some of the most effective ORM strategies are listed below:

Reviews & Ratings

The first step from where you can start on is by adding some ratings and reviews on your various online platforms. Search your brand name or related keywords on Google to analyze the current situation. Don’t forget to claim and verify your listing on Google My Business. A verified Google listing will give you an opportunity to appear across Google search, maps and other applications.

There are mainly two types of reviews and ratings that are classified on the basis of customers and employees. Glassdoor and MouthShut are the ideal platforms for getting the reviews of your employees and customers respectively.

It is not so easy to acquire the ratings from customers. You can send the request to your satisfied customers through an email, SMS, or via call while asking for feedback. Testimonial of our consumers in the form of video is even better option. Also remember to reply positively on the review with a nice complement or thank you message. It will leave a positive impression on the people using your services. If any unsatisfied person has given a negative review, try to handle his grievance smartly and then ask him to replace it with a positive one.

Search Engine Optimization

It is the process of optimizing a website so that it performs well in organic search of Google, Bing and other search engines. Most of us live in a search-happy world. Your potential clients, investors and employees may already be googling your business before they decide to work with you. So, it’s a good chance to create a positive impact on them if some keywords of your website are coming at the top of Google.

An active website with all the relevant information and coming at the topmost position of search engine makes you credible among your visitors. Moreover, it is also a terrific way to increase your queries, acquire leads and to boost overall sales of your business. Appearing on page 1 of Google is much more important than your business card.

Social Media

More than 60% population of the world uses any of the social media platforms available on internet. It is the online medium where people use to interact, engage and share their thoughts online. Your company has a fair chance to create personal relationship with customers and earn their advocacy. Customer advocacy is the nirvana of social media and online reputation of your business. It is through advocacy that your efforts start to truly scale and grow.

If you still don’t have a company page on social networking platforms, then create it as soon as possible. And if you already have a page, then refine your timeline and feeds by removing any controversial posts. Try to fill out all the necessary details mentioned on your account and company page of various social profiles. Ask your friends and followers to leave a review or rating on these platforms.

Always remember that your blog, social media pages, and other informational webpages should be optimally rank for your brand names. Every day over 1 billion names are searched on Google and 70% of job recruiters are searching their potential employees online. This is the best way to control your digital narrative and highlight all the impressive stuff. Build your profile not only on LinkedIn and Facebook, but also on some lesser known platforms like Crunchbase and SlideShare.

Online Events

Organizing an event is also a better option to manage online reputation of your business. There are so many companies that organize the various fests and exhibitions to promote their brand. Some companies also sponsor the various types of fest and events organized in colleges and universities. Similarly, you can also organize or sponsor the online events like webinar, conference and survey. A token of acknowledgement can also be given to a deserving student while sponsoring his idea or project.

If you are in education industry, then these online events will be very useful in your business growth. It will enhance your brand awareness and give a major contribution in your long term branding. By using this strategy, you can directly address your potential customers and provide them with all the necessary information about your business. You can also persuade them to follow and like your social media profiles on various channels.

Influencer Marketing

All the efforts that you’re going to foster will contribute to create a positive influence about your business. In addition to this, you can also approach the influencer of your industry to give a positive review about your brand. You have already seen this technique in the form of online advertisement.

If any reliable influencer gives a positive review about your brand, then it will increase a credibility of your business among your existing and potential customers. It can include an informative article related to your services on famous blogs like Forbes and Medium. Review of your products by a You-tuber having wide range of audience is also very fruitful. For example, Technical Guruji is very famous for giving a review based on technologies and electronic products. You can also consider to apply for relevant industry awards.

Personal Branding

Your online reputation as an individual is also equally important. This is primarily for businesses that are tied closely to the identities of their founders. If you have an amazing informative profile on LinkedIn & Facebook, it can directly have a positive impact on your profession. You will get more business opportunities if you have a very wide network with large amount of followers.

I have already written an article on some proven methods for personal branding in which the importance of thought leadership and storytelling is mentioned. Your personal identity is the unique combination of your skills, accomplishments and experiences. In order to have a stunning individual online reputation, you should also consider a strong combination of personal websites and professional profiles like Quora, tumblr, about.me and other resources mentioned throughout this article.

You can’t feel yourself done by just focusing only on a single platform. Your audience is already present on number of online platforms. Therefore a relevant footprint on the web properties mentioned here is extremely important to manage online reputation of your brand.

All these steps can also contribute to magnify the brand value of your business. If a business doesn’t focus now in developing their online presence and reputation proactively, they will probably pay more costs later in terms of lost revenues. Perceive your online reputation as a type of business insurance.

Even the best business in this world can have occasional issues rise with their customers. So, it’s better to remain prepared for handling the online criticism of your company.