7 ways to improve your business's online reputation

Building and maintaining a decent online reputation is by no means easy. Most businesses have trouble simply getting off the ground and clawing their brand out of obscurity. And you can imagine how stressful it can be to start garnering a bad reputation just as your business started to get known. With this in mind, we will cover a couple of ideas on how to improve your business’s online reputation and how to help maintain it at a decent level.

Before we start, it is worth mentioning that a poor online reputation is never due to chance. Whatever reputation your company has, be it good or bad, is never due to a stroke of luck or lack thereof. It is solely due to how you approach your brand reputation in general and what kind of an online relationship your manage to build with your customers through CRM. These two things dictate whether you will have a terrific online reputation or your brand will be considered a laughing stock. So, let’s see what reputation management is all about.

Go through reviews

The fact that you are trying to improve your business’s online reputation and not build one from the ground up means there is already some brand recognition. We would first advise you to check online reviews and see how people view your company. You may find subpar reviews if your reputation is not doing so well. After all, dissatisfied customers tend to boost each other up and villainize the brand that didn’t meet their expectations. But, apart from the hateful people that want to vent through online reviews, there could be some that are more noteworthy. Some of your audience members may have legitimate grievances against your brand. Ignoring these only serves to your detriment.

Always respond to reviews

A good rule of thumb is to always respond to reviews. Even if you have a pile of low reviews that people left, you want to start responding to them as soon as possible. Doing so can be a great way to build your reputation back up. But, you need to know how to phrase your answers.

Ideally, you will be both professional and courteous when you respond. Mention that you value your customers’ input and that you will do whatever is necessary to address their grievances. Even if the customer is wrong, you want to address what they have to say. Don’t be afraid to stand behind your brand but use the minimum necessary force to do so.

Encourage people to leave reviews

No matter what, you want people to leave reviews of your brand, especially if you are trying to improve your online reputation. So, if you haven’t so far, try to add incentives to customers leaving reviews. First, make leaving reviews quick and easy. Second, don’t fail to mention that you value their opinion and that every review is helpful. Finally, if that isn’t enough, try to offer discounts or company benefits for leaving reviews. If you are keen on improving your reputation, you will likely get positive reviews. One way to supercharge this process is with our Review Launchpad white glove service. Our service collects loads of 5 star reviews in a little as 24 hours! We reach out to your database of customers and ask for positive reviews through an email drip campaign and SMS messaging. The review process is easy and goes directly to the platforms you choose (Google, Facebook etc.). Our service also adds these new 5 star review streams to your website which will give you a higher SEO boost! It’s a no brainer…

Monitor social media

Social media is a big part of any company’s online presence in modern marketing. Regardless of size, type, or location, every company needs to have a social media presence to build and manage an online reputation. The best course of action is to outline which social media platform has the most significant impact on your online reputation. Once you determine which platform has the most considerable reach for your company, you can look to manage your online reputation there. Again, responding to reviews, understanding issues, and presenting solutions is essential. The more you can show that you value your customers and are doing whatever possible to improve your company for them, the better.

Optimize your SEO

Good SEO results and a good reputation go hand in hand. If people know about your company, they will naturally look for it on Google, which boosts your SEO value. On the other hand, if people find your company on Google because you have good SEO, they are more likely to do business with you and leave reviews. So, the task is evident. If you wish to improve your online reputation, you must also work on your SEO. Fortunately, there are tools to help with this and with monitoring your reputation online, especially if you connect them to Google Analytics.

Improve branding

A common reason for poor online reputation isn’t that you have many dissatisfied customers leaving poor reviews. It can also be that you didn’t promote your brand correctly and that it is relatively unknown. You’d be surprised at how often companies miss the mark with brand integration and promotion. They fail to mention their brand in their posts, forget to put their logo on visual content, and don’t develop a unique brand style.

Unfortunately, if branding is your fundamental problem, you may need to rebrand your company. This is a substantial project where you need to have a professional marketing manager at your side.

Avoid generic marketing content

Finally, if you wish to improve your business’s online reputation, you want to avoid generic marketing content. Out of all the reasons for poor reputation, this is the one that company owners often overlook. Namely, while building up their brand, company owners are motivated to invest in quality marketing content. But, as they gain traction, they tend to care less and less. This leads to generic marketing content that customers don’t find engaging. So, while you may not have bad reviews, it might be the case that your marketing is simply missing the mark. And when it comes to online reputation, it is worth remembering that no reputation can be just as bad as a poor reputation. So, if you need a way to improve your online presence, consider going over your marketing content.