Online Reputation Management

Think about that for a second. Is there anything else you can get four out of five people to agree on? Even after 40 years, we still can’t get more than four out of five dentists to agree about sugarless gum. 

It’s not just online shoppers who are doing it, either. Many people do still prefer to make that final purchase at a physical, brick-and-mortar location. But they’re also using online research to filter out what to buy, and who to buy it from.

Every day, potential customers who might have never heard of you before are looking you up online to find out if you’re legit.

So what will they find out about you? 

It should be obvious that your online reputation can really make or break your business. A good online reputation gives you a strong competitive edge in your market.

Frustratingly, in the online world, treating your customers well and offering them a great product or service at a fair price isn’t always enough to ensure a good online reputation.

It should be. But any business owner who’s ever woken up to an angry, unfair, and inaccurate online view from a chronically disagreeable customer knows it isn’t that simple.

That’s why having a plan in place for online reputation management is so crucial. No, you may never be able to do anything to make Angry Bob happy. But you can still do a lot to shape public perception of your business so that good vibes outweigh the bad juju.

In fact, there’s a double benefit! Seeing a great star rating next to your business will obviously make you more appealing to a researching shopper. But Google itself also assigns more weight to well-reviewed businesses in local search rank. 

In other words, get a lot of good reviews, and you won’t just look good. You’ll also appear higher on the page—maybe even in that all-important “three pack.” 

Friendly tip: For more information on other ways to boost your local and organic search rank, check out our write-ups on both local search and SEO. 

But there’s a fundamental problem. Most people don’t take the time to leave a review. And angry customers tend to be a lot more motivated to write one than happy customers. That can skew online perception of your company in a way that might cost your business a lot of money. 

Fortunately, it’s a problem that can be overcome.

How many times have you struggled to explain something to a friend or a colleague, before finally saying “I’ll just show you.”

Countless times, right?

While we’re not sure a picture is worth exactly a thousand words, sometimes images are just much easier to understand.

I could tell you about how beautiful my trip to Greece was, or I could show you my pictures.

I could try to explain a series of statistics and research about an important topic, or I could show you a chart or infographic that displays that data in an easy-to-understand, visual way.

Graphics and images can often communicate important information, and even emotions, in a way that really resonates with people. And it often communicates those things completely, just at a glance.

But there’s even more to this story.

Often, simply by adding relevant images to an existing piece of content, the words that are already there are more likely to connect and stick.

It all comes back to keeping the reader interested. Notice how we’ve filled this webpage—the one you’re currently reading—with images, graphical flourishes, bolded text, and the like?

Imagine if, instead, it was just one solid wall of text.

Incorporating graphic elements into you text at regular—and frequent—intervals makes viewers much more likely to stay with you to the end and actually read what you have to say, rather than giving up partway through.

The way you present yourself online—on your website, on social media, and on third-party listing sites with or without reviews—says a lot about your professionalism and integrity as an individual, company, and brand. 

How can you demonstrate your worthiness? Here are some concrete ways: