A business’ reputation is everything; it’s a combination of how employees, customers, stakeholders and the public sees the brand. According to Dixa, 86% of customers are reluctant to use a company if they read poor online reviews.
So, as you can see, it’s important to properly manage your online reputation, which is why we’ve put together a detailed checklist to give you a hand.
Google search your business
Search for your business online to see what’s already out there – and try variations of your brand’s name. Always have a quick look at the bottom of your Google search to see if there are any other similar searchers to check out.
Understand what your current reputation is
There are many ways to find out what people think of your business. Depending on your industry, you can examine review platforms such as Google, Amazon, Glassdoor, Trustpilot, Facebook, and see what people have to say.
Set up Google Alerts to monitor mentions of your business
Setting up Google Alerts for keyword monitoring is super simple. Follow the link through and type in your business’ name and other keywords that might be used should you receive any coverage online. Once you have this set up, you will be notified via email, this will help you monitor your brand’s reputation.
An effective way to use Google Alerts for capturing negative brand comments would be to set up keywords around your brand name.
This will highlight any pressing issues and give you the chance to protect your reputation/resolve any problem as quickly as possible.
Check how accurate the information in your online profiles are
Whether you have a Google My Business account or social profiles including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok – make sure, where appropriate, that your bio information is correct and relevant.
Make sure your business’ opening and closing times are correct
- Make sure your business’ opening and closing times are correct
- Make sure your business’ location is correct
- Provide up-to-date pictures of the building/staff/products
- Check bios for spelling or grammatical errors
- Keep all information/imagery consistent with your branding
Find out how your business compares to its competitors
By analysing your competitors, you can get to grips with customer frustrations and use this information to consider new business prospects and exploit gaps in the market. By identifying where your competitors are falling short, you can come up with an effective solution to drive interest in your brand instead.
Remove, respond or push down negative online content
As mentioned above, negative online reviews can be damaging, which means action needs to be taken if you want to maximise on attracting new customers. To begin with, try removing negative reviews. If it’s a Google Review for example, login to your Google account, go to reviews and find the one you want to remove, click on the three dots and to ‘flag as inappropriate’, fill out the report form and submit. Google will then be in touch to discuss.
If Google doesn’t grant you removal, respond to negative online content. Try to see if you can come to an agreement and turn the customers’ experience around. And if they’re happy with your understanding, they might just remove their review. But it might be the case that the customer is wrong and that they were difficult to deal with, in which case, politely clarify the situation and move on.
And also make sure you encourage your customers to leave reviews. You can do this by asking on social media, setting up automated emails or popping a letter in with customer deliveries, offering an incentive along with it. Whether that’s a discount or freebie, customers will be inclined to help, and you can watch as the negative reviews are pushed down.
Reach out to publishers
Promote the good stuff! From charity work to greener processes, there’s always reasons to spread the good news.
Set up a journalist list (ones that write about your industry) and send them your press releases to gain as much positive coverage as possible. Not only will this boost your reputation but it will improve your backlinks and boost your online presence too – it’s really a win-win.
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