Common Myths About Online Reputation Management

As a business owner, it behooves you to take your online reputation seriously. However, you can’t possibly take ownership over your online reputation if you don’t have the facts in front of you.

Too many business owners still believe the myths about reputation management.

These days, a business’ online reputation means everything, and managing your business’ online reputation should be at the top of your to-do list. But the problem is that you can’t possibly effectively manage your online reputation if you still believe the many common myths there are out there about online reputation management. That’s why we’ve set out to set the record straight about many of those myths.

The First Five Myths About Online Reputation Management

Myth #1. Your business’ online reputation is out of your hands.

There are a lot of things about your reputation that you don’t have control over. For example, you can’t dictate what’s in a review or determine which reviews people see. However, that’s not to say that you have no control over your business’ online reputation. In fact, you have a lot more control over it than you might think.

Managing your online reputation takes time and energy, but don’t fret; it can be done. And in fact, it’s vitally important to the success of your business that you take ownership and properly manage your online reputation.

There are so many effective ways to manage your online reputation, and you can learn about quite a few of them when you check out our previous blog series — Online Reputation Management Tips All Businesses Should Be Aware Of. However, the first step you should take is to determine where you’re at currently, and a great way to do that is to simply google your business and start reading some reviews!

Once you know where you stand, it will give you the information you need to build the kind of online reputation you’ve always wanted.

Myth #2. It’s better to have no reputation at all than a bad one.

While it’s true that a bad reputation can spell trouble for any business, that doesn’t mean that it’s preferable not to have any kind of reputation at all. Think of your online reputation like your credit score. While yes, the fact that you’ve never missed a credit card payment or had some other ding on your credit may seem like a good thing at first, not having any sort of credit history or score is even worse. Just like with your credit score, when it comes to your online reputation, having zero reviews is just as bad — if not worse — than having negative reviews.

When a potential client or customer looks for your business online, and they see that you have zero reviews, they’ll likely think that your business is brand new and untested, that your business has tried to hide negative reviews or that your business is a scam.

On the contrary, if you have a few negative reviews, it’s not the end of the world. Negative reviews can actually give you a great opportunity to fix a mistake, regain trust and show off your customer service chops.

Myth #3. Reputation management and SEO have nothing to do with one another.

A lot of business owners mistakenly believe that their business’ online reputation is strictly about reviews. However, a lot goes into that online reputation, including press releases, comments on social media and a whole host of other content on the web. What comes up in the search results for your business names plays just as big of a role in your online reputation as the reviews themselves, and that’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play.

The first few search results that pop up when you search for your business name online say just as much about your business as any reviews do, and if those results aren’t exactly flattering for your business, you can use a little SEO magic to push those results down. This is done by improving the rankings of your website, listings, positive press releases and more.

First impressions matter, and you won’t any search results surrounding your business to be positive. Controlling the results that show up when someone searches for your business online is a vital part of managing your online reputation, and you can’t do that without a good SEO strategy.

Myth #4. There’s nothing good about a bad review.

It’s never fun to hear that an employee dropped the ball or that, even though you tried your hardest, a customer still wasn’t pleased with your business. Bad reviews can feel like blemishes on an otherwise perfect landscape, but as most business owners know full well, they are inevitable. At some point or another, your business will encourage a negative review. But it’s how you respond that really determines how that review will affect your online reputation.

Your first mistake when you get a bad review is to ignore it or try to hide it. In fact, a much better, much more effective strategy is to respond to every review, good or bad. Oftentimes, bad reviews are the result of a mistake or of miscommunication, and while a reviewer may seem incredibly upset online, an apology and a promise to make the situation right will often go a long way to turning a bad situation around. When you respond to a bad review, it puts the power back into your corner and allows you to make a memorable impression. You may even win back your customer in the meantime!

Learn about more of the benefits of bad reviews when you check out of the previous blog — 5 Ways That Bad Reviews Can Be a Good Thing for Your Business.

Did you know?

If your business only has five-star reviews, it could actually hurt you. People want to work with honest companies and understand that human beings make mistakes. A negative review or two shows that you are human, and a great response shows that you will go to any lengths to make a bad situation good.

Myth #5. You can hide or delete negative reviews.

Imagine this scenario: you are a busy business owner that goes out of your way to ensure that your customers always leave happy, and out of the blue, you’ve spotted a one-star review among the pack of five-star reviews your customers have given you. In situations like these, it’s easy to panic and try to get rid of the review, but even if it were possible to hide or delete negative reviews — it isn’t — you wouldn’t want to.

As we mentioned in our last point, having a few negative reviews among a lot of positive ones can make your business appear more legitimate and gives you a chance to show off your customer service skills. But there’s one more benefit of bad reviews that we didn’t discuss yet — bad reviews provide you with invaluable feedback.

Contrary to what many business owners believe, bad reviews aren’t typically written by angry ex-employees or competitors who have an agenda. Most bad reviews are customers’ honest experiences with your business, and if you want your business to be the best it can be, it behooves you to pay attention and learn from that feedback.

What if you do have illegitimate reviews?

While the vast majority of reviews on verified sites are legitimate and can’t be removed, there are occasional exceptions to the rule. If you believe that you have a fake review, you might be able to get it taken down depending on the site it was posted on. For example, Facebook will remove reviews that violate their Community Standards. Your first step toward getting a fake review taken down will be to research the policies of the site the review was posted to.

If the review site refuses to remove the fake review, one of your best courses of action will be to respond to the review, emphasizing the point that you can’t find their name in your records and inviting the reviewer to contact you to discuss the matter further.

Want to learn the truth about five more common myths about online reputation management? If so, make sure you check back later for part two of this blog series!

Take ownership of your online reputation with Top Rated Local!

Now that you know the truth about some of the most common myths about reputation management, it’s time to seize control over your online reputation once again. With Top Rated Local, you can avoid many of the most common reputation management pitfalls business owners deal with today, like fake reviews, competitor reviews and more, and your consumers will get an honest look at the kind of experience you offer. And the best part is that getting started is quick, easy and free!