Article created by-Maldonado Dahlgaard

When you are trying to maintain a positive business image, you're going to encounter a ton of obstacles. You might know quite a bit about business reputation management, but you can never be too prepared. So continue reading in order to find out some great techniques you can use to help make sure your business continues to thrive.



If your website does not rank on the first few pages of an Internet search, it may be time to invest in a company that specializes search engine optimization. This company will take each of the pages in your website and incorporate keywords throughout it using the latest in SEO practices.

Make sure that at least several of your business web pages are optimized for your business name. You want Google to recognize your business homepage as the authoritative Internet site about your business. You want to have the number one search position for your business name, not number two or three behind a Wikipedia article or some blog. Make sure that your website is the first listing someone sees when they Google your brand.

Try using a social network like LinkedIn to help your reputation management. This social network can rank a bit higher than some of the other ones. It is also an important tool for B2B companies. This is because many people like to search for professional services on LinkedIn instead of the search engines.

Counteract any negative online content on your company by contacting its creator. If there is ever any negative content when you do a search of your company, try contacting the reviewer, blogger or whoever posted it as soon as possible. Ask what is reputation management if there's anything you can do change their negative sentiment to a positive one. If they are unwilling to do so, write a comment(if possible) with your side of the story.

If you find non-factual information about your company online, consider petitioning the owner of the site. You can have this information removed. If you have proof that the information is false, it is likely that the other site will happily take it down.

Personalize each of your responses. Avoid using templates for your responses. Instead, personally write each response as if you were talking to your customer face to face. Your customer will know if you are using templates and will feel as if you do not care about their opinions or business.

If you don't have the time or resources, find a company to manage your reputation. There is so much to monitor that you may not have time to do it all on your own. Working in a team like this can go a long way to maintaining a good company reputation.

Once customers make a purchase, follow up with them. Sometimes issues are not noticed right away, or the customer may not use the new product immediately. Making contact gives you the opportunity to address any problems.

Respond as quickly to complaints and concerns as possible. The sooner you fix a problem, the lesser of a problem it becomes. If you wait until a customer has complained across the Internet, it may be too late. Show your customers how much you care to keep them coming back.

Bring people that are looking for your site directly to your website. You can do this by using your business name and other identifying words as frequently on your website as possible without being annoying. This will bring searchers to you instead of websites with negative and possible untruthful reviews.

Talk to your friends to make sure that they are not doing anything that can make you look bad. For example, if there are pictures of you drunk and acting silly, make sure that your friend does not post them anywhere online. While it may seem like a joke, it can definitely do a number on you.

Knowing your customers is a good way to protect the reputation of your business. Be sure to talk and poll your customers. Find out what they love and don't love about your company. Being aware of what they love will help you talk about those things. Knowing what they dislike gives you the chance to address it or fix it. It also makes you more prepared in case your reputation is attacked.

Look for the potential good in any online conflict. It is far easier to learn from your own experiences than to simply listen and read about resolving online conflicts. After a conflict is over, seek out the learning opportunities it presented. If the conflict caught the attention of people you would like to know, use it as a springboard to improve your own online social and business circles.

Get involved with trade organizations of your industry and share ideas that will improve the industry. New ideas foster growth. If the industry that you are in improves because of contributions made by you, your reputation will benefit from that. You can establish yourself as a leader in your industry.

Online reputation management (ORM) is a lot like search engine optimization. Both are geared toward getting your website to the top of search engine rankings. The difference is that ORM focuses on getting positive information about your website out into the public view. When you are practicing ORM you want to create lots of positive content to outstrip and outweigh anything negative that might be out there.

Learn all about your customers. They will enjoy the personal experience. If you provide a service, consider their needs and let them know you can be of future service to them. This will help your reputation tremendously.

Be willing to concede, in order to save face for your company. While the customer may not be right, the price of the order probably isn't worth the potential blow to the reputation of your business. Sometimes it's better just to give up a small profit and get someone's loyalty in return.

When reputation management is a concern for your business, learn to use press releases to your advantage. A positive press release can send a good message to customers and the media, and help your sale or other event be a smashing success. Post the reviews to your homepage where people can see all the great things they were missing out on!

When a company has a poor reputation, it will lose business. No one will trust it. Do not let that happen to your company. Learn how to manage your business reputation effectively so that your company will always put is best face forward. Use define online reputation management from this article to help you achieve that.