The online reputation of your business is important because it has a huge effect on keeping your clients and getting new ones. Experts say that the reputation of your company makes up 25% of its market value. Moreover, before deciding if customers will purchase a product or not, 92% of them search the Internet for reviews. In the US, 45% of users decide not to use a company because of information that they find about them online, while 55% decide to do business with a company because of positive information that they find on the web.

The numbers prove how vital your online reputation is in running your business. Negative information about your company will ruin its reputation, may it be in a form of feedback, review, post, comment, or complaint. Online reputation repair will help to rebuild your reputation.

Importance of online reputation repair

Many customers nowadays use the web to know more about a product or service. Clients are now smarter and want to make an informed decision. They do a thorough investigation on the Internet before deciding if they will do business with the company or not. A negative post about your company may ruin your chances of gaining these clients. Moreover, it could also tarnish or even break the relationship that you have with your existing customers, and possibly losing them.

The good news is that you can do something about it. That is where online reputation repair comes in. Various strategies can help bury or eliminate the negative information about your company, so customers will no longer see them. Aside from working on these negative posts, it also involves finding ways to improve your online reputation to entice more customers to try what you offer. If you do not fix your online reputation, and let the negative words spread about your brand, this could cost you your business.

How long it takes before you see the result

Repairing your online reputation is not an overnight process, and it takes hard work and commitment for it to become successful. The time it takes for you to see results will depend on various factors, including the severity of the negative posts that you need to handle, and how well you build your online reputation. However, on average, it could take anywhere between a few months to more than a year to see the results. As long as you are in the right direction, you will see small changes that will lead you to your goal.

Do not be enticed by services offering to fix your online reputation in an instant. They might use illegal techniques that may give you an immediate result but will hurt your standing in the long run. Do it the right way, so you can rebuild your reputation slowly, but surely, and keep improving it to stay on top once you get there.

Steps to Repair Your Online Reputation

Below is a guide that will help fix and rebuild your online reputation.

Step 1: Build a strong online profile

Make sure to build your website properly, as this will serve as your address on the web. Users will go there to learn more about your company and what you offer. Create your profile on various media sites and make it informative and professional. A significant percentage of Internet users use social media, so these sites will show on the search result when they do an Internet search. Other pages where to build your profile are Google My Business and other online business listing sites.

Step 2: Request to remove negative information on the Internet

Removing negative feedback or posts on the web may be easier said than done. However, you may request Google to remove it from the search result, although there is no guarantee that they will grant your request. Furthermore, once removed from Google search results, it will still be on the sites where they were posted. For instance, if users visit a specific site that contains a negative post about your company, they will still see it there. You must submit a separate request for that site to remove the negative post about your business which again does not guarantee you approval. It’s still worth it to give it a try to help in managing your online reputation.

Step 3: Improve your credibility and authority

You do not have control over what others say about you or if Google or other sites will take down the negative posts about your company. However, there is something that you can control, and that is building your online reputation. Enhance your credibility and authority by sharing informative, helpful, and high-quality content. Post regularly on your website and social media. Submit blog posts on authority sites and partner with influencers and authorities in your field. Participate in projects and programs that have a good cause to build your name. Customers are more likely to choose companies that give back. It will help improve your online reputation by dominating the search result with positive information about your business and pushing the negative posts on lower ranks. About 95% of users would visit the sites on the first page of the search result, and only 5% check those on the second and third pages. It would be less likely for users to see the negative posts on higher pages of the result.

Step 4: Connect with customers

Customers are more likely to have a positive impression of you if you interact with them. Attend to their questions as soon as possible, and do your best to resolve their concerns right away. Communicate with them to build and strengthen your relationship. Thank them for positive feedbacks, and address negative comments immediately and in a professional manner. Your speedy and courteous response can help turn a negative situation into a positive one.

Step 5: Monitor online reputation

Once you start seeing a result, do not stop what you are doing. Continue with your best practices, such as sharing relevant information and providing immediate customer service. Monitor your online reputation too, and promptly act if you find something that may ruin it.

Online reputation repair is not only about removing negative posts about your company. It’s also about building your reputation so you can keep the loyalty of your existing clients, as well as the interest and trust of new clients to do business with you.