How To Protect Your Business Reputation Online

Why is your online reputation important? Every company should put effort into their reputation management. Here are five best practices to monitor your business reputation online to attract customers and new revenues...

Guest post by Tania Artemova

5 Steps To Successfully Monitor Your Business Reputation Online

In the modern digitalized world the success of each business is highly dependent on its reputation. Just one negative story can impact your sales. People trust people and that is why reading reviews about a business is the number one thing we do before making any purchase.

That is the reason why entrepreneurs should care about every feedback they get from each customer. It is a proven fact that customers who had a negative experience with your business are more likely to leave a review than those with a positive one.

So, below are five tips on how to protect your business reputation online.

Work With Negativity

True, nobody likes negative comments under their posts. In many cases, businesses just delete the comments left by clients on their social media. And that is the number one mistake (haters’ spam is an exception).

Always respond to everyone who had a poor experience with your service. You can do it either in comments or in private messages. If you really messed-up you might offer a bonus or give a discount to that person to incentivize giving your company another chance. Your main goal is to reduce the negativity and show how much you care.

This strategy will help you to not only prevent negative reviews but build loyalty.

Set Google Alerts To Best Track Your Business Reputation Online

If you want to protect your reputation online set alerts in Google. It is a great free tool that can save you time from searching the web. Once alerts are set, you will get notifications every time your brand name is mentioned online.

To do this just take the following steps:

• Go to google.com/alerts
• Create an alert or a list of alerts simply typing in the words or phrases you want to be notified about
• Set the terms for notifications - There is an option to set frequency 
• Receive regular notification messages about your brand to your email Inbox

Actively Promote Your Message And Mission

Be more active online and spread your positive mission. Even if you once faced negativity, your core values and positive message promotion will help you to change the situation for the better.

For example, if you are a writer and make money blogging, create more useful content related to the problems raised by your clients.

Also, an active position and communicating with people on your social media can counter some negativity by showing your willingness to engage.

Do Not Be Spammy

It is quite easy to recognize spam, and most everyone is tired of spam emails and social media bots. Instead, be personal talking to people.

Working with reputation, try to treat each potential customer as if the future of your business depends on this communication. Ask about any concerns, explain the details of why circumstances occur, and offer something in return for any unpleasant situations that arise. 

People connect to authentic interaction.

Finally...

Remember that it is always easier and cheaper to keep existing customers than find new ones. Don’t ignore negativity, and learn how to work with customers in negative situations. At the same time, strive for positive interactions and glowing testimonials. Feature them!

Success is in the details. Caring about each client even if you have thousands of them means caring about your brand. Surely, we all are people and can make mistakes. But if we don’t solve issues in a timely manner, the consequences can ruin everything we’ve created.

Make honest effort to following what people say about your brand online. Your reputation has a direct influence on the future of your business, your sales and business growth.

About The Author

Tania Artemova is an entrepreneur, blogger, and business coach. She is a founder of IStartHub, an online magazine for entrepreneurs. Follow her on Twitter.