Wondering if your business needs reputation management services?
The short answer is yes. It’s tempting to think you can handle your company’s reputation on your own, but it’s simply not realistic. You may think your business will never run into reputation issues, but it can happen to anyone.
However, there’s a lot more to know about reputation management services. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the reasons you need reputation management for your business, and what these services can do for you.
Read on to learn more!
What Are Reputation Management Services?
Reputation management services do a lot of work for your company.
They can help you get an internet defamation lawyer or get rid of negative reviews. However, they don’t just do damage control in the case of a crisis. Let’s take a look at some of the things these services can do that you may not have thought of.
1. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is what allows potential clients to find you with a simple Google search. Reputation management companies can actually help you set up and maintain your SEO practices, bringing new clients to your business.
When you have your SEO strategies nailed down, you’ll get the potential customers you really want on your site. SEO can also help boost positive reviews of your company, while effectively hiding the negative.
Reputation management companies can help create a lot of positive content about your company when you need it. If a bad review pops up, the right amount of good content can bury it so far down the search list that most users will never find it.
Most people expect to find at least a few negative reviews of a company, but it will look much better if the first few search results are positive.
2. Content Management
No matter what line of business you’re in, content is key to becoming successful in the modern business world. Creating and managing enough content is incredibly difficult, but a reputation management company can help.
You’ll need high-quality blog content and lots of it to get ranked by the search engines and win the trust of new customers. When your blog provides useful, interesting information, you’ll be seen as an expert in your field, which makes customers more likely to make a purchase.
However, having unique, organized content is easier said than done. Finding the time to write, format, and edit that content can be a full-time job in itself.
A reputation management company can take a look at the existing content you have and help you improve it, as well as adding new content that’s relevant to the audience you want to reach. That content will get read and shared across the internet, adding credibility to your brand name.
3. Social Media Management
All businesses do better if they’re active on social media. However, who has the time to manage multiple social media accounts that need to be posted on every day?
Let your reputation management services take over the social media game for you. A social media presence is great for gaining trust among your customers. They’ll be able to interact with your brand and ask questions. If someone leaves a negative comment, you can impress other customers with how well you handle the situation.
However, a good social media strategy takes a lot of time and knowledge, which is why many businesses can’t do it alone. A reputation management company can keep your social media clear of bad pictures and comments while handling the back-and-forth with customers and posting relevant new content.
4. Website Monitoring
You can control your own social media pages and your own site. However, what about third-party sites that post about your brand?
Third-party website management is another important thing a reputation management company can do for you. Negative reviews from former customers and even former employees can seriously hurt your reputation. Sites like Yelp and Glassdoor make it easy for people to post anonymous reviews that can hurt your brand.
If someone really wants to hurt you, they can even post things on their own website or blog to damage your reputation. These posts might be false, but that doesn’t change the damage they can do.
Choosing the Right Reputation Management Services
Now that you know why you need reputation management, how can you choose the right services for you? Let’s take a look.
1. Decide on Your Goals
Having a clear picture of your needs and goals will help you pick the best services for you. Although reputation management can do a lot, you might have specific things you want them to focus on.
For example, do you need help building a social media campaign, or is burying bad reviews more important for your company right now?
2. Consider Customer Service
You can tell the quality of a reputation management company by the quality of their customer service.
The company you choose needs to be able to communicate well and work with you. If they’re too busy to talk to you when you need information, that’s not a good sign. They should also be able to walk you through everything they’re doing – although reputation management can be difficult, it isn’t complicated.
Look for a company that gives you a unique approach, rather than one-size-fits-all services. Reputation management works best when it’s tailored to the unique situation at hand.
3. Do Plenty of Research
A good reputation management company needs to be able to handle their own reputation first. Do your research and look at a company’s online presence before you hire them.
They should have plenty of information available online, not just a phone number to contact. Anyone can claim to do “reputation management,” so beware of scammers who don’t really know the industry.
Looking for Reputation Management Services?
Don’t wait until you feel like you need reputation management to get started. Be proactive by handling your reputation before issues arise.
Reputation management helps protect you from everything, from bad reviews to legal issues. For more on avoiding legal issues in your business, check out this post.