Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management has become the most important aspect of online marketing. You can incorporate this into your Internet marketing strategy easily by doing the things that I outline in this article. If you are already managing your online presence, let this serve as a gentle reminder of importance of a good reputation.

The fact is, anyone can go online and post anything about you or your company on any forum, blog or user-generated Web site. They can even do this anonymously and you'll never know who is trying to tarnish your business’ reputation. Unfortunately, the statements these anonymous posters make about your business or even you do not need to be true to cause damage. Many times one comment can do more harm than you could ever do yourself through poor customer service.

Let these businesses serve as your example:

• A private physician gave advice that a patient didn't like: The patient, a blogger, posted negative things about the physician on her blog. Because the physician did not have a Web site or blog of her own, the only results that came up when a potential patient conducted a search were the blogger's negative comments.
• A construction contractor fired an employee and in retaliation the former worker posted some comments on a popular online forum. Even though the company had a Web site, they had not done much Internet marketing and the negative comments outranked the construction company's own Web site.
• A small-business owner, who also performs charity work through a separate organization, was attacked through an anonymous blog by a former customer who posted negative comments about the charitable organization as well as the business owner.

These types of online assaults are becoming more prevalent. For many bloggers, the Internet gives the illusion that there are no consequences for comments that are not true. Offline, such comments could be considered slanderous, but online they can be made anonymously and still have the power to influence potential customers’ buying decisions. Furthermore, once damage is done to a company’s reputation, it is extremely hard to reverse.

The good news is you can manage your online reputation through a marketing strategy that involves proven techniques that are not expensive or take up too much time. You can do it yourself or hire a consultant: Either way, online reputation management is an absolute must for every small-business owner, even if you do not have a Web site or do any business online. Here are the essential tools to start your online reputation management strategy:

• A domain name with your personal and/or company name in it
• A Web site for your business
• A blog that you post to every day
• Social networking and social bookmarking on a regular basis
• Forum posting and blog comments on blogs related to your business
• Online press releases
• Building in-bound links to your Web site from respected Web sites within your industry

Remember to stay professional, no matter what others have posted about you or your company. Online reputation management is about marketing your business online in a positive way without tearing others down. You don't have to make others look bad in order to make yourself look good. Online marketing strategies are an extension of, and should be approached as an addition to, traditional marketing approaches.

The first step to your online reputation management strategy should be to sign up for Google Alerts using your personal name, your company name and your Web site URL as keywords. That way you can see when people are talking about you online and head off any repercussions from erroneous or negative comments before they get too entrenched in the search engine databases.

The essence of all online reputation management is ensuring that as many positive reflections of your business appear in as many places online as possible, and to keep content fresh. By maintaining a consistent approach to online marketing, you can ensure that your reputation is unmarred by negativity. For more information about online reputation management, consult an Internet marketing consultant with a background in managing reputations.

Caroline Melberg is president and CEO of Small Business Mavericks, a division of Melberg Marketing. She has more than 20 years experience creating marketing communications materials and writing copy for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. She also is a leading expert on Internet marketing for small businesses. Her small-business columns are syndicated online, and she publishes the award-winning weekly e-zine, Small Business Maverick Secrets. To learn more, visit www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com.