Does your company have an online reputation that’s helping or hurting your ability to make money? If it’s the latter, you’re going to want to enact online reputation repair tactics as soon as possible to stop leaving money on the table. Below, our team shares five simple steps you can take to give your digital perception a boost.
1. Search Your Company’s Name on Google
Google is the most popular search engine and how most people interact with the web. Therefore, the picture Google paints of your company when people search your name is where you’ll want to direct a lot of your online reputation repair efforts. Type your business’ name into Google and hit search. Then, inspect the first page of items you see in both the default search window and under the images tab. Make sure nothing that’s showing is inaccurate or unflattering. If it is, jot the issue down.
2. Start Making Fixes
With your list of issues in-hand from the last step, start going through and making corrections. If there’s outdated information in search results coming from your website, make those edits and submit a new sitemap to Google via Webmaster Tools. Those edits should update in search results within two weeks. If the information you’d like to see change is coming from another website, reach out to the site’s administrator through the page’s contact form and ask how you can work with them to make changes. Never approach a third-party website with hostility when you ask them to make an update. Doing so will significantly lower your chances that they’ll work with you.
3. Claim Your Social Media Handles
Whether or not you have a social media strategy (and you should), make it a point to claim handles (account names) that are associated with your brand. That way, you reduce the chances of a third party claiming your handles and potentially spreading incorrect or unflattering information about your company under your branding. If this is already happening, ask the account holder to stop and message the social media platform to see if they can intervene.
4. Respond to Online Reviews
Responding to online reviews, both good and bad, shows that your company cares about its customer’s feedback. In the case of bad reviews, it also gives you the chance to win back a dissatisfied patron and share your side of a bad story with the world. Platforms you should focus on when it comes to reviews depend on your business but we always recommend making Google a point of priority.
5. Ensure What You Offer Is Worthy of a Good Reputation
At the end of the day, if you offer bad products and services, no amount of effort or help from a talented digital agency is going to save your reputation. So, above all else, provide great service and value to the customers you work with. If you do, your perception will mostly take care of itself.
Online Reputation Repair Is a Marathon, Not a Race
Your reputation will constantly evolve over the years so expect to tackle your online reputation repair efforts as if you’re running a marathon, not a race. Keep checking with Google regarding what people are saying and be proactive when it comes to shaping your company’s narrative! For more tips on all things business, browse more of the stellar content we have up in our digital publication!
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