A GUIDE TOENHANCINGYOUR ONLINEPRESENCE

Understanding the staggering influence that

your online reputation has on the health of your

business is the first step to building a positive

impression of your company online. Whether

or not you are involved in the conversation, it is

important to recognize that your customers are

talking about you. The internet provides a wide

range of mediums for these interactions to take

place and it is essential to tune into what is being

said about your business. Are you aware of the

opinions being expressed and taking an active

role in the conversation? If you are not taking

part in the chatter regarding your business it is

necessary to continue to fix the problems of your

customers and satisfy any related needs. If you

don't respond to your customers then someone

else will, which can open the door to a large

spiral of online negativity.

Reputation Management was once only a

concern for large corporations, but the internet

has changed this drastically. Projecting and

maintaining the nessage and reputation of your

name, brand or business, now demands a much

more involved approach. Online Reputation

Management is no longer an optional tactic and

consumers are now demanding a higher level of

engagement than ever before.

In this document, we will provide some

background to the Reputation Management

process and share some tips and tools for

listening to the online conversation surrounding

your name or business. We will also discuss some

best practices for developing and boosting your

Reputation Management strategy.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT?

The reputation of of an individual or business

heavily involves perception. The image that you project and how people view

you establishes the foundation of your public standing.

Monitoring and preserving your reputation is much simpler than attempting to repair one that has already been harmed. Whether this damage resulted accidentally or intentionally, it can often require great effort to repair. If the appropriate action is not taken in a timely manner, the reputation involved has the potential to sufferfrom permanent damage.

This is why Reputation Management has become a critical aspect of a strong public image. This is especially significant when a reputation is damaged online. A single negative piece of content on the internet has the potential to reach a large audience and can be posted to multiple channels. This content can stay online for years and appear in the search

results of all the prominent search engines. The good news is that there are strategies and tools to manage and repair both personal and business reputations online.

Reputation Management is a systematic approach to building, recovering and maintaining the public image that is tied to an individual or business. In the past, this was only necessary for large businesses and corporations that were under the watchful eye of the media and general public. The internet has changed this and the process of Reputation Management now applies to small and medium-sized businesses.

However, with the proper knowledge and approach, a good reputation can be modified, preserved and enhanced. While it can be fairly straightforward to maintain your personal reputation by appropriately managing your relationships and the way you conduct your day-to-day activities, when your reputation is affected by content on the internet it can pose a special challenge.

WHY CONTENT LIVES FOREVER ONLINE

The content that is posted online can have a profound effect on the way your business is viewed. It is no longer possible to stay out of the spotlight and wait for negative news to pass with time.

Search engines like Google, and review sites such as Yelp, have made it possible for people to broadcast their opinions and experiences about your business to people they don’t even know. Even if a damaging review or piece of content was created several years ago it can still appear in the search results for your business and heavily influence user decisions.

Google is constantly indexing information on the web and saving past copies of content that has been found to make note of changes. This means that the names of individuals and businesses are logged and associated with both negative and positive pieces of content that relate to them. This information is stored and made available to anyone who searches for your name or brand. This can include a variety of things such as:

• ArrestRecords• DefamatoryImages• CustomerComplaints• CustomerTestimonials• ProductReviews• YourPersonalorBusinessWebsite• SocialMediaPagesandProfiles

All of this data can be accessed by anyone with internet access, viewed in multiple languages and has the potential to wipe out future business prospects and personal relationships. Everything that you or your business has ever been involved with can be found online, and if you are not keeping track of this content then you won’t be able to take the needed action to manage it.

WHY IS REPUTATION MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

Online Reputation Management is becoming more and more in demand. This is mainly due to the

astounding amount of highly accessible content that is posted on the web every day. The research

of people, brands, and products online is no longer uncommon, which amplifies the reach of this

content. It can have a great impact on the reputation of businesses and individuals and is making

Reputation Management increasingly important.

