Take Charge of Your Online Image: An Easy Online Reputation Management Plan
Listen, have you ever stopped to think about what people are saying about you and your business online?
It’s super important to know, because what people say about you can have a big impact on your reputation and success. That’s why it’s crucial to keep an eye on your online reputation and make sure it’s in tip-top shape.
Take charge of your online reputation management
Trust me, you don’t want to be caught off guard by negative comments or reviews floating around on the internet. That’s why is so important to take charge of your online reputation management now.
The goal is to stay ahead of the game and stay in the know about what people are saying about you!
Have you ever checked what people are saying about you online?
With social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok) being so popular these days, it’s possible that there’s a photo floating around that you might not be too fond of. And, with millions of websites and blogs being created every day, people are constantly talking about businesses like yours.
The scary thing is, even if the content is negative, it’s still out there for the world to see. That’s what makes it so hard for online reputation management to succeed.
And to make matters even worse, there’s a chance that spammers might be using your business name or website address for fraudulent purposes. Trust me, I know from personal experience!
There are specific sites you do not want your website associate with which include anything dealing with porn or gambling. These sites can ruin your reputation and cause problems with your website showing up on Google.
Think about this, when was the last time you Googled your name?
Surely, you can Google your name anytime you want however, that is not a strategy. What you need is a plan for strategic online brand and reputation management.
How does a brand and online reputation management strategy work?
It starts with a solid online reputation management plan. By having a plan in place, you can proactively monitor and manage your online reputation, respond to negative comments, and showcase positive reviews and content.
An effective online reputation management plan can protect your brand’s image, increase customer trust and loyalty, and ultimately, drive more sales.
Follow these 6 simple steps to implement your online reputation management protection strategy:
1) Create a set time for brand and reputation management activities
Like everything else important in your business, you need to have a scheduled time and frequency to manage your brand online. If you are in a high-volume business like restaurants or spa, you may want to complete this activity every week. Businesses like coaching, consulting, authors may want to complete this activity on a monthly (recommended) or quarterly basis.
2) Create automatic alerts to routinely monitor your brand
You can get immediate email updates from Google Alerts. This tool will do the work for you by constantly searching the internet and social media. To cover all your bases, be sure to create alerts for not only your business name but also your name, your website address and your product or service names.
3) Use your WordPress Dashboard to monitor your content
That’s right! This is often overlooked as a tool to monitor your content online. When you choose to display the “Incoming Links” widget and “allow trackbacks and pingbacks” you get useful information. The “Incoming Links” widget queries Google Blog Search so that when another blog links to your site it will show up here. Allowing “pingbacks and trackbacks” notifies you when a blogger links to your article.
4) Ask customers to provide testimonials online
What better way to manage your brand than to have many amazing testimonials scattered across the internet. Instead of only using a paper form or a form on your website to collect testimonials, ask your customers to post them online. They can post testimonials on LinkedIn in the form of a recommendation or post on the “Reviews by Google users” section on your Google Places page.
5) Find where people complain about services in your industry
Unfortunately, people are quick to leave a negative comment but you have to practically beg or bribe someone for a testimonial. You should know where people go to leave a negative review for your type of business. In some instances, it may be the Better Business Bureau or simply Yelp.
6) Monitor, measure and track your website traffic weekly
You are working hard driving traffic to your website but not keeping track of the numbers that matter in your business. Using data you already collect with Google Analytics provides a wealth of information about your website’s usage and traffic. These numbers allow you to notice (and quickly respond to) a sudden drop off in your website traffic.
How are online reputation management Are you managing your brand and online reputation?
If this was encouraging and helped make a very confusing topic clear, let’s talk about it on Facebook! I’d love to meet you!
What’s the craziest thing you have found online about you and your business?
I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours, see you on Facebook.
