The Do’s and Don’ts of Managing Your Online Reputation

With the wealth of information available online and the number of people accessing it, it is essential for businesses to take care of their online reputation. When managed correctly, your online reputation can be one of your biggest assets. However, a bad reputation can make it difficult for you to attract new customers and grow your business.

It takes time and effort to establish and maintain a healthy online reputation. The following list of do’s and don’ts will help you proactively manage your online reputation:

Do’s of online reputation management

• Do follow up with your customer after every sale or business visit. This will give you a chance to fix any mistake that you might have made and redeem yourself before dissatisfied customers boycott you.
• Do encourage positive customer reviews as this is one of the best ways to boost your reputation. Encourage happy customers to post a positive review on Yelp or your company’s social media pages.
• Do make an effort to address negative comments. Negative reviews should be perceived as an opportunity for improving your service. You can reach out to the dissatisfied customer and try to address his or her concerns, preferably on a public medium such as Facebook or Twitter. This will not only appease the customer but will also help potential customers see your dedication to customer satisfaction.
• Do implement effective SEO strategies to boost your traffic. This will help you dominate the search results, which will contribute to improving your online reputation.
• Do try your best to be professional when responding to negative comments and reviews. You must always be polite and honest. It is understandable to become upset by nasty comments, but think of them as an opportunity to learn what your customers think of your business and use the negative reviews to improve your service.
• Do claim your business listings on sites like Yelp and Google Business. By claiming your profile, you can ensure every piece of information, including your address, phone numbers and business location, are accurate. If your contact information changes, you should update the information immediately so you do not lose out on any queries. Being in control of your profile will allow you to interact and engage with potential customers.

Don’ts of online reputation management

• Do not ignore social media, because your online reputation is not solely based on customer reviews. It is also based on comments and shares of your content on various social media networks.
• Do not get upset by negative reviews. Negative reviews provide honest feedback and can be used to improve your products and services. Reviews, positive or negative, are an excellent way to understand and improve the customer experience.
• Do not pay for reviews, ever: This practice is disingenuous, and the reviews often look fake. You would not want to leave this type of impression on potential customers.
• Do not wait too long to respond to online reviews, especially negative ones. It is best to respond within 48 hours of receiving a review. You certainly do not want your customers to think that you do not care about their grievance.

If done right, online reputation management can immensely benefit your business. Ideally, reputation management should be a combination of monitoring online conversations, engaging customers and sharing useful content. You can consider implementing a tool that helps you manage these activities in order to manage your reputation effectively. Online reputation is one of your biggest business assets. Manage it properly.