As a business owner in the digital age, you’ve probably been on your toes the last few years, keeping up with all the latest requirements for astutely managing your business on the internet. From building a website with responsive design, to generating creative social media engagement, you’re probably just a teensy bit overwhelmed. It’s your business vs. the internet, and it’s fight time.
But wait! There’s more!
Today, we’re here to talk about one aspect of managing your business’s online presence that we just don’t talk about enough: reputation management.
What Is Reputation Management?
Reputation management is the process of collecting and curating positive reviews of your business that make other people want to go there—and spreading the word about those reviews far and wide. Effective reputation management includes:
- Proactively seeking out glowing testimonials of your business and making them available to those who are looking.
- Responding to negative reviews in a constructive way.
- And finally, showcasing the heck out of your positive reviews!
How Does This Help My Customers?
When a potential customer goes to your page, they need to know that they can trust you, and the first place they’ll look is your reviews. They want to know if others have had good or bad experiences with you, and whether you really provide the services you say you will. By requesting reviews and testimonials from previous customers and showcasing them, you’ll be able to establish online credibility and show your potential customers that you aren’t just a creep selling candy out of a big white van.
What Do I Do About Negative Reviews?
By keeping tabs on your reviews and curating them often, you’ll also be able to protect your business and customers from bad reviews. What if someone claims to have had a bad burger at your restaurant—and you don’t even serve burgers?
If you’re keeping a close eye on your reputation, you can catch those nonsense reviews early and respond in a way that builds customer trust.
How Does This Help ME?
Here’s the bonus material: reputation management doesn’t just create an echo-chamber of people saying nice things about you and your business—it actually causes a huge impact on SEO as well. Search engines are smart, and they know when a business is getting a lot of good reviews. When your business reviews well, it doesn’t just look cool on your social media outlets, it means you will also rise in the search engine results. And higher in the search results means more people in your front door!
Every business has a reputation, and unless you’re Joan Jett, you care about what that reputation is and what people think of when they see your brand. As your business grows, the more people will talk about you, and you want to make sure they’re saying the right things. That’s why managing your online reputation is essential to growing your business and staying relevant in the digital world.
Ready to get started? Contact our experienced digital marketing team today!
Hot Dog Marketing helps expert service providers and tech companies build their brands at the same rate they’re growing their businesses. We have deep expertise in branding and online marketing for both business-to-business service companies and local consumer service businesses.