Here’s what you need to know about protecting your brand’s online reputation

In today’s world, not only is it vital to have a good and clean business reputation online, but also to have a good personal reputation and footprint as most people are looking for the face behind the business. Even though you can control the digital footprint of your brand online to a certain extent, online reputation management can help you manage your digital profile proactively instead of reactively.

Before the web became our default research tool, most brands could count on the fact that news traveled relatively slowly and often had plenty time to develop and create a plan for any problem. With the growth of consumer generated content online, anyone can post anything at anytime to their network.

We are human and so we trust opinions from people and that means that negative comments and reviews can destroy your business and personal reputation. If you believe that this is the only problem you are going to face when you start with an online reputation management strategy, think again. Former employees, disgruntled clients and even your competition can attack you and your company by posting negative information online for others to read, share and comment on.

Many times the negative feedback and comments can be gossip and untruths, but the reality of it is that it can still damage your reputation. Any negative information about you can also end up in the hands of traditional media outlets like radio, television and any print media which can also add fuel to the fire that can create a PR nightmare.

The importance of managing your digital footprint
When people are searching online for information regarding your products or services, you ideally want only a positive ranking on the search engines with positive content about your brand. Do a simple search for your company name and the services that you offer. Are you on the first page with positive results? What are the other results that you see? Could it be telling your potential customers something?

Other people doing the same search will see the same results on the search engines. What stood out about your brand when you did the search? Is the information that is displayed up to date and correct? Is it positive and true? Do another search, but look for other sources where your brand name might be mentioned on blogs and forums. What are other people saying saying about your brand?

People in all the corners of the world are using their favourite search engine to find answers and solutions. When someone does a search for anything relevant to your brand and all their findings are negative, will they ever consider you as the viable option? I don’t think so. Negative comments can affect more than just sales. It affects investor relations, recruitment and your credibility.

How to start managing your reputation online
The process of managing your reputation online consists of various traditional marketing, search engine marketing, social media, PR and digital marketing strategies to improve the overall visibility of your brand. Having positive information on the first two search engine result pages about you and also having an overall positive sentiment online should be your ultimate goal.

As more up to date and positive information about your brand is added to the various online channels and search rankings, channels with negative information and comments can be pushed down the list of results which will make them less visible to your potential or current customers.

Most people only look at the first few pages when doing a search. By increasing the number of web channels with positive information about your brand can improve the chance that people will only see good and positive information when they are searching for you. A positive and good digital reputation can lead to a better brand reputation.

Responding to negative comments
Don’t think that pushing down negative results on the search engine result pages and other social media channels is the only way you need to deal with negative feedback about your brand. Yes you can do this, but responding proactively to any negative feedback about your brand online can win you more votes online.

Always research the negative comment or feedback so that you can reply with the best response. Never start a war online and look for ways that you can turn the outcome into a positive comment.
Managing your digital footprint in this day and age is not a nice to have anymore, but a must have.