Why Online Reputation Management is Important

What makes online reputation management important in the business world? How can you build a strong online presence and brand image with online reputation management? In this guide, we take a look at the importance of online reputation management for businesses, why your reputation matters online, and how to manage your internet reputation.

Let’s face it: today’s business environment is highly competitive. Most business owners seek ways of standing out from their industry competition, especially online. Internet users can easily find your company’s information through a simple Google Search, and many of these results might be out of your control even if you have your business registered with with Google My Business.

How can you create a powerful brand image, build trust between your company and your customers, and earn positive reviews from satisfied clients?

The answer to each of those questions is online reputation management. As an extension of your digital marketing strategy, reputation management has the power to shape the online narrative, building a robust digital presence that helps drive business growth. A brand’s online reputation is a reflection of how reliable the brand is and it will directly affect the decisions of consumers. The importance of reputation management is as clear as it has ever been.

Let’s take a look at the importance of online reputation management to learn how it can benefit you and your business online.

Your Digital Reputation: Does it Really Matter?

 

Ever wondered, ”how do I then track my brand online reputation?” It’s simple. For consumers, most purchasing journeys begin with a search online. Search engines like Google or Bing are used to learn about businesses, products, and services before customers set foot in your establishment.

Do a quick Google search of your brand and see what appears on the first page of the search results. 

What those consumers find in online search results can have a dramatic impact on whether or not they choose to do business with you.

Does your company’s online reputation really matter? The simple answer is YES. A positive brand image is one of the most valuable assets a company can have. Your online reputation creates brand awareness. It also builds or reinforces trust between you and your customers. Finally, it helps you stand out from your competitors — a robust brand online tends to bring customers right to your door.

Think of online reputation management as an extension of your digital marketing practices. With ORM, you’re marketing more than your company — you’re building a solid foundation on which to build trust and value within your customer base. Protecting your reputation is an essential part of the modern business world. 

Online Reputation Management Advantages

In the previous section, we learned that a business’s online reputation is a valuable asset. Companies that use online reputation management to enhance their digital presence stand out in crowded marketplaces.

Still not sure of the value? Consider these benefits of online reputation management (ORM):

• Reputation management improves search engine rankings. If customers find you first in search results, they are more likely to make purchasing decisions with your company.
• A good reputation has been shown to improve revenue streams. Your business inevitably leaves digital trails – and hopefully, these trails reflect positively on your company. Companies with four and five-star ratings tend to earn as much as 22% more than companies with bad reviews or poor ratings. Simply put, ORM boosts sales.
• Reputation management improves brand visibility. Positive reviews and customer satisfaction on social media help expose your company to a wider audience, helping to draw in even more customers.
• Reputation management increases trust and authority in your industry. Trust is a powerful influence in driving business growth. By establishing a favorable online reputation, you gain credibility, fostering consumer confidence in your company and its products or services.
• Online reputation management provides valuable insights into your business; customer feedback based on your brand reputation is only one of many performance metrics you can analyze to improve your service delivery.

Online Reputation Management Importance

A good online presence is your pathway to success. With the benefits of online reputation management above, you can see that a great online reputation is an essential part of your digital footprint. Whether you devote resources to the work of digital marketers or engage in ORM services from online reputation management companies, these services can help you shape the continued success of your business operation.

Factors that Can Put Your Online Reputation at Risk

The information in Google search results about you or your company strongly influences your online reputation. Positive reviews and glowing comments by satisfied customers are the foundations on which a strong reputation is built.

What about negative reviews or other unflattering information? How do these put your positive reputation at risk?

In today’s highly connected digital world, people are talking about you. Social media users share their experiences with others, news media outlets post information about your company, and user-generated content can be found about nearly every business that has an online presence.

Some of the factors that can put your reputation at risk include:

• Comments and ratings on social media platforms. Negative social media mentions that reach your target audiences can erode customer trust.
• Negative reviews on Google or on third-party review sites like TrustPilot, or YellowPages.
• Complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
• Negative information or unflattering coverage in news articles.

Each of these pieces of information can harm your online reputation; potential customers finding these negative reviews and unflattering mentions may turn to your competitors, impacting your bottom line.

As a business owner, can you afford to miss out on potential clients? If not, online reputation management is absolutely critical in protecting what you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

How do Online Reviews Influence Your Digital Reputation?

When customers are taking that initial step to learn about your business, online reviews are essential in forming a good — or bad — first impression.

There are many online reputation management strategies that you can adopt. For instance, online reviews are one of the most important aspects for you to manage. 

Online reviews have gained in popularity over the past decade. Today, companies reap the benefits of positive online reviews — or they may suffer the consequences of negative reviews. For your brand reputation, the quality and quantity of reviews are integral parts of your online business.

Let’s take a closer look at the online review environment by contrasting how these reviews influence consumer purchasing decisions:

Positive Reviews

Customers want a bit of reassurance before taking that first purchasing step.

Here are some interesting digital reputation facts: approximately 93% of people say that online reviews impact their purchase decisions, and positive reviews make over 70% of consumers trust a business more.

Positive reviews offer that reassurance. Consider that over 90% of consumers trust online reviews as much or more than personal recommendations and you can see why favorable reviews are essential. Also:

• 92% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after reading positive reviews.
• Positive reviews help you stand out in search results. With more positive reviews, you can achieve that coveted first page ranking on search engines like Google.
• Good reviews generate business leads. Every potential client that reads favorable reviews of your business comes away with a positive image of your business and what it stands for.

