What exactly is online reputation management and why does it matter?
By Dave Custer
With the advent of the digital age, it is as vital to the success of any business as proper management of your inventory. By ignoring it, a business owner puts the very livelihood of his or her organization at risk.
In the simplest of terms, online reputation management can be best described at taking control of what is said about you online. Not taking control in a George Orwell Big Brother way, but by monitoring, responding and knowing all information about your organization in cyberspace.
That information about your organization can come in two forms- what you say about it and what others say about it.
The first form refers to your online profile, or your listings throughout the web. There are standard listing sites such as Google, Facebook, Yellow Pages and Yelp. And within every different line of work, there are several different listing sites specific to that industry. For examples, Healthgrades applies to the medical profession, Angie’s List applies primarily to contractors. The first step to proper reputation management is to ensure that listing is all logistical data is accurate. An inaccurate listing of business hours can cost someone a customer. The second step to managing your online profile is to optimize that listing. There are several different strategies to optimize your listing, from consistent activity to getting images up to show that potential customer what your facility has to offer.
The second type of information refers to reviews- what others are saying about your business online. Consumers are pickier than ever in what how or where they choose to spend their money. No longer do they rely on suggestions or recommendations of friends or acquaintances, they look for the input of complete strangers online. Most of their buying decisions come from the report card of the digital age- online reviews. Almost ninety percent of American consumers use reviews or ratings to inform their purchase decisions. Customer feedback on experience with a business is vital to the future success of a business. It can inform the business owner of what is working, what isn’t and what needs addressing right away.
Overall, online reputation management is described best as a plan of strategies or tactics to improve the reputation of an organization in the online community.