What Is Online Reputation Management?
Online reputation management refers to the process of monitoring, managing, and improving an individuals or company’s reputation and public perception online. With the rise of social media and review sites, what people see when they search for a name or business online has become increasingly important.
Online reputation management involves efforts to promote positive content and limit the visibility of negative content in search results. It can include responding to reviews, pushing down negative content, improving search rankings, and controlling what information appears for a name or brand.
The goal is to cultivate a positive online image and minimize reputational risks. Effective online reputation management is vital for protecting personal and professional reputations in today’s digital world.
This beginner’s guide will walk you through the basics of online reputation management (ORM) and provide actionable tips to help you monitor, improve, and protect your reputation online.
Key Takeaways
- Online reputation management is about monitoring, cultivating, and protecting your brand’s public image online.
- Use Google Alerts, social media listening tools, and review monitoring to track online mentions.
- Build positive credibility by optimizing profiles, engaging audiences, and sharing valuable content.
- Address negative content constructively and move forward. Don’t let it linger.
- Automate ORM tasks with IFTTT recipes, Google Analytics, and social media scheduling tools.
- Be proactive and consistent with ORM to build brand authority and head off crises.
Why Is Online Reputation Management Important?
Your online reputation consists of everything that comes up when someone searches for your name or Business online. With so much of life happening digitally, your online reputation often makes the first impression on potential customers, partners, or employers.
Here are some key reasons managing your online reputation should be a priority in 2024:
It Builds Trust and Credibility
Positive online mentions, reviews, press coverage, and social media engagement help build authority and trust for your brand or Business. In your personal life, this can determine if people take you seriously. For businesses, it impacts conversion rates.
According to a study by Moz and Fractl, businesses with positive reputations enjoy a revenue increase of up to 23%. On the flip side, negative reputations correlate to a loss of up to 70% of potential Business.
It Influences Buying Decisions
Over 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, while 88% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Your online reputation directly affects what customers think about your brand and whether they will buy from you.
It Impacts Your Search Engine Rankings
Google wants to surface trustworthy, authoritative content in search results. Positive mentions, reviews, engagement, and brand sentiment all signal authority. Brands need to pay more attention to their online reputation to rank well organically.
It Gives You Control over the Narrative
Without proactively managing your online reputation, you surrender control of your brand’s narrative to customers, competitors, or detractors. ORM puts you back in the driver’s seat to shape how people perceive you online.
It Helps You Address Issues Quickly
No one is immune to occasional negative reviews or public relations problems. With ORM practices in place, you can spot issues early and address them before they spiral out of control.
It Prepares You for Emergencies
Crises happen, whether it’s a data breach, PR disaster, or sudden influx of bad reviews. Having ORM foundations gives you the monitoring, response protocols, and brand advocates needed to minimize fallout.
It Future-Proofs Your Reputation
ORM builds a strong online foundation to support your future goals. With your reputation protected, you can focus on outreach, partnerships, fundraising, or expansion without past issues dragging you down.
How to Monitor Your Online Reputation in 2024
The first step in managing your online reputation is monitoring what’s being said about your brand on the web. Set up proactive monitoring so you can spot positive and negative content as it happens.
Here are some best practices for monitoring your digital footprint:
Set Up Google Alerts
Google Alerts delivers notifications of new search engine results related to your brand, products, executives, or other keywords. Set these up for:
- Your personal name or business name variations
- Product or service names
- Industry keywords or competitors
- Executive and staff names
Choose email or RSS notifications for the timeliest alerts.
Monitor Online Reviews
Online reviews on sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google Business directly impact your brand perception. Set up alerts and check sites regularly to find new reviews. Make responding to both positive and negative reviews part of your routine.
Pro tip: Local businesses can use free tools like ReviewSpot or Birdeye to consolidate review monitoring in one dashboard.
Stay on Top of Social Media Mentions
Social listening tools can track brand mentions across social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They can also monitor customer sentiment and relevant conversations. Popular options include Hootsuite, Mention, and Sprout Social.
Pay Attention to Forums and Groups
Industry forums like Reddit can give insight into what customers, influencers, and competitors are saying about your niche. Set up alerts for your brand name on these channels using Google Alerts or native search tools.
Use Web Monitoring Tools
Services like Meltwater and Talkwalker allow you to monitor the entire web for relevant brand mentions. Though more robust than Google Alerts, they also require more investment. Start with free tools, then expand as needed.