STATISTICS

of adults are likely to consider purchasing products that have been recommended by real life friends and family. - Pollara

of consumers trust the recommendations of others. - Forrester

of people believe the CEO’s reputation is a significant component of a company’s reputation. - Hill and Knowlton

Traffic to the top 10 review sites on the web were visited by 158% more consumers last year. - Compete.com

of executive recruiters regularly use search engines to gain more information about candidates, and 35% have eliminated potential hires based on the information that was found online. - ExecuNet

80%

90%

87%

158%

78%

of people who made a purchase based on an online review discovered that the review was accurate. - Comscore/The Kelsey Group

of people have more trust regarding the information found online than from a salesperson or other source. - Wall Street Journal

of people have used social media channels to express their feelings about a company: 26% to share dissatisfaction, 23% to post information about products or companies they are fond of. - Harris Poll

of people do not believe that companies are truthful in advertising material. - Yankelovich

of people take advantage of user reviews for product information or research before making a decision regarding a purchase. - Razorfish

Online Reputation Management is becoming

more and more in demand. This is mainly due

to the astounding amount of highly accessible

content that is posted on the web every day. The

research of people, brands, and products online

is no longer uncommon, which amplifies the

reach of this content. It can have a great impact on

the reputation of businesses and individuals and

is making Reputation Management increasingly

important.

75% of online U.S. adults have completed a search using their own name in a search engine. Of those that entered their name into the search, nearly half (48%) stated that most of the search results were not positive; almost a third (30%) said that they found nothing associated with their name.

86% of online U.S. adults have used a search engine such as Google to find more information about another person.

Almost a third (31%) of online U.S. adults that have looked up another person online have searched for a politician. Of those that did, more than half said the search influenced their voting decision.

Nearly half (43%) of online U.S. adults that have searched for someone else online have looked up a potential date, significant other, or ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, which makes searches involving romantic relationships one of the most common searches among U.S. adults.

92%

92%

34%

75%

61%

75%

86%

31%

43%

These stats illustrate the heavy use of the internet to complete research about individuals and

businesses before making hiring decisions, dating decisions, voting decisions or purchasing products

and services.

Even if your current customers are advocates for your business the management of your online

reputation is still critical. If you don’t take an active role in shaping your online reputation then you are

leaving it exposed to the will of others.

In the case of a business, this might mean that a negative review written about your company

was posted and left unanswered. For the reputation of an individual, this could mean that images or

stories from your past are published online and harming your present and future relationships and

potential for success.

Taking advantage of the services offered by a Reputation

Management organization will give you the opportunity to tune

into what is being said about you or your company online.

Once this content has been identified it will be possible to

look into a number of different solutions that can minimize

or eliminate the impact of the negative while highlighting

the positive.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The strategy behind managing a reputation online involves three key

components:

The process to begin an effective Reputation

Management solution requires an analysis of your

current personal or organizational reputation

online. This typically starts with an evaluation

of your ranking on Google with a focus on the

first page of Google’s search results. This will

provide a general idea of the state of your online

reputation. However, this is just the beginning

and a more in-depth view of the content

(photographs, reviews, videos, news, etc.) is

1 EVALUATION

necessary in order to gain a well-rounded

impression. This initial search will be a primary

tool to gauge the prevalent content associated

with your image.

The evaluation will then be continued with

an emphasis on social media channels such as

Facebook and Twitter. This will provide additional

insight regarding the condition of your online

reputation and related reviews and comments.

2 MONITORING

Once the evaluation phase has been

completed, the next step involves monitoring

your name or brand to keep track of the things

that are being said about you or your business.

This can include some of the following activities:

• Following news and other posted content on

the web that relates to your name or brand.

One of the simplest ways to do this involves

performing a Google News search for your

name, product or brand. You should also set

up ‘Google Alerts’ to be sent to your email

to let you know when your name or brand is

mentioned online.

