Small businesses rely on online reputations, whether they realize it or not.
Social media posts, reviews on independent websites, and comments can quickly make or break a small business. Whether your small enterprise is a restaurant or professional services firm, protecting the brand means taking active steps to manage your online reputation.
What Is Reputation Management for Small Businesses?
Reputation management monitors and protects a brand’s reputation in its online presence. It guides the public’s perception of the brand through careful monitoring and proactive steps to preserve and defend a valuable brand position.
Using search engine optimization, social media, monitoring, and responsive communication, small businesses can ensure their brand reputation stays positive.
Tips for Improving Small-Business Online Reputation
There are many ways to manage your online reputation. Here are a few of the key tips for ensuring it’s sound and robust.
- Google Your Business
Online reputation management should begin with a Google search of your business name and your name. Look through the first few pages of listings to see what’s posted, good or bad.
Consider what potential customers or employees would feel when reading about your company in these results.
Note what’s good and bad in the first couple of pages of results. Are there things that can be easily fixed? Removing damaging material on sites or social media platforms is your best first move.
- Evaluate Your Social Media
Do your social media posts sound like they’re coming from a human being? No matter what platform you use, you want your posts to be authentic, genuine, and sound conversational.
- Create Valuable Content
Do you know what your customers want and need? What questions and problems do your products or services solve?
Consider content — blog posts, videos, infographics, and white papers — that delivers answers to customer questions and helps them with their pain points.
Doing so accomplishes two important goals with your online content. First, your content will appear when potential customers post questions on Google or other search engines. Second, the content will position you as a thought leader in these areas.
- Register Your Business
Google, LinkedIn, Bing, and Yelp are among the top search engines and sites that allow businesses to claim their names and identities. Make sure you’ve claimed your business profile on each of these sites and that information is accurate.
For example, a Google My Business listing ensures that crucial information like hours of operation, website, and phone numbers, are accurate. Other details, such as photos, logos, and identifiers (such as veteran-owned or LGBTQ-friendly) are a part of your online identity.
- Ask For and Manage Reviews
Authentic, independent reviews add credibility and details that potential customers look for. Ask customers to write reviews and post them on your website. For independent review sites, be sure to respond to reviews, good or bad, without being defensive. An honest, human, and attentive response can go a long way.
- Monitor and Schedule
Check your online reputation by Googling on a weekly basis. If negative items appear, see if you can have them removed or, if not, provide a rebuttal. Note: Don’t ask to remove actual reviews from actual customers. Doing so can be even worse than not commenting.
Also, create a schedule for posting new content on social media and your website. Know your target audience and when they’re most likely to be online and where.
Be smart and maximize your content. A long blog post can be split into bite-size posts for social media. Video clips can be added to customer newsletters with links to learn more.
- Use a Reputation Management Service
When you need more help with your online reputation, consider using a reputation management service. Status Labs, for example, offers company reputation management, digital marketing, search engine optimization, and strategic advisory services.
Managing and improving your online reputation is a critical factor to business success today. By proactively monitoring sites and developing content, you can see your online reputation, and profits, soar.
