When someone searches for your company online, what do they see? Is your web presence painting a flattering picture of your business, or is it time to look into online reputation management?
Countless studies have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that your online reputation directly affects your company’s sales, and in turn, its bottom line.
One survey states that, after recommendations from friends or family, online reviews are the second most trusted source of brand information, with 70 percent of consumers saying they trust them. In contrast, only 58 percent trusted information coming directly from the company’s website.
As you can see, there’s a reason why reputation services are becoming so popular these days. It only takes one sour review to cut into your company’s profits, making online reputation management a solid investment in the future of your business.
What Is Reputation Management?
So what is reputation management? To put it simply, it’s a way to make sure that your brand looks its best in the eyes of your consumers. There are many online reputation management methods, such as implementing SEO strategies to help positive reviews to come to the forefront of Google results pages, or deleting old, outdated social media content.
There are countless ways for reputation management services to elevate your brand. The approach varies depending on what types of negative online content are holding you back. Reputation management isn’t a one-time endeavor – it’s an ongoing process that protects your company’s good name from being tarnished by less-than-favorable reviews and chit-chat.
How Social Proof Affects Conversion Rates
Your company’s reputation and its sales go hand-in-hand. Today’s consumers know they have options, and even one minor strike against you can cause them to go with your competition. When people see that other people have had negative experiences with your company, they’re justifiably going to be worried that a similar situation will happen to them.
Online reputation management eliminates the hesitation that often occurs before a conversion. For example, if someone is considering signing up for your email list, and then they see a review complaining about spam, you’re not going to get that conversion. Alternatively, if someone ordered a product and it showed up damaged, they’re not going to place an order. The opposite is true too – if they see overwhelmingly positive reports, they’re going to be confident taking actions that support your business.
How to Make Your Online Reputation Trustworthy
Online or offline, reputation is everything in the business world. After all, if a potential customers find information that causes them to lose trust in your brand, you’re not going to make the sale. That’s common sense. The first step in online reputation management is finding out what people are saying about your brand, where they’re saying it, and why they’re saying it. From there, you can take action steps to fix the problem.
Here are some of the most critical methods that reputation management services may use to absolve outstanding issues that are damaging your brand:
- Request the removal of false claims. If you’ve received a negative review on Yelp, Facebook, or another reputable review platform, you may be able to take action if the information in the review is false or misconstrued. Contact the platform and explain your side of the story.
- Establish your brand as an authority on social media. Maintaining stable and regularly updated social media accounts is one of the most powerful forms of online reputation management. It’s extremely common for potential customers to check out your social media accounts to make sure your company is legitimate before they place an order. Populate your pages with high-quality content that shows that you know your stuff. This is naturally going to instill confidence in your audience.
- Encourage your customers to leave positive feedback on your company and its products/services. Typically, you don’t want to ask customers to leave you positive reviews directly. However, if you know they had a positive interaction, you could ask them to leave an honest review. You can even incentivize them to leave feedback by offering a coupon for their next order.
- Be honest and direct when responding to negative reviews. Even the most dependable companies often need online reputation management. After all, it’s virtually impossible to keep every customer delighted at all times. Sometimes honest mistakes happen, and that’s why reputation management services are necessary for all businesses – not only those who have made egregious errors. If you receive negative reviews, be kind, polite, and understanding, but also acknowledge the mistake and what you’re doing to rectify it. Transparency is the key.
What Are Online Reputation Management Services?
As the name implies, online reputation management manages your company’s online reputation. That can mean many things, depending on the nature of your company and situation. Maintaining your online reputation requires ongoing vigilance, and it’s not usually feasible, practical, or economical for you or your employees to attempt to handle the duties effectively on your own.
Hiring reputation management services allow you to handle running your company with peace of mind. Reputation management specialists often use technical methods that may be foreign to you, and they provide fast support when you need it most. Additionally, reputation management specialists are familiar with the ins and outs of the internet, ensuring that all negative content is handled – not only the small portion you see.
Trusted Reputation Management Specialists
As you can see, online reputation management is vital to the success of your business. Even if you don’t need it at this moment, having a qualified team on call is going to make things much easier if an incident should occur in the future. Coalition Technologies offers comprehensive reputation management solutions that help your ecommerce company to reach its full potential.
For a free consultation on how the experts at Coalition Technologies can help you maintain a blemish-free online reputation and boost your ROI, please call us at (310) 827-3890 or message us online now. The right reputation management services are a powerful ally to your business. Partner with the qualified professionals at Coalition Technologies for the best online reputation SEO services in the industry.