• Receiving notifications about negative reviews

can be done by creating a profile to Yelp,

Facebook, Angie’s List and Google Local. You

can have emails sent to you every time your

business is reviewed. This allows you to

respond in a timely manner when you are

notified of a negative review. This ensures

that other consumers will see your response

to negative comments.

3 REVERSE SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves

tactics used to increase the ranking of a person

or business in the search results. Reverse

SEO accomplishes the opposite and is used

in Reputation Management to push negative

content to lower rankings so that it is less

prominent. Some of the steps that take place

with reverse SEO include:

• Submitting legal requests to remove libelous

content.

• Obtaining links and mentions from sites with

strong rankings.

• Creating new blogs and websites as well as social media profiles

that are used to promote good news and opinions that will

outperform negative content.

• Using cross linking and keyword anchors of positive

material and web pages to drive them to the first page

of the search results to push down negative content.

• Offering free services/products to popular blogs

and prominent reviewers to promote your name

and/or brand.

• Submitting online press releases to enhance

brand presence with positive news.

ADDING SOCIAL BUTTONS TO YOUR WEBSITE

One method of increasing the relevance of your

personal or business website is to link it to your

social media profiles by adding buttons to the

site. This supports the flow of traffic between your

social pages and website and also enhances the

prominence of each.

BUILDING A PRESENCE ON BUSINESS LISTING

SITES

Creating profiles on the dozens of listing sites can

help validate the authenticity of your business.

These sites provide basic business information

to consumers and support rankings for local

search results.

BEST PRACTICES FOR REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

ENCOURAGING CUSTOMER

REVIEWS

Online reviews are strong signal that

help promote the legitimacy of your business.

Asking customers to review your products or

services and directing them to popular review

sites can boost your local search presence and

balance out negative reviews.

REFERENCING GOOD REVIEWS

Positive reviews can be quoted on your website

and linked back to their original posting source.

Not only is this a powerful way to create a good

impression with customers, it also establishes a

connection between your business site and the

profiles on the review sites, which are essential

to a healthy local search presence.

STAYING ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Regular posts on your social media profiles

can support brand messages and promote

conversation between your business and your

customers. These social signals can increase the

prominence of the positive content associated

with your business.

OBTAINING DIVERSE & HIGH QUALITY LINKS

Linking your website to relevant sites such as

business listings, social profiles, online review

sites, news articles, etc. will support your online

authority and help increase your ranking in the

search results.

MAINTAINING A CONSISTENT PRESENCE

Your business information should be posted in

multiple locations online and this content should

be kept consistent. Information that is outdated

will harm your local visibility, which makes it

essential to audit this content on a regular basis

and make any necessary changes.

USING A VARIETY OF CONTENT

Using diverse forms of content online creates

more engaging websites, social profiles, business

listings, review site profiles, etc. These elements

can include video, graphics, high-quality writing

as well as other types of content. Diverse forms

of media will also help you rank higher.

ONLINE REVIEWS

Whether the online reviews about a business are positive or negative they

can have a significant impact on the reputation and bottom line of the organization.

This makes it vital to differentiate between appropriate and unfavorable ways to promote

affirmative comments.

The following points outline some of the best ways to engage your customers and encourage them to post truthful reviews about your business on the web:

• AskforReviewsThe simplest and most practical way to get reviews is to ask your customers for them. Your best customers may not have ever looked up your business reviews so it can be helpful to remind them to contribute to these forums.

• MentionReviewsinPrintedMaterialDirecting customers to review sites with review excerpts and a call-to-action demonstrates confidence in what is being said about your business and can help increase online reviews. These visual aids can be tastefully added to a number of customer-facing material such as brochures, coupons and business cards.

• MakeRequestsfromRegularCustomersDetailed reviews can make a great impression but are often difficult to come by. Regular

GENERATING NEW ONLINE REVIEWS

customers that have more experience with your company are more likely to provide well-crafted reviews with an honest feel.

