What is online reputation management?
What exactly is online reputation management or ORM? If you are in the internet marketing business, you’ve surely heard of the term plenty of times. As the term may already imply, internet reputation management is a process aimed at keeping the online reputation of a particular business or company, a positive one by reducing the impact of any negative reviews or feedbacks about them. While the task may seem insurmountable, effectively managing online reputation to the benefit of online businesses is certainly possible with search engine optimisation and is certainly invaluable in social media and web marketing.
The success of any business depends on the reputation it has among clients or consumers. This fact remains true regardless of whether you are running an online business or a brick and mortar one. It takes years to build a favorable online marketing reputation among consumers in any niche market but it can be destroyed and slandered rather easily causing damaging the viability and overall profitability of any online business. As the old saying goes – bad news travels fast and online, it can travel twice as fast. Think about what would happen if search engine page results for your website are full of negative comments and feedbacks about your products or services – do you think people would even consider doing business with you?
Approaching the subject of online reputation management
When it comes to internet reputation management, many internet marketers tend to overlook the fact that the way in which you go about managing online reputation is reputation in itself. Simply put, whatever you do to protect the reputation of your online business reflects on your reputation as well and the best way to go about doing it is to be humble.
The world of internet marketing is brutally competitive and online business owners must be ready to face not only the negative feedbacks of disappointed clients but the potential slandering of jealous competitors as well. Humbly acknowledge any faults or shortcomings you may have and focus on the positive aspects of running your online business.
Contrary to what a lot of people are lead to believe, accepting faults and shortcomings doesn’t make a business unreliable nor lessen its credibility but rather, it makes you real and more reliable in the eyes of potential consumers. As mentioned earlier, internet marketing is highly competitive regardless of which niche market you are in and customers often find no shortage of options.
Naturally, these people are going to look for reputable and reliable service or product providers and while an online business may occasionally receive negative reviews or criticisms from their clients, seeing that they are responsible enough to take ownership of these issues can inspire confidence among potential consumers that they ought to identify and do business with you. Thus the initiative and ability to bring out advantages from negative comments and publicity can certainly be a part of online reputation management and help turn the tides in your favor.
Lashing out angrily to perpetrators behind negative publicity attacking your business never works. If anything, it will only add fuel to the fire and reinforce the negative reputation already associated with your online business. Addressing such predicaments require the delicate expertise of internet reputation management service providers capable of professionally reputing such negative publicity and rectifying issues as well. They can also implement solutions aimed at distracting most of your targeted consumers from such negative reviews by presenting positive publicity.
As mentioned earlier, SEO or search engine optimisation can be described as a cornerstone in establishing a positive online marketing reputation. It involves among other things, creating quality and relevant content for your site that will certainly help make your site a reputable one in the eyes of search engines and online users.
Creating a positive and trusted reputation online is a difficult and never-ending task, but one that needs to be done properly and proactively at all times. Online reputation management may demand a significant investment in time and money on your part but it’s a cost that is well worth it as it ensures the security of everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
