Why Reputation Management Is Key to Organizational Success

The process of online reputation management is that of monitoring what you, or your company, looks like online. The goal is that anything negative about you is suppressed and that more positive information is send out. It is a strong element of search engine optimization, but it isn’t just about getting found online, it is about getting positive things found online. What this means, essentially, is that any information that people can find about you on the internet, is information that sets you apart as an authority in your industry.

How Does Reputation Management Work?

Essentially, it is a step-by-step approach that involves:

1. Discovery

This is the step where the online reputation management agency might take a look at what information is already out there about you and whether individuals who search for you will find things that are positive or negative.

2. Determining a plan of action

Once it is known what is out there, the company will get together with you to determine what needs to be done. This all depends on how bad the situation is and what you already have in place. The plan of action also differs based on the niche. Say, for instance, the techniques used for hospitality reputation management may significantly differ from that used in managing a product-based business. However, all of them usually include:

• Creating a responsive, interesting, and up to date website.
• Building a blog that is updated regularly.
• Launching all your social media pages.
• Opening accounts with third party review websites.

3. Getting to work

The actual work will now commence, and this involves a number of different things, including:

• Creating positive, interesting content to be shared on the blog and social media websites.
• Thanking those who have left positive reviews for their time.
• Addressing any concerns and complaints that have been raised in a professional manner.
• Creating videos and other showcase options about positive reviews that have been left.
• Writing press releases about positive elements within your company.

4. Continuation

Reputation management is a constant process. Once one negative issue has been addressed, it is vital that work continues to be done to create more positive elements. Furthermore, you must be made aware of any new information that is created about your company, image, or brand, whether positive or negative. This is done, mainly, by signing up for things like Google Alerts, which means you will receive an email every time there is a new mention.

The process of reputation management is long, complicated, and ongoing. It is something that, technically, you can do yourself. However, that does mean familiarizing yourself with things such as search engine optimization and keywords. Furthermore, you have to have the time to constantly and consistently monitor the information that is out there about you and respond to it properly. This is a full time job, and one that requires someone whose skills and knowledge are regularly updated so that that stay in line with new developments at Google. As such, it is usually a much better idea to simply hire a professional company that is dedicated solely to reputation management and that will ensure your always look good in front of your audience.