Online Reputation Management
approx 9 minute read
Your reputation precedes you
It seems a little unfair to be judged before someone has even met you.
But that’s exactly what happens in business. Your online reputation precedes you.
And because first impressions count, it can be the difference between success and failure.
So it’s worth regularly investing a little time in making yours the best it can be.
We’re here to help. So in this article, we’ll explore the following:
- Why do recommendations matter?
- What is online reputation management?
- Why influencers matter to you (whatever your business)
- & What steps we can take to improve our online reputation
Let’s get started.
Everyone’s a critic
In business, your reputation is everything.
In fact, Warren Buffet once famously said “If you lose money for the firm I will be understanding. If you lose reputation I will be ruthless.”
It’s perhaps always been this way in the marketplace. But it’s even more magnified today.
It’s just so much easier to find opinions than it was before. For example…
Anyone know a good […]?
Imagine It’s 1992 and you’re looking for a reliable roofer.
You find some businesses in the YellowPages and someone who has left their card on the noticeboard in the Chinese.
But it’s Tyler McSlate & Son, a recommendation from friends, who gets the business.
Why? Easy. They came recommended.
Fast forward 30 years and you need a reliable roofer again.
(Not having much luck with this roofing malarkey are you?)
Unfortunately Jack’s retired and his son now mines cryptocurrency.
So where do you look?
Having had some luck at the Chinese previously, you ask the Deliveroo guy.
But he just shrugs so you head to Google. Most people do.
You hit the jackpot! Dozens of businesses, most with reviews. Some with plenty of good ones.
Turns out in many cases this is just as influential as those recommendations from mates down the pub.
In fact, 85% of consumers give online reviews the same weight as word-of-mouth.
And what about Facebook? You could also ask for recommendations there. They even have a dedicated feature for it.
Plus there are review-based websites.
So you can see it’s easier than ever to find out what people think.
Not just for trades
This modern-day marvel isn’t limited to trades of course. Although with TV shows about rogue traders, it’s easy to see why it’s a perfect fit.
But in fact, we use reviews and recommendations to shop for products, choose places to stay, and even sort movie night.
As a result, word of mouth, aka recommendations, remains the most powerful way to raise brand awareness, influence customers, and win business.
Why is that? Because a recommendation cuts through the mental clutter usually required to decide whether you trust that business enough.
Our brains are lazy. This is due diligence already done. A shortcut to the solution. Reduced cognitive load.
Why are reviews and recommendations so powerful?
People are more likely to trust recommendations from others, especially if they think the people making the recommendation are like them, or in a similar situation.
This is especially true if those recommendations come from friends or family, who we have strong emotional connections with. These emotional connections can increase our trust in the recommendation and make us more likely to follow through with a purchase.
Influencers
People are more likely to trust recommendations from those they perceive as experts in a particular area.
For example, when a famous chef recommends a restaurant. Or when a sommelier suggests a wine.
If that person happens to be famous or has a big following, then look out!
Even if we don’t personally know the celebrity, we might still feel like we have a connection to them, or admire their accomplishments.
This makes us even more likely to follow their endorsements.
If you’re interested in this, check out our SEO webinar on influencers.
Fun story: Apparently Hulk Hogan had the chance of putting his name to the George Foreman grill but he missed the call from his agent, who instead gave it to the former heavyweight boxer.
The grill is rumoured to have made George Foreman $200 million. Burn.
More than Brick Lane than Khaby Lame
If you run a local business, you may be thinking all this talk about influencers doesn’t relate to you.
But that’s simply not true. There are levels to this.
If you own a local restaurant, there are plenty well-followed foodies out there desperate for a free meal and some good content.
Even startups launching a good product can find relevant people in their area.
Especially if the product is in food, home, lifestyle, or wellness. Or interests like music, cars, gardening, and sports.
Granted, if you are in the business of storage or skip hire it might be harder to find a relatable topic people are passionate about.
(That said, maybe you could hook up with a decluttering guru!)
But even if Marie Kondo doesn’t happen to live in your town, it doesn’t mean you can’t find influencers.
Join networking groups and create referral campaigns as part of your marketing.
Connect with people you know and ask for recommendations on Linkedin.
Do a great job and your customers will happily become your brand ambassadors for you.
Confirmation bias
Finally, when we hear positive things about a product or service, it confirms our pre-existing beliefs that it is a good choice.
We are more likely to pay attention to information that aligns with our beliefs.
Especially if we’ve secretly already decided we want to buy the thing!
Fun fact: We often buy emotionally and later justify logically.
How can this help my business?
So with all that said, it seems undeniable we’d want to try positively influence the narrative.
To manage the online content where people hear about our products and services. That’s online reputation management (ORM).
What is online reputation management?
First impressions count. That often happens online. And you aren’t even in the room.
ORM is about creating, monitoring, and maintaining the perception of your brand, and your services, on the internet.
