How to Create and Maintain a Positive Reputation Online as a Business Owner

View PDF | Print View
by: Brian SD Scott
Total views: 16
Word Count: 797
Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 Time: 1:33 PM
0 comments

An essential component of effective Internet marketing is managing your reputation and your company's reputation online. Consumers often engage in Internet research before choosing a product or service as well as the provider of that product or service.

It is quite common for a consumer to research your company name, your name and your URL before making a final decision as to whether or not to use your company. This fact makes it essential that you engage in effective reputation management.

Reputation Management - Know What is Being Said

You have to know what is being said about you (both positive and negative) in order to manage your reputation. It is impossible for you to check all the different websites that people post comments and reviews on. Luckily for you, you can set up a Google alert to notify you anytime your name, business' name or URL appear somewhere on the net.

Reputation Management: Handling Negative Postings

Negative postings will appear from time to time about you or your business. You should address them head-on but never get personal with the person who posted the comment. You should address your company's shortcomings and mention how you plan to make things better in the future.

You should let people know that you take customer service seriously. You can offer to help the customer receive some type of satisfaction if at all possible. The key is to show people that your company listens and actually cares.

If you get into a battle of jabs and insults you will always lose. Do not get baited into such a situation.

Reputation: Post Positive Information Fast and Often

You want to make sure you distribute positive information about you and your company as often as possible. Make sure the information is honest and pertinent. The information you post on the Internet can be about charitable donations, new product launches, awards won, etc. The key is you want this information to appear in the search results above the negative postings.

Frequent positive postings are the best way to combat negative publicity. Online press releases, articles, social media sites and pages, forum postings and blog postings focused on your name and your company's name will go a long way towards helping manage your reputation online.

Your Internet marketing strategy must include allocating resources towards reputation management for you and your company.

Professional Appearance

The Internet has billions of web pages all competing for the interest of web users. Within any given industry there can be thousands or millions of websites that can be found. Once they are found your site visitors will make a snap decision as to whether or not they want to continue viewing your website.

The Initial Impression

The immediate impression someone gets of your website will determine whether or not they stay on your site or hit the "back" button. It is important that your site be easy on the eyes, easy to navigate and clear in its purpose.

Skip the flash introductions that people get frustrated waiting for. Though they will impress a handful of people, most people will ignore them and resent having to wait for them to load. Have a clean and clear landing page and you will be able to capture the interest of more people.

Make sure it takes less than 1-second for someone visiting your site to know what you are about. If you sell watches make sure there are watches on the landing page. If you are a lawyer make sure your landing page says where you practice and the type of law your practice. You have less than 2-seconds to make an impression so make it count.

Contact Information

Contact information is important. If you have a website there is no reason to use Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or other similar email addresses. Have an email address set for your specific domain. People will question the credibility of a website that uses this type of email address.

When contacting clients or potential clients make sure your email address is from your domain and is professionally written. You will lose credibility if your email is poorly written or comes from a Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or other type of account.

Have a phone number on your website even if it is for a virtual phone system that takes a message or forwards the calls to your home or cell phone. Consumers want to see phone numbers on websites.

Quality of Content

The quality of your website content is vital. Make sure it is well written, error-free, clear and concise. Your failure on any one of these three points will make you lose credibility in the eyes of your target market.

Consider the above factors and make sure your site appears professional to your target market.

About the Author

Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer and Internet marketer. Visit his free website, http://www.eBookSelfPublishingHelp.com, where he teaches you about ebook self-publishing and how to write an ebook.