Why online reputation management matters – for both companies and individuals
When even Sir Richard Branson describes the Internet as “the great equaliser”, you can be sure that you have a challenge on your hands to manage your reputation in the era of the World Wide Web.
You might have only ever had one dissatisfied customer, but that customer can still damage the reputation of your firm – and with it, its ability to attract new business – with just a few social media comments or one review that appears prominently in the search results when one searches for your company name.
However, it’s also easy for companies and individuals alike to presume that just because it’s easy to affect one’s reputation negatively online, so the same must apply to fixing any damage. Alas, the Internet is much too complicated under the surface for this to be the case.
How reputation management concerns can manifest
There are so many real life examples of how reputation management can be a requirement for both companies and individuals. Your company could be affected as a whole by a news story such as a fine from a health and safety watchdog, for instance, or an ex-employee may be at the centre of a scandal that brings your company into the headlines by association.
Either example involves one’s reputation being damaged, and both are capable of causing significant and lasting damage to your business. It’s not exactly easy to reverse such damage when the story is one that has appeared on local news websites, for example, or that has been talked about extensively on the most prominent social networks.
That’s precisely why professional online reputation management services are so valuable. They’re delivered by people – like ours here at SEO Local – who understand the complexities of the Internet and know the right strategies for lessening the impact of those bad news stories.
Talk to us about online reputation management
Much of online reputation management is about generating new, positive content about your firm or you as an individual that pushes the negative stuff onto, at worst, the second page of the Google search results – preferably the third, fourth or fifth page.
However, it can also encompass the use of social media to respond directly to criticisms, or contact with site owners to request the removal of damaging material. Continual monitoring of the web for whatever comments may be made about you or your company are also central to this area of SEO.
Online reputation management has many prongs, and is no more sophisticated than when it is provided by SEO Local’s own seasoned experts. Get in touch with us now to find out more