Positive reviews are a powerful digital marketing force. With every positive review, you are gaining a competitive advantage that can propel you to new heights of success!

Negative Reviews

Negative reviews can be a dealbreaker when it comes to getting customers to make purchases with you. People tend to make purchasing decisions based on the quality of your reviews. In fact, bad reviews are perhaps the most important deciding factor for your business. Consider:

• Businesses risk losses of as many as 22% of customers when just one negative review is posted to Google.
• If three or more negative reviews appear, the potential for lost customers jumps to more than half, or just over 59%.
• Only 13% of consumers would consider using a business with a one or two-star rating.
• 94% of consumers say that poor reviews have convinced them to avoid a business altogether.

Naturally, the next question is: how can I then monitor my brand online reputation and implement effective online reputation management? In the following section, let’s take a look at how you can maintain a positive brand image, and fix bad online reputation.

Building and Preserving Your Brand Reputation

Digital marketers know that brand identity is everything in the digital environment. Shaping public perceptions about a company and its products can drive business growth. These public perceptions form the core of your internet reputation.

How does online reputation management (ORM) work? What does an online reputation management strategy look like?

Online reputation management agencies may use a variety of digital marketing and reputation management tools to shape your digital reputation as part of their online reputation management service strategy. Additionally, there are also white-label reputation management companies that resell online reputation management tools and services to other agencies. These tools may include:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing and development
• Review management
• Reputation monitoring
• Social media marketing management
• Branding
• Performance PR/Public Relations
• Crisis management
• Content removal

The best online reputation management services incorporate a wide range of these tools to help secure first-page listings on Google search results, build brand awareness, and protect your online reputation from emerging risks.

The benefits of online reputation are many — with a solid online reputation management strategy in your toolkit, you are ready to stand out in your industry.

The Online Reputation Management Process: How Internet Reputation Management Works

As an extension of your digital marketing investments, online reputation management can have a profound impact on your bottom line, fixing bad online reputation, shaping the public perception of you and your brand in the digital environment.

In the section above, we shared some of the tools that online reputation management services use to build and protect your brand. The leading ORM service providers use a proven process to create strong, positive reputations for their clients. The process for corporate online reputation management generally has a common process.

Reputation Analysis

Every online reputation management strategy begins with a detailed look at a company’s existing reputation. Online reputation management software scours the web for any mention of a person or company. This data is then used to formulate an action plan.

Web Property Development

Next, ORM professionals get to work building out your digital footprint. Web property development is the first part of this footprint. An online reputation management company can help you to expand awareness of your company and brand. Web properties may include a simple business listing as well as profiles on social media accounts, blogs, professional websites, and image sharing profiles.

Content Creation

Next, websites and social media profiles are populated with web content. Content creation is the essence of online reputation management, allowing you to control the narrative online. When ORM professionals create positive content, you can share your story, illustrate what you stand for, and provide the details customers need to make informed purchasing decisions.

Content Promotion

ORM services professionals use many of the same tools as the digital marketing field in getting the word out about your brand. Online content promotion uses owned promotion such as email lists and SEO, earned promotion like social media, and paid promotion strategies like guest posts, paid discovery tools, and sponsored content.

Reputation Monitoring

Your online reputation is always at risk of damage. From a digital marketing perspective, it pays to be proactive in protecting the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build. Reputation monitoring allows you to identify emerging threats — factors like bad online reviews, negative news articles, and more — before they can damage your brands online.

Online reputation management software is used to monitor customer feedback, online reviews, and consumer sentiments in Google search results to pinpoint what people are saying about you and your company. Armed with this information, you can take the steps needed to protect, preserve, and repair your reputation as needed.

Choosing Online Reputation Management Services

Reputation management is an essential digital marketing tool in today’s competitive marketplaces. Unfortunately, many smaller businesses do not have the resources or the experience needed to get the most from ORM. Finding online reputation management strategy pdf on the internet yields few helpful resources. Here’s where a professional ORM service provider can help. After analyzing your digital trails, online reputation management services will be able to tailor solutions according to your unique business needs.

Unfortunately, not all services are equal and you might not know which are the best reputation management services to engage. Coupled with online removal, reputation management can consist of numerous services and strategies. How can you choose a quality reputation management company to assist you with creating and maintaining your brand reputation? Here are some tips:

• Check the reviews of the online reputation management agency. For instance, you might want to see reputation com reviews before engaging in their service. Every positive review suggests that the service provider has produced the desired results for their clients.
• Additionally, you can also request for an online reputation case study that might be similar to your business needs, as a gauge of what kind of service you might need to engage.
• Negative comments can indicate problems with the company. Like any online business, reviews are critical in helping you determine whether or not to do business with a given company.
• Explore the service provider’s first page for details about the services and packages they offer to clients. If they don’t have what you’re looking for — or offer bold promises that are hard to deliver — choose another company. It would also be an added bonus if these service providers have case studies on companies in the same industry. For example, if your business focuses on advertising and marketing, you might want to see if the provider has managed online reputation for marketing firms.
• Speak to representatives from your shortlisted list of reputation management companies to get a feel for the company’s ability to help you improve your online image. The best ORM services build personal relationships with their clients, allowing them to understand your needs perfectly.

Learn More by Contacting OnlineReputation

Contact OnlineReputation at 844-230-3803 for more information about online reputation management services and how it can create exciting business opportunities for you and your brand.