ORM services are a benefit to any business, but it’s also important for you to help yourself when it comes to building and maintaining your company reputation. Today we’re looking at seven mistakes that you are making that could be working against the efforts of your online reputation manager.
ORM Services Tips: 7 Online Reputation Mistakes You’re Making
1. Ignoring Those Negative Reviews
It may be instinct to ignore those negative reviews and hope they go away, but they aren’t going anywhere. Customers understand that once in a while negative reviews are going to happen, but it’s how you handle those reviews that influence how customers see your business. Rather than ignore those negative reviews of your business online, the best thing that you can do is manage those reviews professionally. What do we mean by that? We mean REPLY TO THEM! Reply to negative reviews with your apologies for the experience that a dissatisfied guest has, do what you can to make things right, and do it professionally. Avoid getting into conflicts and realize that your reply to these types of reviews is important because it will not only make one customer happy, it will show the rest of your customers and potential customers that they can trust you to make things right when they do go awry.
2. Steering Clear of Social Media
Some businesses decide to stay away from social media. This may be because they just don’t have the time, they don’t have the knowledge, or they don’t want to risk any drama of social media interactions. Whatever the reason, steering clear of social media is a bad decision. Social media platforms are an audience that you can’t afford to miss out on, they provide you with a direct line of communication with your customers and potential customers and they are the perfect opportunity to get feedback on your products and services. With the proper use of social media, you can not only increase your business’s exposure and search engine ranking, but you can also use your social media channels as a means of research and marketing.
3. Not Optimizing Your Content For Search Engines
Any content that you publish, whether it’s articles on your blog, pages for your website, or anything else you might consider publishing online, it’s crucial that you optimize your content for search engines. Do your research (or have an online reputation manager do the work for you) and correctly optimize all content that you write to target those keywords. You should also make sure that all of your content makes sense – is written in English and is grammatically correct – and is unique content rather than copied from another article or website. Every piece of content you write online for and about your company needs to be utilized as an opportunity to get another search engine link to your company website for a keyword that will attract customers.
4. Paying Someone to “Remove” Negative Reviews
Most companies get a negative review once in a while, but reputable review sites are constructed so that honest reviews (positive or negative) can be shared. This means that negative reviews that are left honestly are not going to be removed nor can they be removed. Any company that tells you that they can and will remove your negative reviews from an online review website like Yelp! is lying to you or else they are going about the job in a nefarious way which will reflect negatively on your company in the long run. If you are going to pay anyone to do anything, avoid paying scam artists to remove reviews and instead pay an online reputation manager to help you to reply professionally to them instead.
5. Clicking Those Negative Links
It’s tempting to see what people are writing in those negative posts about your company, but unless you are dealing with a negative comment or feedback, avoid clicking through links to posts that no good can come of. For example, a post titled “Why I Hate [Your Company]”. You are likely not going to change anyone’s opinion by making a comment on this post, but what you are going to do is contribute to the link popularity of that post by clicking it! Use your common sense and know that if you are unlikely to change anyone’s opinion based on the title of the link, then it’s best to stay away.
6. Controlling Who Has Access to Your Social Media Accounts
You need to know who has access to your social media accounts and what they are sharing on those accounts. Your company’s social media accounts should have a consistent voice, but you should also be sure that whatever happens, you have full control over your account at all times. We always recommend that you have a single person in charge of your social media to accomplish this. This also helps you to control who has access to your social media accounts so that should an employee leave your employment, you don’t have to be concerned about who has access.
7. Drama
When you see negative comments online about your business, address them, but do so in a professional manner. NEVER get into arguments with customers, competitors, or anyone else for that matter, it will only end up making your business look worse and will come back to haunt you in the end. Avoid drama at all costs and always keep in mind that everything you do will reflect on your business so make sure that it reflects well, not poorly!
Need Help with Your ORM Services?
If you need help managing your ORM services, Online Presence Manager can help. To find out more about how we can help you, why not call us today for a free consultation? Just dial 727-475-6460 today!