• Don’tAskforGoodReviewsCustomers will not appreciate being directed to provide a good review. This can come off as an attempt to manipulate them and has the potential to backfire. Making a request for an honest review of their experience will establish trust and your customers will be much more likely to make an effort to write a positive review of your business.

• Don’tAskAllYourCustomersforReviewsIt appears more natural to have reviews show up periodically, rather than having a cluster of reviews pop up in a short span of time. Potential customers who read these reviews may become suspicious and choose to use a competitor instead if they feel the reviews are not genuine. Periodically asking customers for reviews will help build the credibility of your business with regular organic feedback.

• Don’tUseArtificialReviewsIt is usually easy to recognize fake reviews that are crafted in a similar writing style. This will cause people that are reading them to become distrustful of your company and choose not

to do business with you. Reviews should be written by individual customers to reflect the natural diversity of each person and their opinion of your business.

• Don’tBombardYourCustomersSpamming your customers with aggressive messages is a great strategy for promoting negative reviews. The occasional request for reviews should be done with a concise and friendly message.

It can be difficult to handle negative reviews, especially since they can seem like a malicious attack against you and your business. However, if they are dealt with appropriately, a critical online review can be used as an opportunity to respond to customer complaints in a manner that promotes your business. The following tips provide some best practices for addressing negative reviews.

• Don’tStartaBattle Picking a fight with a reviewer will not benefit your business and can even result in additional harm to your reputation. Steer clear of accusing or implying that the reviewer is being dishonest. Don’t give the negative reviewer any more fuel to vent their displeasure by responding with sarcasm, rude retorts or arrogant statements. Your response should also avoid a rant or an expression of your frustration.

If you engage in this type of behavior it will only serve as a poor reflection on you and support the claims in the negative review. If you are unable to respond in a diplomatic and helpful way, then it may be best to wait until you are able to do so.

• Don’tTakeitPersonally Even if you believe that a negative review is completely unwarranted you should try to avoid taking it personally. It is more effective to view it as a chance to demonstrate that you care about your customers by publicly addressing the issue and offering constructive feedback.

HANDLING NEGATIVE REVIEWS

your business to customers that read the review and may also sway the opinion of the customer who wrote the negative review in the first place.

A professional and helpful response to a bad review is a great way to demonstrate the way your business deals with criticism.

• StayTruetotheFacts While it may be tempting to alter or leave out certain points from your response, it will not reflect well on your business. Even if the facts do not completely support your side of the story, honesty will garner more respect than poor excuses. It is better to deal with issues in a direct and forthcoming way than to refuse to admit to fault.

• Don’tAskCustomers toDeleteNegativeReviews Requesting that a customer take down a review can create hostile feelings, even if you’ve already resolved the issue. This could cause you to lose the customer and may even provoke further negative posts.

• RespondtoComplaintsinaCalmand FactualManner Negative reviews may contain false accusations and can be excessively damaging to the integrity of your business. However, even in these types of cases, it is important to keep your response calm and stick to the facts. Make sure you speak in a respectful manner and never place the blame on the customer. Outline the process you have engaged in to look into the situation and be truthful about your findings. It is ok to calmly point out the inaccurate points to the accusation but it is also necessary to admit to any fault on your part. Customers understand that you are human and can make errors, but a thorough explanation, an apology and an attempt to fix the situation should accompany any mistakes.

• Don’tThreatenReviewerswithLegal Action There are occasions where legal action may be necessary to salvage your business reputation. An example could involve a competitor attempting to damage your business name with an unethical campaign but you should consult a lawyer before taking any action in these types of cases.

However, most of the time legal action is not required and can even make the problem worse. Your customers should be allowed to express themselves and if you attempt to prevent this you will probably need to deal with a host of additional negative reviews.

