Managing business reputation can be difficult. With social media/business review sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp, it’s easy for upset clients to complain. They’ll often bash the company that slighted them with legitimate (and illegitimate) claims. That’s why it’s important for businesses to take a proactive approach with their images. Take control of the situation before control is taken away.
The first step to prevent damage is self-promotion in several digital means. What’s also critical is having your own website to organize whatever is being sold. Looking like a legitimate company will help in promoting the product. Optimize this content to focus on relevant search terms. Anything that promotes your products will keep attention on positive rather than negative aspects. It’ll also help stay ahead of competition.
It’s important to remember the internet has taken away rights to privacy. By staying private, you’re making it easier for misperception to dominate the company’s image. The reputation of individuals within a company matter as well. The importance correlates with their rank in the organization. If you or someone in your business has a bad reputation, there are ways to fix it.
An example of an individual that turned his reputation around is Darius Fisher. Fisher is the president and cofounder of Status Labs, an online reputation management firm in Austin, Texas. Fisher gives clients a second chance to polish their search results and improve their digital image. Fisher also offers suggestions for clients to purge bad attention like googling oneself and removing unflattering data. He advocates buying your own domain name and creating a website placeholder page.
Darius Fisher helped polish the image of hundreds of clients through the rigorous methods Status Labs employs to clean up online reputations. With a past working as a political consultant and a current career of helping clients (including public figures, politicians, and executives), Fisher and his firm are definitely professionals in their field of doctoring controversial information floating around.
In addition to online hygiene, it’s good to think beyond business. Charities, hobbies, and interests create another element and assist in humanizing a company; however, it’s advisable to stray from topics that make the business seem biased. Politics for instance are a good way to drive customers away.
By controlling your digital reputation, the company will have insurance against inevitable negative reviews. Overwhelming these negative perspectives with positive content is a guaranteed way to neutralize and surpass this kind of attention.