Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Protect Your Brand Image with Online Reputation Management

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it,” so goes a saying. This is especially true in an environment like the Web, where anybody can instantly and anonymously post malicious comments against a company or an individual and not be made accountable for such. How many times have we seen important figures – politicians, celebrities, company big wigs – damaged for years with information found online?

It takes no genius to figure out the answer to the question, “Why online reputation management important?” As the number of web users grow by the day, so does the risk of a brand’s reputation being crushed to bits. In one study, it was found out that 74 percent of potential customers choose brands according to experiences shared by previous clients online.

The unfortunate truth is that with how digitally connected the world has gotten, many scheming individuals take this as an opportunity to destroy their competitors. Destructive comments, if well-optimized for SEO and rankings, can easily attain top spot on search results, making it incredibly easy to spread misinformation and complaints. 

                       Image From: http://synergemasearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/reputation-management.png

Social media is an excellent way to promote your business, but it can easily turn into your worst enemy if not properly managed. To protect their reputation from negative comments, posts and other defamatory material, many companies are now taking advantage of online reputation management strategies.

Online reputation management acts as defensive barrier against malicious comments made towards your brand. A reputation management team can control online information about your company so that only positive data are made visible to customers and prospects, as well as encourage wonderful reviews from your loyal customers.

Aside from allowing you to present your best foot forward online, reputation management also provides the following benefits:

•    Improved online visibility

Appearing on the first page of search engine results boosts your brand’s online visibility. Research have shown that users looking for information or businesses often limit their choices on the first page, so being placed among the top five or ten opens vast opportunities for new businesses.

Through excellent content writing, appropriate keywording and other SEO techniques, you’re likely to increase your search engine ranking as well as your chances of acquiring new customers.

In terms of social media, a reputation management team can successfully create and manage an effective social media campaign for you to widen your customer base.

•    Establishing customer trust

Because online reputation allows you to build an image that you deem best for your business, you are able to create a positive image that can make you trustworthy and consistent. Once you’ve established trust, reputation management professionals can work on making your presence and strategies more consistent over the Internet.

Various SEO strategies are available out there to help you manage your online reputation. These include creating multiple websites, press releases, producing videos for YouTube submission, blogging, maintaining social media accounts, and more. With a dynamic online reputation management team, it would be much easier for you to maintain these strategies to ensure a solid and clean reputation for your business.