Authored by-Sander Buhl

While you would like to control everything in your business, it's a two way street. Your customers have the last say collectively, and that is why business reputation management is such a huge thing when it comes to handling your business affairs. It's time to get real about some business reputation management.

Before putting too much effort in reputation management online, check to see how much you need, if any. Search your business with Google and Bing. Do negative results come up? Do the websites and blogs your business runs only show up on a few hits or none at all? Answering yes to either question means that you have work cut out.

Be transparent. Some companies have been accused of removing complaints from their website. Don't be like them. Instead, quickly answer the complaints and state on your website how you will remedy the complaint. Once the complaint is resolved, ask your customer to post on your site that the complaint was resolved and how long it took to resolve the complaint.

Set realistic expectations with your customers. If you own a small business, let your customers know when you will respond to their questions. If you cannot answer every question immediately, place a banner saying that all questions will be answered within a certain amount of time, such as within 72 hours.

Be transparent. Some companies have been accused of removing complaints from their website. Don't be like them. Instead, quickly answer the complaints and state on your website how you will remedy the complaint. Once the complaint is resolved, ask your customer to post on your site that the complaint was resolved and how long it took to resolve the complaint.

Hire someone to run your social media programs in a professional manner. Consumers look to social media to see who you are and what your business is all about, and it is vital that your company is portrayed in a positive light. While you should open up a bit in order to let people see the person behind the business, there is a limit to how far you should go with this.

If your company has a negative review online, do not overreact. One of the worst things a company can do is respond to a negative comment or complaint with anger. Also, do not try to retaliate against whoever posted the complaint. These types of reaction are not going to solve the problem and will only draw more attention to all the negativity.

Frequent some of the places your customers do. Visit any places you know they go to often. You can become acquainted with customers and give them the best service possible when you interact with them. People will feel more relaxed speaking with you in this type of environment.





To boost your business reputation among your customers, give them a chance to get to know your company better. Interact with them more on social networks. When people see that your company is not just a faceless corporate entity, they will receive you better, and your business reputation will improve.

Pay attention to what's going on in social media. People talk a lot about companies through these platforms. Monitoring the platforms enables you to do immediate damage control on any negative comments posted. That keeps your reputation strong.

You need to plan out your business moves online. https://instagram.com/scotthalldotcom can't just start replying randomly to all of your customer's posts. You need to take some time to plan out how you're going to approach them and what you're going to say. Not doing this may cause some problems for you.

Maintain good communication with your customers to develop a good reputation. Customers do not like to be in the dark about things. When reputation monitoring keep them updated and informed, they will appreciate this good service from you. Their trust in your company will grow and your reputation will improve along with it.

You may see that certain competitors are using fake reviews to beef up their reputation. Avoid joining in on this. Not only is this a poor practice, it may also be illegal in certain states.

Check to see if your company is listed on Wikipedia. This is a very good thing for your reputation because Wikipedia entries consistently rank high in the search engines. If your company is not listed, it may be a good idea to find a journalistic writer who can create a Wikipedia entry without bias to write one. You shouldn't write it yourself as this would not present a neutral picture of your company.

A crucial element in reputation management is claiming your brand name, especially on the Internet. Make sure that no other business or individual is able to use your reputation to enhance their own agenda or to discredit you. Use only one name across all your online venues, including social media, and secure any obvious variations of it that a competitor could take advantage of.

Having a reasonable number of high quality subdomains can help you build credibilty and establish a good reputation. You can build two or three subdomains, each focusing on a single product, service or aspect of your top level domain. You would simply add the name of the product or service as a prefix to your domain name to create a new page. Be careful not to create too many of these pages because it can backfire on you and lower your search engine rankings.

The reputation of your company is one of your most important assets. You need to protect your brand. This is done by properly optimizing your content on your website and monitoring search results regularly. If any negativity shows up on the web searches, you need to handle it as quickly as possible.

Consider writing a blog about issues relating to your business industry that your customers may find helpful. Offer tips and advice through your blog. This how you establish your company as a leader in your industry. Your knowledge and expertise show through in the helpful information that you share in your blog.

Tout your positives. Some people and companies don't like to blow their own horn, but it's important to combat the negative opinions out there. Not shocking: Most people only review online when they've got a chip on their shoulder with a brand. It's your job to fill in the blanks with positives.

Would you like to do business with a company that has a terrible reputation? Neither do your customers and clients. Treat your reputation well and keep the customers coming back for more and referring their friends. Use the tips above to help you take care of your reputation the right way.