Online Reputation Management: 6 Tips On How To Improve Your Image On The Internet
A good reputation is indispensable, as it is the basis for the value judgement of a company. Reputation evolves over time and is not so easy to create compared to brand image. If customers develop a negative perception of your company or products, sales and profits will certainly decrease. Not only your actions define the reputation of your company, but also how others perceive it.
Consumers hold the power
The consumer has never had so much power over large corporations. But Web 2.0 and social media have given the individual consumer a voice. Now it’s easier to gather and share information and interact with one or the other through social media. It is also generally easier for consumers to come together and form common opinions. Social media consumers can now be so influential that they can shape business strategies through feedback and put pressure on the company.
1. Start by prioritizing your blog
A good way to get a better online reputation is to improve your domain authority. Blogging is one of the best ways to achieve this. Regularly posting articles on your website improves your SEO. With this strategy you can get both inbound and outbound links. By publishing images and improving your content by creating infographics, you increase the likelihood that other websites will reuse your content. As a result, your authority ranking also improves.
2. Ask your customers to write reviews
What about your current customers who are satisfied with your business? You need them to maintain your brand. How can you get them to do that? Just ask them. As a company, give your customers an incentive to write a review.
You should not invite your customers to write a positive review, but rather ask for a general review that reflects the actual opinion of your customers. For example, if customers are willing to write a review and share it with their friends, they will get a 15% discount on their next order. If people write positive reviews after receiving your encouragement, the good reviews will balance the negative ones
3. Expand your presence
Where can people find more information about your company? You can’t just rely on one platform for ratings and reviews. Your customers have different preferences for brand research. Use different platforms and make a profile on all these platforms.
It is in your best interest to use these business sites to ensure that all your information is accurate. I am referring here to information such as your website address, phone number, address, and hours of operation. If you do not claim your pages and check them for accuracy, it could hurt your reputation even more.
4. Respond publicly to customer complaints
Remember the first rule of business? The customer is always right. Even if they are wrong, you have to treat them correctly. Instead of being defensive and trying to make you look better, focus on making them happy. Instead of trying to defend the situation, you as a company should be polite and empathetic to the customer. Try to get more information to come to a solution that will satisfy both parties.
5. Cooperate with Social Influencers
Social Influencers are another way to create social proofs. Studies show that 90% of consumers trust the recommendations of their colleagues. And consumers are more likely to buy something based on a social media recommendation. This is what makes social influencers so attractive. As a result, the content is seen by a much wider audience. Using your relationships with social influencers makes your brand accessible to a group of people who may not even know that your company exists. And when people follow this influencer, they need to value their opinions. So they are already prepared for you to target them.
6. Use tools that monitor your reputation
How can you improve your online reputation if you don’t know where it is?
You need to start using online tools to notify you when someone mentions your business. For example, a third-party review site might write an unfavorable blog post about one of your products. If you only monitored reviews on Yelp and Google, you wouldn’t know anything about it. However, if you use a tool like Google Alerts, you’ll be notified every time you’re alerted.