Content writer-Chan Fallesen

Your reputation is what is keeping you in business. Neglect your reputation, and your business is set to fail. Managing your reputation is an essential part of running your business and should be attended to. Use the following tips to take care of your reputation and keep yourself in business.

If your website does not rank on the first few pages of an Internet search, it may be time to invest in a company that specializes search engine optimization. This company will take each of the pages in your website and incorporate keywords throughout it using the latest in SEO practices.

Be transparent. Some companies have been accused of removing complaints from their website. Don't be like them. Instead, quickly answer the complaints and state on your website how you will remedy the complaint. Once the complaint is resolved, ask your customer to post on your site that the complaint was resolved and how long it took to resolve the complaint.

One of the primary ways you can manage your reputation is to claim your business brand online and take charge of the content about you. Use either KnowEm.com, UserNameCheck.com or NameChk.com to locate every online instance of your business name popping up. You only need to use one, but any of them can let you know if anyone out there is misrepresenting your business or speaking ill of you.

Counteract any negative online content on your company by contacting its creator. If there is ever any negative content when you do a search of your company, try contacting the reviewer, blogger or whoever posted it as soon as possible. Ask them if there's anything you can do change their negative sentiment to a positive one. If they are unwilling to do so, write a comment(if possible) with your side of the story.







Survey your current customers. You may have customers that have suggestions that may help you build your company or improve your products. This can be done in several ways. You can send a survey to everyone on your mailing list or you can simply place a suggestion box in your business.

If you own your own business, be sure you're treating employees with some respect. Take this very seriously, as it can hurt or benefit your reputation. When people think your company treats employees poorly, your reputation can suffer.

Do not allow yourself to get upset with someone publicly has a problem with you. The best way to handle this is by offering them some type of solution. This will show anyone who is looking that you are willing to go the extra mile to make your customers happy.

When you are publicly responding to any feedback that is left by a customer, make sure to address them by name. People want to know that business owners see them as individuals and not as one part of a very large group. Using their names will give them what they want.

Maintain web consulting with your customers to develop a good reputation. Customers do not like to be in the dark about things. When you keep them updated and informed, they will appreciate this good service from you. Their trust in your company will grow and your reputation will improve along with it.

Make sure that your personal social networking pages are completely private to everyone except your friends. While this may seem like you are being irrationally mysterious, the result will be negative people having less of your information to run with. Business pages should always be available to everyone that wants to take a look.

Be careful of what you and your employees say online. Anything said on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere online can stay online forever. Make sure that your company has a social media policy in place. http://glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-One-Thing-Marketing-EI_IE1616252.11,30.htm of your employees may represent your company, which can be good or bad. Therefore, it is important they act according to the established social media policy.

Have a plan available to deal with individuals who post numerous poor reviews with the intent of harming your business. It is better to have a plan and never need it than to find yourself the victim of such an attack and be unaware of your rights with no idea on how to manage the situation.

It is usually acceptable to offer a small incentive to encourage a customer to leave a review for your company. However, an incentive that has significant dollar value may be seen as inappropriate because it is like buying a vote. Check the policy of the review site to see where they stand on the issue of incentives.

Make the most of social media to build a solid online reputation. Be sure your company name plays prominently on your social media pages. If you have a couple of dozen fans on your Facebook page, get a custom URL that includes the name of your company. This is also possible with LinkedIn. Having your company name in your URL will help get your social media page ranked higher in the search engines.

Consider writing a blog about issues relating to your business industry that your customers may find helpful. Offer tips and advice through your blog. This how you establish your company as a leader in your industry. Your knowledge and expertise show through in the helpful information that you share in your blog.

Reputation management sometimes means you have to take on comments that are negative in a way that's straightforward. It is sometimes better to address feedback honestly than to remove negative comments. Customers appreciate it when a business owner acknowledges mistakes.

Never get angry and always act professionally when dealing with negative content you find on the Internet. Remember that you are representing your business with every comment that you make. Always remain civil and treat people with respect even when your company is attacked. The comments that you make in anger could end up staying on the web for a very long time.

After perusing this, you should know your next necessary step for building your reputation. Be mindful about how you apply the steps listed here, so that you can be sure to get the results you want. Start now and watch your reputation grow.