Business Reputation Management - GDPR EU 2022

Business Reputation Management - What it is and How important it is?

Business Reputation Management

Business Reputation Management – When it comes to running a business in the modern day, one thing that remains the most important is your online presence. Even prior to 2020 there were a huge amount of people taking to the internet as a means of shopping and browsing different services.

The means of marketing a business was largely transported online as the likes of online reviews, review sites, social media and blogs became huge players in getting brands name out there. As such, there is no getting around the fact that a business’s online reputation (specifically, securing and maintaining a positive reputation) is vital.

How Important is Your Businesses Online Reputation?

The online reputation that your business has is a fundamental factor when it comes to your overall success and growth. When people see your business online, they are a lot more likely to engage further with what you do and take you up on what you offer if you can boast an array of content that shows you are experts in your field, reliable and good to work with. The best way to do that is by managing your company’s reputation and making it so that this positivity is impossible to ignore.

In today’s digital world, businesses are under more scrutiny than ever before as search engines mean that if there are negative online reviews or content out there about your business, this will be visible for all prospective customers to see when they search for your brand online. Positive reviews and a good online reputation are no longer something that your business should consider a bonus, rather, it should now view as absolutely vital.

How Is Your Online Reputation Established?

The common use of the internet and social media have essentially changed everything when it comes to business. People will talk about your organisation and the experience that they have had very openly, meaning these comments could be one of the first things that new customers come across when they see your name in search engine results. As such, you want these comments to help establish your positive online presence, meaning your search results will display your company’s online image as a positive one.

This is vital given the majority of people will google something before they buy off you or engage with your services. They will do this and come across different websites, blogs, social media posts and other platforms that establish your brand reputation, showing negative and positive content.

The online community can be brutal and as such, if you have a lot of negative content and negative reviews that people can see when they look up your business, this could have a damning effect on your growth. Your business benefits from having a good reputation and as such, it is important to get this established.

What is the Benefit of Having Business Reputation Management?

As stated above, establishing a good online reputation for your business is crucial for your growth. As such, there are many organisations who call for the help of experts to assist with improving their positive online reputation. These experts come in the form of business reputation management organisations who specialise in online reputation management.

These businesses work tirelessly in order to lower the strength of negative online reviews and comments that could result in your business having a poor online reputation. Your business’s reputation is just as important as a number of other factors and as such, it makes perfect sense to enlist the help of experts.

Does Business Reputation Management Work?

There is no getting around the fact that business reputation management is incredibly effective. If your company’s online presence is positive because you have enlisted the help of online reputation management services, then you will see an increase in both sales and your ability to retain customers.

The results speak for themselves as following the intervention of business reputation management services, three quarters of businesses found that as a result of reputation management strategies leading to them having a more positive reputation online, they found how important they were to the status of their business. Negative content within search results can end up costing organisations money as they lose out on sales.

You can try to manage the reputation of your business yourself, but it is tricky to do. As such, hiring an online reputation management company can save you a lot of hassle.

Why Business Reputation Management Actually Matters

People are searching online for things every single day and a large majority of those search results online come from Google. As such, using different media outlets and conducting research as to how to get positive messages about your business to the front of google is very important.

The majority of people won’t go past the first page of them google search results when they look for you online. All social media content and brand mentions will usually be covered within this first page and as such, the average search will not stem further than that.

If people see unwanted negative content on that first page, then they will form an opinion of your business based off of it. This is why a negative review and negative stories can be so damaging and you want to ensure your business is seen in a positive light.

Customer behaviour tends to be a result of said customers opinion and so brands spend years developing a better online reputation and will create positive content in order to do it. This is where business reputation management comes into play and why it matters so much.

How Do Online Reviews and Comments Impact Your Customers Behaviour?

People are very keen to trust online reviews, in fact 85% of people have said they trust the review of a third party just as much as personal recommendations from a friend or family member. Your reputation management needs to take into account review sites because people will refer to these a great deal when deciding whether to work with your business.

Review sites will include the likes of TrustPilot but also extend to social media sites and different peoples social media accounts as these comments will also come up in search engines. These reviews are going to shape your business’s online image.

