Why Reputation Management is Important For Your Business
If your business has a website, then you are likely aware of the fact that it can be a powerful tool for drawing in new customers. As people search online for products and services, they will often find your company through Google or another search engine. The more people who see your site in their searches, the more likely they are to visit it and potentially become customers. However, there is one obstacle standing between you and potential customers: their perception of your company and its reputation. In this article, we’ll look at why reputation management is important for any business owner or manager, how you can get started managing your online reputation today and what steps should be taken if your website appears low on search results.
What is Reputation Management?
Reputation Management is the process of managing the reputation of your business, brand, product or service. The term is used to describe both a strategy and an activity. It encompasses all of the actions you take to manage your reputation online as well as offline. In other words, Reputation Management is much more than just responding to reviews on Google!
Why is Reputation Management Important?
Reputation Management is important because it can impact your business. Your online reputation affects how people think about you and your brand. When someone searches for one of your services or products, they may see search results with negative reviews or comments. Without taking action to manage this information, it can have a negative impact on sales and lead generation. The following are some examples of how poor online reviews could hurt your business:
A customer searching for ice cream shops in their area finds that you have the best ice cream flavour in town but are also known to be rude when customers come into the shop asking questions about what flavours are available on a particular day.
A potential client looking for an accounting firm sees that there were complaints filed against one of its offices over billing issues.
A potential customer is doing online research and sees that a business does not respond to any reviews or questions and moves on from their page because they find this unhelpful.
How Can I Manage My Online Reputation?
You can respond to positive reviews by thanking the reviewer and addressing them personally with details from their review. Even with negative reviews, how you respond is crucial for your online reputation. If you write a rude response to an online review, this is visible to anyone who looks at your reviews and can create the perception that you aren’t a good business owner to deal with and turn away potential customers.
You can respond to negative reviews through social media or directly on your website or Google page. Responding publicly is a good way of showing that you care about what people think of your business and want to make things right. Responding privately allows you to have a more direct conversation with the person who left the review. You can even respond publicly and provide the reviewer with contact information to move the conversation offline, showing that you take initiative with customer complaints.
If you use a review management tool, it will help you see what people are saying about you online so that you can respond appropriately.
If you don’t manage your online reputation, it will fall by the wayside.
Your online reputation is your business. If you don’t manage it, it will fall by the wayside and can negatively affect your business.
If you’re not proactive about managing your online reputation, then someone else can do it for you. You need to be aware of what’s being said about your company and how people perceive it—before they start talking about you on their own accord. It’s easy to ignore what people are saying about your company until they come into contact with you in person or over the phone, but if those interactions are negative and persistent enough that they spread widely on social media or other online platforms like review sites and blogs, then it may already be too late for some customers who have already formed an impression of what kind of business owner/employer/service provider/etc., that person is from reading something negative about them online first hand (i.e., “I would never use this company again because one time I had a bad experience with them which was confirmed by reading these reviews!”).
Conclusion
So, if you haven’t done so already, why not take some time to get your online reputation in order? It’s easier than ever before and will pay off big in the long run. You don’t want to be left out in the cold when there are customers looking for businesses just like yours!
Want to learn more about Reputation Management and determine a strategy that works for you? Contact Simply Better Marketing – we would love to help!
