Most companies will defend their reputation, through the courts if necessary, as it is a key asset of their business. And a poor reputation is certainly a major liability!
But do you regularly check your online reputation? When was the last time you ‘Googled’ your company name or URL?
With the rapid growth of blogs, social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace for individuals or LinkedIn for business networking, and an ever-increasing number of sites carrying product reviews, it is extremely likely that someone somewhere is commenting on your business online. And it could be positive or negative!!
Plus these comments can find their way high up in the search engines, perhaps above your own listings.
So what’s the plan? Make sure there is plenty of good news and manage/minimise the impact of negative feedback.
Here’s an example, the worldwide number one site for hotel reviews is www.TripAdvisor.com . So if you are an hotelier, you should:
- check your reviews regularly
- post ‘management’ feedback on reviews where appropriate – it shows you listen and value feedback
- encourage your guests to add reviews to the site
This will grow your business’s online reputation, will probably send more ‘converting’ traffic to your site and help your own search rankings.
A similar strategy can be applied to most businesses – find out where people are talking about you and your market sector online, and engage with that community.
And if you are not sure how to do this or what to do, give me a call.
