Any business that has an online presence needs to consider their reputation. Not just the
reviews placed on their own website, but perhaps more importantly those posted on social
media platforms and review aggregators, as these places can have a large impact on the
business and growth.
There are many reasons why customers might leave negative reviews or otherwise sour the
general sentiment of any given company. Often these can take up much more space than
positive reviews, and as such it is in the best interest of any business to remove or manage
negative mentions, while encouraging as many positive mentions as possible.
Why Online Reputation Matters More Than Ever
Potential customers often rely on review websites or social media platforms when making
decisions about products or services, a trend that is only growing with every new study created
on the subject. So managing and maintaining a positive online reputation is a critical component
for small businesses that wish to achieve success in the long run.
At the same time, the online reputation of a company can also be seen in other ways. For
instance, if a potential customer uses Google or another search engine to find your business,
there might also be search results near the top that have a negative connotation, or otherwise
might seem harmful to the overall reputation.
It is also important to consider that these reviews are often there forever, as customers rarely if
ever remove their old posts, if they even have access to that account anymore. This can make
even 5 or 10 year old reviews become issues for a business, so taking active measures to
prevent this and mitigate any existing reviews and mention is of paramount importance.
Tools and Methods for Managing Online Reputation
Reputation management for small business has become a significant industry in its own right,
and luckily for business owners, there are now a number of different online reputation tools
available to help keeping track of reviews and mentions, as well as different strategies and
methods invented to shape the narrative and ensure positive exposure online.
The most common tools include monitoring solutions, that effectively scour the internet on a
daily basis in order to search for any mentions. This provides a list of all the different platforms
and websites, where the business owner or employees can then reply to posts, ask for removal
of mentions and in general take the necessary action.
In order to get more positive reviews, businesses can also adopt the approach of asking
customers for reviews or sending them surveys. There are different services available, where
this process is automated after each sale for instance, making this an easy and effective
solution in skewing the already existing reviews in the company’s favor.
There are also professional business review management companies out there, that take great
care and pride in maintaining a positive online image for their clients. This is often a great way
of achieving the best possible results for the least amount of effort, and depending on the
severity of the existing reputation can often be a quite affordable option as well.
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