For every business owner or entrepreneur, reputation is currency! In this online world, business reputation is permanent and secure. A decade back, concepts like online reputation, online brand awareness, and search results were gaining prominence in small ways. Today, all these are critical elements of a successful online business.
Online users count on search results more than ever! Hence, it’s imperative to manage and maintain your online reputation effectively. The digital domain has shifted from the era of information to reputation. According to a Pew Research Center, report, about 91% of online users trust what they read and see in search engines. The Edelman Trust Barometer highlights than 65% of people believe online search results more than anything else.
Your online business reputation defines you! It means the information that’s available about you online make people form a perception about you. The news updates can change as your business expands. However, the online footprint never goes away. Posts, reviews, photos, comments, social media profiles, and the like – all these forms the basic structure of your online data, that you’ve put in. Each one has an impact that goes beyond Google page one search results. They influence decisions and reputation. Hence, it is essential to execute effective online reputation management in the online space.
Do you want to manage your online reputation management (ORM)? If yes, then you need to get in touch with a reputed SEO agency to execute the best ORM strategies. You can search based on your location. For instance, if you are in Philadelphia, you can search for the top Philadelphia SEO agencies and make your selection.
Important statistics to keep in mind
Not many people realize the importance of ORM. Here are a few essential statistics to establish its relevance:
- About 91% of users resort to search engines to look for any information
- Close to 655 of people count on online search as an authentic information source
- Almost 50% of the US adults use Google to find out about their brand, report that they find both positive and negative news
- Close to 90% of online users don’t go beyond Google first-page. Instead, they only count the first ten search outcomes and have an opinion
- Business houses lose almost 22% of their customers when there’s a negative review about their company on Google page one
- If your brand has two negative reviews on Google page one, you can lose as much as 44% of customers. If there are three negative reviews, the loss increases to 59%
- Most people Google a brand online before making an online purchase or booking a service
- About 45% of people have counted on online facts and reviews, which made them either to join hands with a company or not
- About 56% of people base their business decisions with a company based on digital information
How to manage your ORM strategy?
It is essential for online business leaders to shape their online reputation management well. For that, they can opt-in for the following steps:
1. Participate proactively
Staying away from online platforms is not a smart call. Instead, you need to be present on social media channels, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others to connect with your existing and potential customers. It will also increase your online brand awareness. Your users are always using these platforms to seek more information about you.
Having a profile is not sufficient! You need to engage your audience so that they can have a perception of your brand. Go ahead and share interesting posts, relevant industry news, update the audience about new releases, and many more. All these will aid your ORM process. When people have a positive idea about your brand, they will think twice before attaching a negative thought to your brand, should there be a sudden negative review.
Also, look at the people who are following you. It will help you to understand your audience better and create a better ORM strategy. When you have increased customer base and substantial customer goodwill, it will reflect on your work.
2. Understand your audience
Your participation will work well only when you have the correct understanding of your audience. When you collate data from social networks, make sure to cater the content to your target markers, influencers, and followers.
Not every content gets equally created! If you want to leverage ORM, you need to manage your brand message. You should know what you are saying, to who, and how. ORM is not self-promotion. Brands who have done that have suffered severely. You can move beyond advertising for your business and develop content that will add value to your users. Your content should holistically impact the audience. When you can successfully engage your users in interesting conversations and develop a positive association, you can witness your presence on various platforms. You might want to remedy a current crisis or enhance your online business awareness – but for all these, you need to say the correct things about your brand, in a non-promotional way.
3. Stay aware and well updated
The guidelines mentioned above will enable you to navigate the online world and enhance your ORM strategy! But the digital world is always changing. Hence, it’s crucial to stay updated with the constant changes so that you can plan your marketing, SEO, and ORM strategies better. Twitter, Google, and Facebook update their algorithms continually, and it is essential to stay updated with the changes so that your brand can perform better online.
Monitoring Wikipedia and other open-source platforms is a wise decision. Today, most people can make changes to these platforms. So, if you have a Wikipedia page check once in a while to see if there have been any wrong additions that might give out a negative impression about your brand. You need to correct that at the earliest.
There’s no way you can overlook ORM today! If you are online, you come under the ORM radar in all ways. Instead, it’s a smart decision to get proactive and ensure that you are taking the correct measures and steps. It helps in fostering a positive brand image. Also, during a crisis, your ORM team or tactics can you pass through it successfully.
