Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room – Jeff Bezos
Starting on that note let me ask you something.
What would be the first thing you would do if you have to enquire about the newest restaurant opened in your neighborhood recently? Or what would you do in order to make sure you select the right online educational course for yourself?
I’m sure, it would be immediately taking out your smartphone, “Googling” the new restaurant or online course and – check for its customer reviews and online reputation (particularly the stars and ratings associated with it).
This is where all the importance of Online Reputation Management pops up for various businesses available online these days.
Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is! – Chris Anderson
In this highly digitalized world of the Internet, it has truly become imperative for businesses to maintain agood online reputation by being able monitor and ameliorate their performance and online reputation,thereby bringing in several opportunities for them.
But there is also the underlying threat of negative reviews and comments (some can be unethical as well to cut down competition), since we are living in an age of social media and its far-reaching consequences.
So, let us see below actually why Online Reputation Management is so essential for any business to maintain a positive brand image.
Effective on Search Engines
Well, this is no surprise that Google or any other search engine would always want to check the credibility of your website (by looking up for your reviews and customer comments) before helping it rank higher.
With a positive brand image, consisting of various positive reviews and best quality products and services to happy customers, would certainly bring your website on top of the search results page.
Thus maintaining a positive online reputation is a must for improving your SEO rankings.
Building Online Trust and Credibility
If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they will do business with you – Zig Ziglar
It is extremely essential to gain the customer trust by taking every necessary step in order to provide them with a best quality service or product, staying true to your brand image and value.
A happy customer is bound to provide you a positive comment building their trust on you and thus spreading the goodwill to other users. So, apparently the credibility for your business goes up exponentially with these ripple effects of a happy customer.
Increasing Sales and Revenues
As discussed in the above point, with trust, you get many more customers and the cycle goes on if you look after your online reputation and help convert these online leads into potential customers.
Thus a proliferation in the revenues would just be the result of a good reputation.
Showing Off the Best of You
Showing your best side off always comes in handy, if you are looking for some great investor profiles coming your way, or even getting the best of the candidates as your employees.
If you have a great online reputation, then it is more likely that more and more investors would like to invest in your business or even attract the right candidates to your company to work for you.
Thus you clearly need to work upon your online professional image as well and maintain it in your best capacity.
Responding to Negative Comments
It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it – Warren Buffet
Watch out for the difference between genuinely added negative comments or reviews by an unhappy customer and other fake reviews which are used to put you down to let them move up the ladder of the competition.
It is for you to decide how you want to tackle this situation. Answering and apologizing or taking responsibility for your own mistakes and repairing things for your customers, offering them compensations if possible would take you a long way in the online world.
Negative comments are too a part and parcel of your online journey. All you need to do is to tackle them gently and in a more caring manner so as to let your customers know you care for them.
