No matter what you do in order to build a positive brand image online, you always run the risk of coming under attack. Once you find that your reputation has been damaged, it is vital that you immediately take action to repair your reputation online or the damage may become such that you simply cannot fix it anymore. Did you know that as many as 80% of consumers will decide not to shop somewhere if they find a negative review? This really highlights just how important it is to have a positive reputation.
Repairing Your Reputation Online
You must find the source of the attack. Enter your name in any of the major search engines and see what comes up. In order for people to take the review seriously, it should really be on the first page of Google. This means it should be reasonably easy for you to find the problem as well. Don’t rely solely on Google, however. Make sure you also check social mentions on Twitter and Facebook.
Once you have done this, you have a number of options available to you. The first is to repair it yourself. Research has shown that around 70% of consumers do not trust a business unless they have at least six positive reviews. Additionally, you will need an extra six for every negative review that is posted. Naturally, an easy way to rebalance things if the review is left on a site you own is by simply removing the negative review. However, unless it is downright defamation, this is not recommended. If anything, it will simply make the reviewer even more angry and they will then take their frustration elsewhere, where you don’t have control.
Your other option is to outsource your reputation management services to a professional company. This is generally the recommended option as they know exactly what they are doing. Not just that, they offer a wealth of other services besides repairing your reputation if damage has been done. For instance, they will also help you build or rebuild a positive reputation and maintain it once you have achieve it. Many also offer SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services, as reputation management is an integral part of that. This means that they will also ensure that your website, and particularly the parts that you have control over, can be found with ease, which in turn increases your overall reputation.
It is up to you to decide whether you want to do things yourself or whether you want to hire the professionals. The biggest downside of the latter option is, obviously, that you will have an expense to deal with. However, most would agree that you will see a return on investment, since you stand the chance of actually losing your business if it gets damaged because of an attack on your reputation. Additionally, if you do things yourself, there is always the chance that you handle things the wrong way and end up making it a whole lot worse.
2018 ·
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