Check Review Sites Regularly
Beyond Google, Yelp, and Facebook, pay attention to both niche and general review platforms. Sites like Trustpilot and Glassdoor can include company, product, and CEO reviews relevant to your brand’s reputation.
What are the Channels to Consider in Your Online Reputation Strategy?
An effective online reputation management strategy should include a plan for monitoring, engaging with, and creating content across these core channels:
- Search Engines: Google search results deliver the first impression for many searching your name or brand. Optimize content to outrank negative results.
- Social Media Networks: Actively participate on the social platforms where your audience is most active, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.
- Industry Forums and Communities: Monitor mentions and engage in niche communities related to your field, such as Reddit, Quora, forums, etc.
- Review Sites: Consistently get reviews on and respond to feedback on sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google.
- Your Website and Blog: Optimize your website and blog with helpful content that showcases your brand positively.
- Local Listings and Directories: Complete and enhance listings on sites like Google My Business, Better Business Bureau, and niche directories.
- Press and Media: Build relationships with press contacts and journalists who cover your industry. Pitch stories proactively.
How to Handle Negative Reviews and Complaints
Despite your best efforts, some negative content will be unavoidable. Don’t panic or ignore it. With the right response, negative feedback can become an opportunity to build trust and loyalty.
Here are some best practices for addressing negativity online:
- Don’t Delete or Censor: It’s tempting to remove damaging content, but deletion should be an absolute last resort. Transparency is key for reputation management.
- Thank the reviewer: Acknowledge the reviewer’s feedback with a public thank you. This shows you pay attention. Plus, it softens them and allows for constructive dialogue.
- Apologize If Warranted: f the complaint is justified, publicly apologize, take ownership, and outline how you will improve. Sincere apologies neutralize negativity.
- Offer to Make Amends: For substantial issues, respond publicly with an offer to speak privately and make it right. Follow through on promises.
- Stick to The Facts: Avoid emotional reactions. Calmly present your perspective, focusing on the facts. Overreacting looks unprofessional.
- Learn From It: Every piece of feedback is an opportunity to improve. Take constructive action to address issues raised, and update the reviewer when you are done.
- Bury It with Positives: If you’ve resolved the issue but negative content remains, bury it with newer positive content. This minimizes the impact.
How to Manage an Online Crisis
Despite your best efforts at prevention, online PR crises still happen. Maybe a staff member made an offensive remark, or your security was breached. When disaster strikes online, the stakes are high, and speed is critical.
Here’s a checklist to manage and minimize damage during a storm:
- Assemble Your Team: Prepare a crisis response team with roles such as communications lead, research lead, technology lead, and spokesperson.
- Understand the Situation: Determine exactly what happened, how severe it is, how quickly it’s spreading, and how long it may last.
- Craft Your Key Messages: Create a set of simple, consistent messages for your spokesperson to convey (e.g., the facts, the response, the action people can take, and where to learn more).
- Communicate on All Channels: Share your response everywhere your audience may be talking about the issue, including social media, your site, press releases, etc.
- Interact Genuinely and Transparently: Address concerns head-on. Avoid jargon and corporate speech. Be open, honest, and human in your damage control.
- Take Responsibility: Don’t make excuses or pass the buck. Take ownership of the situation and outline how you will resolve it.
- Apologize Sincerely: Acknowledge the harm done and apologize without caveats or deflection. People respond to authenticity.
- Share Next Steps and Updates: Communicate the concrete, tangible actions you’re taking to address the problem and prevent recurrence. Provide ongoing updates.
- Look for the Silver Lining: Shift the focus to the positive as soon as appropriate. What lessons were learned? Who stepped up to help? How will you improve going forward?
How to Simplify and Automate Your ORM
For most individuals and businesses, the hardest part of online reputation management is actually sticking with it consistently. The good news is that automation can help.
Here are some ways to streamline your ORM using technology:
Use IFTTT Recipes
IFTTT is a free platform that connects various apps and devices through auto-triggering workflows called applets. Applets like:
- New Google review notification → Slack channel
- New blog comment → Email notification
Optimize Google Analytics
Google Analytics can track mentions, brand keywords, sentiment, and more. Optimize it to surface the data you need automatically.
Schedule Social Media Posts
Scheduling posts and responses in advance with a social media management platform like Hootsuite saves time and ensures consistency.
