These days, a business’ online reputation means everything.
Did you know that the vast majority of consumers weigh online reviews just as heavily as a friend or family member’s recommendation? In this day and age, a business’ online reputation can make or break its success, but here at Top Rated Local®, we’re in the business of helping brands manage their online reputations. Our team has put together this list of 10 of the most common reputation management mistakes that can undermine your reputation. Here are the first five:
Mistake #1. Failing to monitor your online reputation.
How can you possibly know whether your business’ online reputation is working in your favor or not if you don’t monitor it? All it takes is one bad review or negative article to damage all of the hard work you’ve put into building your online reputation. When you monitor your reputation and are in the know about any blogs, reviews, social media posts or anything else that may hurt your reputation, you can take steps to resolve them. However, if you don’t monitor your online reputation, there’s no way to be proactive about negative information online, and it could cost you. After all, your business’ online reputation won’t take care of itself.
Mistake #2. Allowing bad reviews to go unchecked.
We are all human and, therefore, capable of making mistakes, which means that even businesses that provide their clients with top-tier service 99 percent of the time will sometimes drop the ball, and when that happens, clients may go online and leave a bad review. The fact is that people are much more likely to review a business they are unhappy with than one they had a good experience with, and all it takes is one negative experience. However, even if you provide perfect service every minute of the day, an ex-employee with a grudge or someone else may leave a bad review. Regardless of the situation though, a bad review is a great opportunity to show off your customer service skills, but the catch is that you have to respond publicly to show both the client and the rest of the internet that you’re ready to make the problem right. If you don’t respond, you can’t control the situation; it’s as simple as that.
Mistake #3. Not taking control over your business’ organic rankings.
Search engine optimization is something that should be on the forefront of every business owner’s mind, and that’s especially true if there has ever been a bad review, negative article or any other type of reputation-damaging press about your business. If there is any less-than-glowing press out there about your business, the last thing you want is for it to show up among the first organic search results when someone searches for your business on Google or Bing. You want your website, your Facebook page and the other channels that are in your control to show up first so that you have a chance to put your best foot forward with your audience. But in order to do that, you have to have a consistent, powerful search engine optimization strategy in place.
Mistake #4. Putting your business’ online reputation in the wrong hands.
The importance of a strong online reputation cannot be understated, and that’s true no matter what size of business it is or what industry it’s in. However, many business owners don’t understand just how important their business’ online reputation is, and they entrust it to an intern trying to earn college credits or a junior staff member who seems young and tech-savvy but has no real experience. This is a mistake that could end up doing a lot more damage than you ever thought possible. If your reputation manager doesn’t know what they’re doing or understand the importance of why they’re doing it, you may end up losing existing and prospective customers alike.
Mistake #5. Posting fake reviews.
A lot of companies make the mistake of posting fake reviews. Some of these reviews are falsely negative with the aim of making competitors looks bad, which is not only unethical and seriously underhanded, but also considered to be fraud by law enforcement and could lead to fees and legal consequences. Others might be falsely positive with the aim of making service look better than it really is, or that clients are happier than they really are. Customers can often see through fake positive reviews, and it automatically sends the message that something must be wrong with your service if you’ll resort to lying about it. And believe it or not, posting fake positive reviews about your own business could also land you in legal murkiness that’s best avoided.
In our next blog, we’ll be touching on five more mistakes that will undermine your business’ online reputation. Stay tuned for our next blog to learn more. In the meantime, if you’re ready to take more control over your business’ online reputation, sign up for Top Rated Local today!
