5 Reputation Management Experts Discuss Monitoring Online Mentions

Online mentions — how important are they, and how can you track them? 5 reputation management experts weigh in with their insights in our guide below.

When it comes to protecting your online reputation and monitoring where you rank in the search results, you don’t have to go it alone. Top reputation agencies and experts rely on a wide range of tools to manage hundreds (if not thousands) of campaigns for all of their clients. Some of these tools monitor search rankings, others scour social media for name mentions, and some also help with outreach and getting media coverage.

No matter what tools or solutions you are using to monitor personal name and brand mentions, it’s important to always stay ahead of the curve and see what’s out there.

As part of our reputation management expert series, we continually ask what the top tools, services and methods are working best for ORMs today.

Recommended Tools and Services from Top ORM Experts

When asked, “As an individual or brand, what is the best way to find out what people are saying about a specific name/brand online?” our featured experts had the following to say.

Mike Salvaggio says:

Thanks to the expansion of social media, businesses, brands, and individuals now have more access than ever. Having a social media presence on multiple platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.) as well as taking ownership of listings on review sites is a great tool for measuring and accessing your overall brand perception. It also gives businesses the opportunity to reach out and show new and existing customers all the things they can do.

Andy Beal says:

As the CEO of Trackur, I would not be a good brand ambassador if I didn’t recommend our own social media monitoring software. A blatant plug aside, most folks should start with Google Alerts and get an idea of how their reputation is being discussed. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a better idea of the type of features and reporting you need from something more sophisticated.

Gini Dietrich says:

If you’re just starting out, I always recommend Talkwalker alerts (I like them better than Google alerts; they’re more accurate and timely). Anytime your name, your organization’s name, your competitors, the industry, or anything else you deem important is mentioned online, you’ll receive an alert. This way you can monitor what is being said and respond in real time.

Chris Martin says:

You can really just take your pick. There are so many solutions for Reputation Monitoring out there these days. You can use Google alerts or something more robust. Andy Beal has a good one with Trackur. In Repumatic we offer free reputation monitoring. We break it up into three categories with a defamation monitor, social, and review monitoring.

Todd William says:

There are great tools available to monitor mentions online. From Radian6 and Cision for larger companies to Google Alerts and other affordable monitoring tools for the rest of us.

ORM Experts Summary

Knowing what people find when they search for your name online is extremely important. Just as important as what you find is how you find it. The easiest way to see what appears at the top of the search results for your name or brand is to search for yourself and see what comes up. While this may prove effective in the moment, how will you track changes over time or monitor hundreds of other keywords and phrases your name might be ranking for?

The good news for any individuals or brands looking to improve or monitor how they look online and don’t have a big budget is that there are plenty of free and low-cost tools to help with the process. Google Alerts is one of the most heavily recommended tools, while a premium tool like Trackur allows for more robust and detailed reports beyond just what’s currently ranking in Google.

For anyone that currently has a big PR mess on their hands, it’s probably in their best interest to approach a reputable reputation management company. While this will likely cost a decent amount of money, it will also save you a lot of time and frustration — which ultimately might not help your online situation either.

The first step in protecting and managing your online reputation is to be aware of what’s currently out there. Use the tips, tools, and methods outlined in this article to get a better idea of how you and your brand look online.