Use CRMs to Track Outreach
A CRM helps you log interactions from monitoring and outreach so fewer fall through the cracks.
Look into Paid ORM Tools
For those with bigger budgets, all-in-one ORM tools like Trackur, BrandYourself, and NetReputation offer automation and managed services.
Outsource What You Can
If finances allow, hand off tasks like monitoring, responding to reviews, creating content, etc., to qualified freelancers or agencies.
The more ORM you can put on autopilot, the easier it will be to keep your online reputation untarnished. Start with small, free changes. Outsource and upgrade tools as your needs grow.
The Future of Online Reputation Management
While online reputation management has been around since the early 2000s, it continues to evolve quickly alongside technology. Here are some trends to expect in the future of ORM:
Increased Importance of Personal Reputation
Every facet of life will continue moving online, from jobs to dating to friendships. Managing one’s personal “brand” will only get more crucial, even for private individuals.
Voice Search and Digital Assistants
Voice-powered searches and queries will require brands to optimize not just content but also spoken renderings of their names. Voice will also enable new methods of reputation monitoring.
Expansion to New Platforms
Emerging platforms like TikTok will join stalwarts like Google and Facebook as important new reputation channels to monitor and engage on.
Rise of Anonymous Content
Anonymous apps like Secret and Glassdoor will make monitoring and responding to content harder. Brands will need to double down on fostering brand advocates.
Greater Competition on Review Sites
As consumers increasingly seek out reviews, competition around ratings and visibility on sites like Yelp will continue to intensify.
Weaponization of Negative Content
Competitors and detractors will find new ways to damage reputations through coordinated negativity attacks, fake reviews, and disinformation. Brand defense will be imperative.
Integration with Marketing Automation
ORM activities, including social media management, listening, customer data platforms, and more, will increasingly merge with marketing.
More Reputation Management Firms
As online reputation management gets more challenging, outsourcing to specialists will become more prominent for individuals and businesses.
The interconnectivity enabled by technology provides amazing opportunities but also threats. Staying up to date on ORM strategies and tools will be key for anyone trying to manage their reputation online in the future. It’s sure only to get more complex, competitive, and essential.
Final Thoughts
Managing your online reputation is a process requiring ongoing effort, but it pays dividends in building trust and authority for your brand. By monitoring mentions, engaging social media followers, encouraging reviews, optimizing content across channels, and responding promptly to issues, you can cultivate a positive reputation.
While you can outsource components of ORM, having an integrated strategy that ties them all together is key to protecting your brand over the long term. With some diligence and the right tools, you can shape perceptions, prepare for crises, and focus more energy on your core business. Your reputation is yours to own – handle it with care.
Frequently Asked Questions about Online Reputation Management
What is the most important part of managing your online reputation?
The most important part of managing your online reputation is actively monitoring what is being said about you or your brand online. This allows you to spot potential issues early and address them before they spiral out of control.
How much time per week should be spent on online reputation management?
For individuals, plan to spend at least 1-2 hours per week monitoring their online presence and social media channels. For businesses, anywhere from 2-5 hours per week is recommended, depending on their industry and the volume of online activity.
What are some free online reputation management tools?
Some great free ORM tools include Google Alerts, TweetDeck, Review Spot, Mention, Hootsuite’s free plan, and IFTTT. These provide options for monitoring, social listening, reviews, and automation.
Is it important to manage your online reputation if you have a small online presence?
Yes, managing your reputation is still important, even if you have a minimal online presence. You never know when something inaccurate or unfavorable may be posted about you, which search engines could surface for years to come if left unaddressed.
How can you remove outdated or irrelevant search results about yourself?
To remove outdated or irrelevant content from search engines, you can request content removal through Google or Bing webmaster tools. Producing high-quality content about yourself can also push down outdated material over time.
What should you do if you are the target of an online attack or coordinated negativity?
Do not engage or retaliate. Document everything. File disputes if the content violates platform policies. Produce an abundance of positive counter-content. Consider legal action if threats or defamation are involved. Stay positive publicly.
Is it better to manage your online reputation in-house or hire a reputation management firm?
It depends on your needs. For most individuals and small businesses, managing your own ORM is sufficient. Larger or high-profile brands may require outsourced expertise to monitor across platforms, facilitate rapid crisis response, and execute ongoing optimization.
