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Dealing with a crisis that might harm your company’s reputation can be downright stressful. Online reputation repair and maintenance is imperative for public-facing businesses because your brand perception impacts your bottom line. Research shows that a company may suffer a 22% drop in revenue because of a negative search result.
A business’s online reputation has become a key differentiating factor among brands because most consumers rely on customer reviews before buying a product or service. Consumers prefer brands with high ratings and many reviews. On the other hand, customers are understandably hesitant to trust a business with no reviews or with poor ratings.
Online attacks on businesses are nothing new. Even major companies aren’t immune to poor reviews, slander, or bad publicity. You’ve probably seen how fast things can blow up on a company’s social media profile when something goes wrong. That’s why it’s essential for businesses to get out in front of their online reputation management.
Companies already have access to technology–such as reputation management software–to help create a positive digital presence. There are also agencies that offer online reputation repair services to help businesses re-establish their online authority.
If your company is suffering the snowball effect of negative search results, keep calm because there is hope. Brand reputations can be rebuilt using sound online reputation management strategies.
Let’s take a closer look.
8 Tactics to Repair a Negative Online Reputation
When the business that you’ve spent years building is at risk because of a negative PR crisis, it can feel like the sky is falling. But by staying calm and following these best practices, you can mitigate the damage and get your business back on track.
Acknowledge and Respond to Negative Reviews
According to a study conducted by Yotpo, customers write bad reviews on review sites because the product or service fell short of their expectations. It’s not necessarily because of inferior quality products or services.
Sometimes consumers post about their negative experiences online simply because they want you to acknowledge what happened and respond to their concerns.
Consider the situation from the customer’s vantage point and identify opportunities to increase your satisfaction rate. Avoid searching for someone or something to blame, and instead focus on helping the customer understand what caused the issue in the first place.
Let your customer know that you value their feedback and you’re continually striving to do better. Your appropriate response and a genuine apology will go a long way. Studies have shown that more than half of consumers expect companies to respond to negative feedback within one week.
So while the “head in the sand” approach to a negative review may be tempting, your silence will speak volumes to the disappointed customer as well as other potential customers.
Resolve the Problem
Find the root cause of the problem that prompted negative feedback and resolve it. This could come in the form of employee training, quality control improvement, or replacing a product or offering follow-up service.
Implement preventative measures–such as revising current processes and improving employee onboarding–and share these efforts with your customers. Letting the reviewer know that you’re creating a long-term solution helps repair your online reputation because it shows that you’re serious about providing optimal service to your customers.
Be Transparent
Apart from communicating with your reviewer, be transparent to the public about your efforts in rectifying the situation. Update the community regularly by posting on all possible channels and broadcast all your restoration efforts.
Your followers may still post negative comments questioning the authenticity or effectiveness of your efforts, so be ready to respond in a positive tone. Assure them that you are indeed doing your best to fix the issue.
Control the Conversation
Now it’s time to start boosting your brand image. Shift your focus back to attracting new customers and delivering stellar service that generates positive reviews. You can also seek the help of digital marketing companies that offer online reputation management for businesses. They will be able to increase your customer reviews using their specialized tools and proven techniques.
Feature your more recent positive reviews by highlighting them on your website, social media accounts, and email marketing messages. As more of these favorable reviews come in, the poor ratings will naturally become less visible.
This online reputation management strategy is effective because one of the factors that customers look for in a review is recency. This does not automatically wipe out the negative comments published, but it is an excellent way to start your reputation recovery.
Map Out Your Online Reputation Recovery Strategy
Apart from resolving issues and responding to reviews, you’ll want to develop a step-by-step recovery roadmap. Glean helpful insights from your customers, investors, and the public’s feedback when you brainstorm.
Assess the situation and identify the best online reputation repair solution. Is there a need to publish a public apology or a press release? What is the media’s stand on the matter? Is the issue being sensationalized?
You can hire agencies that provide professional online reputation repair services. They’ll be able to deliver comprehensive online reputation management service solutions based on your business needs and the situation at hand.
You might also consider investing in reputation management software as part of your recovery plan. Tools like this help you efficiently monitor your online reputation and implement business strategies to manage your reputation moving forward.
Publish Positive Content to Replace Negative Search Results
Among the best internet reputation repair solutions is publishing relevant content to replace negative search results. Strive to make your positive content rank well and land on the first page of search results.
Maximizing search engine results via search engine optimization (SEO) can go a long way to push the negative content on your business out, while showcasing positive new content.
Optimize your website for online searches so that this positive and high-quality content is always highly visible to your customers. Whether it’s a blog post, web landing page, or a press release, focus on stories that highlight your company’s strengths and drive to provide excellent service.
Of course, it’s important that the content is genuine and not there to artificially drown out genuine negative feedback. However, by using SEO and understanding the algorithms of Google search results (and other engines), you can address concerns while sharing positive stories.
Let people know through your published content that your organization is committed to delivering stellar products or services and improving people’s lives.
Monitor Reviews and Online Mentions
Take a proactive approach in implementing your online reputation management. Monitor and respond to reviews and online mentions to prevent the snowball effect of mishandled negative feedback.
Companies use reputation management software to ensure they can track and respond to reviews and online mentions promptly. Check your inbox for customer feedback and complaints and respond to these as well.
Use negative reviews as an opportunity to show people that you genuinely value their insights and that you care about the quality of the product or service they receive from your company. Turning a possibly negative reputation into a positive online presence will help you strengthen your brand credibility and gain customers’ trust.
Build a Brand Community
Building a loyal community around your brand helps foster good relationships with your customers and attract prospects. This also allows you to better understand your customers’ changing demands.
There is lots of value in letting your customers know that you care about their experience. You can show this by setting up a booth at community events in your area, holding open houses at your facilities if appropriate, and sponsoring worthwhile causes in your area, just to name a few ideas.
Hear From Industry Experts
Read the latest tips, research, best practices, and insights from our community of expert B2B service providers.
Reputation management is a Worthwhile Investment
In today’s digital world–where consumers from across the globe can easily connect with each other–your business’s positive online reputation is one of your most important assets.
Favorable reviews increase sales. Reviews also serve as trust signals and social proof. Every time your business is mentioned on the Internet it impacts your online visibility and therefore affects your brand’s search rankings tremendously.
In this way, the Internet is a double-edged sword. It can help boost a good brand reputation, but it can also make things extremely difficult for companies whose reputations have been tarnished.
Your business stands to lose a lot if it ever lands in a reputation crisis. Learning the best online reputation repair strategies and hiring online reputation repair professionals could be the difference between whether your business survives a reputation crisis or not.