Experts usually talk about content across 4 main channels based on the PESO model.
-
Paid Media – Any paid advertising, placements, influencers, or sponsorships
-
Earned Media – What others say about you on other websites or review platforms.
-
Shared Media – Other people’s Socials. They probably should just have called it Social Media.
-
Owned Media – Online real estate that belongs to you. Your website, your socials, etc.
Across all four, there is content you control, and content you don’t.
Your website
So the first step is to deal with content on real estate you own. This is low-hanging fruit, if you like. Easy pickings.
Specifically, your own website.
Your website should:
- Look professional and trustworthy
- Be secure and up-to-date
- Have accurate opening hours
- Feature helpful user content
- Display testimonials & case studies
Third-party sites, where you can influence the content
OK, next, we should give some thought to websites and platforms we do not own, but where we can control the content.
Think social media for example. We don’t own Facebook, sadly, but we can control what is displayed there.
It’s the same with other third-party profiles, such as Google Business Profile (Arguably the most important).
Or directory listings on other websites.
You also get to influence the content on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
And you have the opportunity to reply to reviews on third-party applications such as Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor (and lots more!)
Let’s get stuck into a few tips.
Social media
Your social media should:
- Feature consistent branding across all channels
- Be updated frequently and consistently
- Respond to comments and messages
- Demonstrate the appropriate tone of voice
- Include appropriate content for the brand
Not cats. Unless you run a cat cafe. Then fine.
That doesn’t mean you can’t show some personality by the way.
Just keep the character on brand. And be nice.
Be sure to follow the conversation on social media.
Search for related @mentions, hashtags, locations, and your business name or brand.
What’s the overall sentiment? How can this be nurtured and cultivated?
Tip: Looking for expert help with this? Check out our Social Media packages.
Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile should
- Be fully complete
- Include lots of pictures
- Contain accurate information
- Be recently updated
- Have a healthy amount of positive reviews
Complete and accurate Google My Business listings get 7x more clicks than those missing information and are 70% more likely to attract location visits. Source.
This is the same advice for other directories you may appear on.
TripAdvisor for example, a local tourism site, industry listings, or local business forum.
Tip: Search for your brand to find every mention of your business out there.
Claim every profile and edit as much as possible.
Where you find mentions that you cannot directly edit, get in touch with the publisher and send up-to-date information, logo, and quality photos.
SERPs
We know that most people head to Google when they’re looking for information about a business.
In fact 93% of consumers search for local businesses online.
So if you’re not showing up there adequately enough, then you have lots of work to do.
If you are showing up, well done. But you still have lots of work to do. Sorry.
Improve your search listing by
- Climbing the rankings with SEO
- Crafting quality meta titles and descriptions
- Optimising for featured snippets
- Read our TOP SPOT article for more details
3rd party review websites
For example, Google Reviews, Facebook, TrustPilot, TripAdvisor.
Here, you neither control the site nor all the content. But that doesn’t mean you can’t influence the results!
And that’s important because these sites are rather influential, to say the least…
- 70% of consumers read between 1-6 client reviews before making an online purchase.
- 97% of consumers consult product reviews before purchasing
- 94% of customers say a negative online review can prevent them from choosing that business.
How to reply to reviews
Embrace reviews as an essential feedback tool. You can use this to monitor and improve your product or service.
If you monitor the sentiment and key points regularly, you’ll be able to react to issues and resolve them quickly.
When replying to each review, remember, you’re not just replying to the reviewer.
You are also making a statement to the hundreds of other people who will read your reply. It’s a huge opportunity.
If possible, use their name in the reply. Always thank them for their feedback.
Be sure to mirror back some points from the review, to show you’ve taken notice.
It’s an opportunity to provide context but also to show you care.
When it comes to reviews, you should
- Proactively request more reviews
- Regularly monitor all review platforms.
- Always respond in good time, to both positive and negative reviews.
- Be polite and show compassion with responses
- Monitor the shifts in sentiment and react accordingly
- Pay attention to the key points and phrases mentioned
- Keep up to date with reviews of competitors
- Use the insights within your business
Keep your ears open
So you are already actively listening on social media to stay in the loop.
And you regularly check your review sites.
You should also take steps to get updates on when your brand is mentioned online.
You can set up Google Alerts to help you with the process.
Kind of saves you from having to trawl through 1 billion websites or so.
Resources available
Online Reputation Management can be a full-time job. (You probably already have one of them!)
We have some tools and services that can take the strain, allowing you to do the most important part of it all:
Concentrating on providing the best possible product or service to your clients.
Our SEO packages help build a reputation and increase online visibility using our team of locally based real-life human SEO experts.
In addition, SEO Console can control listing accuracy, improve onsite technical SEO, and help you monitor sentiment and respond to reviews.
It even helps you easily monitor the reviews of your competitors. All in one place, and all included with a free 30 day trial.