Due to the above, having unwanted negative content online in the form of negative reviews will likely deter new customers from engaging with you. This is why hiring a reputation management company and good reputation management is important.

Can You Remove Negative Reviews?

It is a common misconception that you can simply remove negative comments about your business. Though there are some instances such as when the comments in particular are defamatory, in breach of GDPR or have an impact on an individual or their right to be forgotten, generally speaking, if a review, social media comment or other post on social media pages give an honest opinion on your business, they cannot just be removed.

How Does Business Reputation Management Help?

Your business reputation is incredibly important when it comes to your growth and success, meaning you need to manage the negative feedback you might receive. This means a couple of things.

Firstly, it could mean reporting defamatory content that could impact your business. For online removal, reputation management can assist your business a great deal.

The legal world of reporting such defamatory comments is quite complex, as such having business reputation management on hand will allow you to navigate it a lot smoother than if you were on your own.

Secondly, another business reputation matter is that of not only managing negative comments on social media and in search results, but you also need to consider flaunting your positive reviews.

It is not enough to just eliminate negative material online, but you also need to show prospective customers that you are a voice of authority and trustworthy. This will ensure customer loyalty, leading to client retention. It will also entice new clients as well.

Let the Stats Speak

If you are still unsure as to whether making business reputation management and hiring an online reputation management expert is worth your while, the below stats might convince you:

  • In total, 93% of online customers say that online reviews have an impact on their buying decisions.
  • Another 90% of online customers say that they will consider online reviews and what they say before they visit a business’s website.
  • When you are able to display a positive online reputation within search engines, 73% of customers will be more likely to trust your business.

One of the most surprising stats can be seen in what people are willing to spend. Reputation strategies are clearly important as a total of 68% of consumers have confirmed that they would be willing to pay more for a product if it was being sold by a business with a positive reputation. Clearly online reputation management works if upon seeing it done right, customer behaviour changes to the point people are willing to pay more for the same product.

How Do You Get People to See the Positive Reviews?

The fact of the matter is that search engines are not bothered about what their search results or social media searches say about your business. They care more about what is popular, not what is negative and what is positive. This makes it so the business reputation management is even more important.

Why Should Your Business Take Control of Its Reputation?

If you and your business decide to take control of your business reputation management then you are making it much more likely that you are going to be able to succeed and grow by obtaining new customers and maintaining existing ones. You are going to be able to present your brand in the best light possible and protect it from any negative content that you do not want people seeing.

This is possible by reporting defamatory content about your business. You can also ensure positive comments and pages that complement your businesses online presence rank higher than their negative counterparts.

It can be complex working on your online reputation and as such, you may want to enlist the help of a business reputation management organisation. These are going to have access to reputation management software that will make it much easier to ensure your company is painted in a positive light.

Conclusion

When it comes to running a business in the modern day, it cannot be understated just how much of a valuable tool the internet can be. This means that you can use it to promote yourself and what you do, improving your overall reach and making it so that prospective customers from all over the world are able to see what it is that you have to offer.

Of course, where the internet can be very beneficial when it comes to growing your business, it can also be a lot of organisations downfall. This is because every consumer has free speech over the internet and so can say whatever they would like about you to the rest of the public. As such it means that if negative comments are made about your organisation, they are there for the entire world to see.

So, what do you do if your businesses reputation is at risk thanks to negative content about you online? One of the best ways to deal with this is by enlisting the help of a business reputation management company such as Igniyte. Their experts are going to be able to assess your presence online and your online reputation and then take the necessary steps to improve it. This could take a couple of forms.

The first could be dealing with the legal side of things and seeing if any of the content is defamatory. If this is the case, then you could always report the content and have it removed. This can only happen if the content is untrue though and does not tend to work for honest reviews.

When it comes to negative reviews that cannot be removed by Google, a reputation management organisation is able to boost your positive reviews so that they appear to customers who are searching for your organisation.

If you have any questions about how a reputation management organisation can help your business then should not hesitate to contact one.