Dead Simple Ways To Protect Your Business Online Reputation in 2017

Dead Simple Ways To Protect Your Business Online Reputation in 2017

How long would a business with a bad reputation last in your town?

Not long, and it's no different online.

Maintaining a good reputation in the digital world is essential to the success of your business.

In fact, 86% of people will hesitate to purchase from a business that has negative online reviews.

A bad online reputation will lose you sales - it's as simple as that.

Luckily, online reputation management isn't complicated.

Follow the tips below and you'll be well on your way to building a great reputation for your business online.

Let's do this.

Google your business before starting online reputation management

Getting to know what's already out there is essential when managing your online reputation.

Even if you haven't posted anything about your business online yet, doesn't mean nobody else has.

You should look out for:

• Reviews - positive or negative
• Entries in directories or databases
• Blogs posts that mention your business
• News stories that mention your business

If you're lucky, you won't find anything negative.

But if you do, there are plenty of ways to remedy the situation.

These include:

• Asking websites or blogs to remove negative info
• Addressing bad reviews
• Creating your own positive content and optimizing it to show up in the first few pages of search results.

You can't start to improve your reputation without seeing what's already out there, so don't let fear hold you back.

Register domain names

You might already have registered a domain name for your business.

If so, that's great.

However, it's also important to register similar domains, to prevent these being purchased and used to imitate your company.

Having fake versions of your business operating online can be a huge reputation killer.

You should consider purchasing:

• Domains with different endings - e.g. .com and as well as .co.uk.
• Domains with common misspellings of your business name - Google also owns googl.com, and you can do something similar.
• Your own name as a domain

There are often discounts available when purchasing domain names in bulk, so plan before you buy.

Secure your business name on social media

Imagine if someone joined Twitter under your business name and started posting offensive messages.

It would be a reputation nightmare.

That's why it's so important to secure your business name as a username on as many social media platforms as you can - even if you don't plan to use them.

Unused social media accounts should link back to your website or to social networks you're actually active on.

You don't want customers to be left wondering how to get in touch with you.

Social media is a huge part of online reputation management, particularly as it continues to grow in popularity.

Don't make it easy for others to impersonate your business online.

Write high-quality blog posts

Writing blog posts is an excellent way to boost your reputation and show off your expertise.

Writing posts for your own site will help drive traffic and gives you relevant content to share on social media.

This helps you build a reputation as an expert in your industry.

It's also beneficial to write for other sites, also known as 'guest posting'.

Getting your business associated with sites that people already know and trust is worth a lot and can do wonders for your online reputation management.

It's also a great way to generate backlinks to your site, which will help it to rank higher in search engines.

Not sure how to write blog posts?

Try the following ideas for inspiration:

• Educational posts - these should solve a problem the reader is experiencing.
• Entertaining posts - these should offer light relief or humor and be fun to read.
• Informative posts - these could be lists of useful tools or techniques.
• News posts - give your spin on current events, or provide readers with the latest news about your business.

Make sure all posts are relevant to your business and help to build the kind of reputation you want.

The wrong blog post can seriously hurt your reputation online, so plan your content carefully.

Encourage good reviews online

It's been shown that restaurants with good reviews online are more likely to be fully booked at peak times.

And the concept is the same, no matter what kind of business you're running.

Positive reviews reassure potential customers, while negative reviews put them off.

If you've spotted some negative reviews online, here what to do:

Respond online

Acknowledge the problems highlighted in the review, and explain how you've solved them.

Get in touch offline

Talking to a customer over the phone or in person is often easier than communicating online. Apologize for their bad experience and they may remove the review.

Contact the review site

Have your suspicions that a negative review was left by a competitor, not a real customer? Some sites will work with you to remove fake reviews.

Having no reviews can look almost as bad as having negative reviews.

How many customers will want to risk venturing into the unknown?

If you don't have any reviews online yet, try these strategies:

• Contact recent customers and ask them to leave you a review - most will be happy to.
• Sign up to Google My Business, TripAdvisor, or any other site that allows customers to review your business.
• Add reviews to your own website.
• Add a reviews section your business Facebook page - many people like to use this platform as it quick, easy, and doesn't require them to set up a new account.

Reviews are a huge part of online reputation management.

Don't sweep them under the rug.

Be responsive

Got a tweet from a disappointed customer?

Or noticed an angry comment on your business Facebook page?

Don't ignore it.

You wouldn't brush off an upset customer in the real world, and you shouldn't do it online either.

By responding quickly, calmly and helpfully to all comments, positive or negative, you build up a reputation as professional and responsive.

Customers won't be left frustrated by vague, canned replies, which makes them less likely to post negative things about your company online.

Responding to positive comments is just as important as addressing complaints.

Customers love getting friendly replies from brands on social media.

In return, they're likely to become even bigger fans of your business, posting more positive messages that help build your reputation.

You cannot afford to ignore your online reputation in 2017.

Manage your reputation by keeping on top of what's out there, encouraging positive reviews, and being responsive on social media.

What's the next action you'll take to protect your reputation online?