HANDLING NEGATIVE REVIEWS

You can successfully avoid a good deal of negative reviews by providing customers with another way to express their concerns and feel like they are being heard. In this next section, we’ll examine some best practices to minimize the number of negative comments posted on review sites.

• AskforCustomerFeedbackOffline If you have the chance to resolve a customer issue at your business location, or through other means of communication, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of having the customer leave a negative review online.

Using customer surveys and other forms of service and product reviews are effective ways

to provide your customers with an outlet to express their views about their experience. If you receive any complaints it is important to follow up quickly to resolve the situation before it gets out of hand.

• MonitorReviewSites A critical step in the process of preventing negative online reviews is the regular evaluation andmonitoringofreviewsites.Businessownerswho choose to ignore review site activity are leaving themselves open to unchecked criticism. Checking out these websites on a weekly basis will give you the chance to respond to negative reviews and gain insight into common customer issues.

• LearnfromCustomerComplaints Negative reviews are usually opinion-based and may not apply to the rest of your customers. However, some critiques can point out a general problem with a product or process that can be improved. Rather than becoming defensive, it is best to thank the reviewer for sharing their perspective and describe any steps you are taking to fix the issue. This approach can also prevent future negative reviews for the same problem.

• Don’tAskCustomerstoSignAgreements ConcerningReviewsBusinessesincertainindustrieshaveattemptedto have their clients sign “will not review” agreements to limit the potential for negative reviews. This approach is guaranteed to harm your relationship with current and potential customers and these agreements are unlikely to hold up in court.

• Don’tPostFakeReviewsPaying for fake reviews is illegal, appears unnatural and can damage the reputation of your business. Review sites have also improved their process of identifying sham reviews and they are not likely to remain on the site for very long. In addition to being an ineffective and unethical

business practice, this strategy is also a waste of time and resources.

• Don’tOfferBribestoCustomersBribingcustomerstopostgoodreviewsweakensthe validity of the reviews and can turn people off of your business. However, it is still acceptable to offer incentives to encourage customer reviews as long as you don’t attempt to influence the type of review they post.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Optimizing your social media presence can serve as a great asset to

influence the public perception of your business. While it requires an investment

of time and resources, having a well-rounded understanding of best practices and effective

strategies can streamline the process.

BEST PRACTICES FOR SOCIAL CHANNELS

ConsistentBranding Make sure to keep your brand image and messaging consistent on all of your profiles. Use the same logo and types of images on each social channel to maintain a professional image. This also helps your audience associate your logo and message with your company and recognize you across the different social platforms.

ProvideEssentialInformation Each one of your social media profiles

should be optimized to display key details about your business. This typically includes a description about your business along with the name, address, contact information, hours and website. It is also a good practice to link to your other profiles and any prominent pages on your website.

AddSocialSharingButtonstoYourWebsite Installing common social buttons on your website near product listings, services, blog

other useful content is a good way to promote your business. This can include buttons such as Twitter’s “tweet” or Pinterest’s “Pin It” along with Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn and buttons from other relevant channels.

EmployaUser-FriendlyDesignCustomers visit social media pages to gain access to information that is useful and interesting. If your company pages are overloaded with information or are too cluttered they will discourage users from visiting again. Focus on displaying important information and maintain a clean design.

LinkBacktoYourWebsiteMaking the information on your website accessible is vital for a sound online presence. Providing links to your website on your social media profiles is one way to achieve this. Narrow the links down to pages that supply significant information about your business.

AlignYourStrategytoWorkwiththePlatformEach social channel functions a little bit differently and can be suited to certain strategies. Familiarizing yourself with the unique offerings of each network will allow you to optimize your approach to gain the best advantage. You should also make sure to tailor your content to meet

the guidelines of individual social channels and

fulfill the expectation of visitors.

ShowcaseDiverseFormsofContent

The effectiveness of your social media posts

will be enhanced if you diversify your content.

High quality text and visual content such as

video and graphics will enhance the appeal of

your profile and encourage user engagement.