How to Manage Online Reputation the Right Way
Friday January 20, 2017 , 3 min Read
When running a business, it is pivotal that one maintains an impressive online reputation. Not only does this help achieve more traffic – thereby boosting one’s business – but also significantly escalates the value of the brand.
Google – the centre of the online universe
Google, as the most popular search engine used by millions of people worldwide, can be employed to one’s advantage. Any negative information (data, reviews etc.) concerning either the business or the brand should be carefully concealed. Not doing so potentially poses as a significant impediment.
Google can also be used in receiving alerts and notifications – especially when someone posts content using specified keywords. Google Alerts, as a Google product, can be effectively utilised to scan the web and return with websites (blogs, research articles, relevant pages etc.) pertinent to one’s business and brand.
Significance of an impressive online profile
Creating a telling profile is equally important to up one’s online reputation – for it is what users, especially the ones visiting your webpage for the first time, will base their judgements and criticisms on.
Social media has played a massive role in helping start-ups and independent entrepreneurs establish themselves and find their niche. It has given people a voice, a medium to express their opinions and, most importantly, a platform to put themselves in front of an audience that can give them valuable feedback.
While the advent of social media has brought a host of advantages, it also requires that one maintains extreme care as to what goes online. An adventure or escapade that may have been posted by either you or your friends in good fun may come off as distasteful or unsavoury to others.
Identifying issues to better one’s online reputation
An impressive profile also helps in identifying areas where one needs to work on in order to pull up their online reputation and, subsequently, attract more people.
While negative reviews can be effectively used to cross challenges and hurdles, it is equally empirical that one displays humility in receiving criticism. Do not exhibit aggression or counter-question a user that criticises your work. At the same time, handle positive comments with modesty and show appreciation to those who have taken out time to give a review.
Shed arrogance, adopt simplicity
Maintaining a certain impression can, at times, get the better of people. While it may be important to achieve an impressive online reputation, it is equally imperative – and difficult – to maintain it. One may be a pundit in their field of business, but assuming the general public has the same understanding as them can be perceived as loathsome arrogance. Therefore, make certain to not include in your profile essentials that make you appear chesty or overbearingly narcissistic. Your profile should be carefully designed with an aim to invite people. You need to ensure viewers don’t get a reason to disregard your work.
Awesomeness and authority go hand in hand
With the plethora of tools that one can use to lift their online presence and, thereby, reputation, one should not ignore the principal ingredient – quality content. Does the content appeal to the masses? Are people able to relate to it?
As Andrew Herrault, lead strategist, Connective Insights, says, "The more awesome blog content you publish and promote, the more authority your brand name will carry. It will also serve to help push down in search results any negative reviews you may have accumulated."
Sources:
