This guide to building a reputation will walk you through strategies for creating a positive reputation on the internet, both on your own and with the help of ORM services.
The term “online reputation” refers to the public perception of a business or individual on the internet. Several factors of a company’s or person’s digital footprint can influence their online reputation, including:
- Content that’s posted, liked or shared
- Comments made online
- Photos and videos that are uploaded
- Media coverage and press releases
Having a positive online reputation can increase customer trust and encourage business growth. For both companies and individuals, a strong online reputation can mean long-term success.
However, a bad online reputation can cause you to miss out on opportunities, like job opportunities or business revenue. It can also make it difficult to grow personally or professionally, and it may even have a negative impact on your personal relationships.
Luckily, online reputation management (ORM) is able to shape and maintain your digital reputation. In this article, we’ll share key strategies to build a strong online reputation.
It’s possible to create a robust, positive online reputation even if you’re starting from zero or rebounding from a PR crisis. Call us at
844-230-3803
for more information.
Why Is Having a Strong Reputation Important?
Your online reputation impacts customer perceptions of your business, online reviews, and even search engine results. Let’s get into these a bit more.
- Trust: When you have a great online reputation, it’s much easier to build trust with employees, customers and potential customers, and business partners.
- Business Growth: A positive business reputation can increase customer loyalty, which leads to more sales and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Search Engine Rankings: A positive reputation improves SEO because Google Search prioritizes companies with a strong digital reputation and positive online reviews.
When your business’s reputation is negative, you miss out on all of these perks. Plus, you could lose customers, suffer from lower sales, and even attract negative media attention.
How To Build a Good Reputation Online
There are a number of ways to develop a positive professional reputation or personal digital presence online. Let’s go over some of them.
- Have a Clear Brand Identity: In order for your brand — whether it’s a company or your personal brand — to resonate with your target audience, you need a well-defined message, strong values, and a voice they can identify with.
- Stay Consistent On All Platforms: Building a trustworthy brand relies on consistency. Keep this in mind when it comes to your customer interactions, messaging and visuals on your website, social media, and as you engage with online reviews.
- Deliver High-Quality Products/Services: It’s nearly impossible to earn a good reputation online if you don’t provide quality products or services.
- Communicate With Your Audience: Make it a priority to engage with your audience. Being engaged means chatting with customers online, answering their questions, and making sure to address any negative experiences immediately.
- Leverage Excellent Experiences: When a customer writes a good review or testimonial, share it with your audience. This can enhance your credibility while providing social proof, which others look at when deciding whether or not to trust your brand.
- Connect With Influencers and Other Partners: Working with influencers and other big players in your industry will increase your reach. Plus, having a strong recommendation from a trusted brand or individual will give your credibility a boost.
We work with clients to help them build their online reputation and take control of their digital presence. Give us a call at
844-230-3803
to learn more.
How to Maintain and Protect Your Online Reputation
Once you’ve built a good reputation online, you have to work to protect it. Here’s how to keep your online reputation in high regard.
- Monitor Your Business’s Reputation: There are lots of digital tools and methods for monitoring mentions of your brand online. Google Alerts is a simple listening tool, and there are more advanced options for monitoring search results and social media as well.
- Encourage Your Customers to Leave Reviews: While every customer has a right to share negative experiences online, it’s smart to encourage your customers — especially the satisfied ones — to leave feedback. If you stand behind your brand and know you’re doing the best you can, it’s likely that a majority of those reviews will be positive.
- Regularly Create New Content: Consistently publishing engaging, informative content on your website, social media and other platforms can keep you fresh in the minds of your customers and audience.
- Respond to Negative Feedback: Always make sure to address negative reviews right away. Remain professional when speaking to customers, and have the goal of solving their problems in some way before the situation escalates.
- Remain Transparent in a Crisis: You should always be transparent with your customers, shareholders and the public, but this is especially important as your brand navigates a crisis.
Maintaining a good reputation is extremely important for your success. According to Trustpilot, over 95% of responders, the top factor that increases trust in a company is if it has a good online reputation (Trustpilot)
Today, online reputation management is more important than ever before. Get started with a free analysis here or explore our services offered through our parent company, NetReputation.
Final Thoughts About Reputation Management for Your Brand
Having a strong reputation is important for your personal or business brand because it increases trust, which leads to business growth. Together, these elements can improve your search engine rankings, which allows other customers and partners to find you.
Building a great reputation online is a complex process with a lot of steps, including:
- Developing a brand identity to make a great first impression
- Ensuring you offer quality products or services
- Consistent posting on various platforms
- Regular communication with your audience to answer questions
- Monitoring for mentions of your brand online
- Review management to address concerns
- Outreach to connect with industry influencers
- Proactive PR crisis management
At OnlineReputation.com, we provide must-know information to individuals and businesses who want to create, grow or repair their digital reputation. Whether you’re prioritizing your personal reputation or your company’s reputation in the business world, our advice and team of experts can help.
Through our parent company, NetReputation, we offer a range of online reputation management services, including ad management, search engine optimization, review monitoring, content removal and more. Our five-step ORM strategy ensures we cover every base to create a tailored program that’s right for you.
Along with our parent company NetReputation, OnlineReputation.com provides information and services to help you protect your digital presence. Get started with a free online reputation analysis here.