Having a good cyber reputation is critical to your success — it doesn’t matter whether you own a restaurant, run a blog, or are head of a major corporation. That’s why it’s important to be vigilant in making sure your business is always seen in a positive light. So, take a look at these four techniques to help you monitor your reputation on the Internet and prevent damage in the first place.
Moderate Comments on Your Website and Social Media Accounts
There is no reason why you should allow the reputation of your business to be damaged on your website or social media accounts because you have the ability to approve or deny all comments. This doesn’t mean you should censor everything that is remotely negative, though. You should just carefully manage the things that are negative by addressing them.
Besides negative comments, SPAM is also an issue. SPAM comments distract potential customers and give your business a bad image. So, make sure to delete any comments that look remotely like SPAM. If a comment is overly promotional, poorly written, or irrelevant, it is SPAM.
Install Apps to Monitor Your Internet Reputation
Unfortunately, you can’t moderate comments made about your business on other websites, but you can monitor what is being said and address issues with comments of your own. There are apps that help you do this. For instance, if you look at the Reputation.com Company Overview, you see that they have an app that aids your business in removing negative content about your business on the Internet. It also monitors what is being said about your business on a constant basis. Additionally, you can setup your own Google Alerts to help you monitor your internet reputation.
People care about more than the cost of products and services. They choose companies to work with based on reputation. For instance, many people read reviews and check out a restaurant’s website and social media accounts before stopping in to try the food for themselves. If you own a restaurant and do not monitor your online reputation, you may be losing business.
Quickly Address Negative Comments About Your Business
If you’re using apps to monitor your online reputation, you can quickly address anything negative that pops up. If people are leaving bad comments about your business on another website, you shouldn’t just ignore them. You should create a comment of your own that disputes anything that is untrue. Of course, you should do this in a friendly manner to prevent further reputation damage.
Rethink All of Your Business Comments and Statements
Some businesses damage their own reputation because they react or speak before assessing a situation. This is common when businesses decide to take a stance on a political topic. For instance, some Starbucks shareholders came under fire for comments about their anti-marriage equality comments. The best bit of advice is to keep your mouth shut unless the political cause is directly related to your business or products. You shouldn’t lose business over opinions, especially those that are political.
Do you have any other tips for monitoring your cyber reputation? Leave a comment below.
