As difficult as it may seem sometimes, you should never let your reputation be left to chance.
Having a good reputation is crucial to the growth of your business. Therefore, it’s critical that you focus on building a strong, positive online reputation that will make doing business with you a NO-BRAINER for your target market. Let’s take a look at the benefits of building and maintaining a positive online reputation: - You will retain your existing customers, which is priceless.
As a business owner, you already know that generating a NEW customer is much harder and expensive than getting REPEAT customers.
Why risk the chance of losing the easiest income your business can bring in? - You will be able to get new customers easily.
Again, people are checking online to see what others are saying about products and services before they move forward with purchasing.
If your company has a glowing reputation online, you will attract more new business and long-term customers. - As the reputation of your business becomes noticeable, you may be offered great deals by other companies willing to work with you, or even investors looking to hand you some money. Building a positive reputation for your business online is not easy - and not everyone is willing to put in the hard work that is required.
However, if you want to sustain in these tough economic times, it is in the best interest of your business to build a strong, solid, positive reputation on the internet. How to Maintain Your Business Reputation 1. Actively seek reviews from your satisfied customers.
There are several online review sites that are great resources for local businesses. For instance, if you have a Google Places business listing, you should ask your customers to leave reviews on your page. There are also other review sites you can utilize such as Yelp!, CitySearch, and InsiderPages, and others. Choose the ones you want to build up and ask your customers to leave reviews on all of them.
One way to get them to do it is by offering incentives such as discounts.
Everyone loves a good deal and many people will sacrifice a couple of minutes to write a review in exchange for a few dollars off of their next meal. 2. Flood the first page of the internet search engines with “positive” content about your business.
Get as much positive information about your business on the first page of Google as possible.
This is achieved with search engine optimization (SEO) and will help dilute any negative information floating around online about your business. For instance, after getting all of those positive reviews from your customers, try to get your Google Places business listing optimized so it shows up at the top of Google for your local keywords.
Besides, what good are those glowing reviews if no one can see them? 3. Treat your online customers with respect.
Shockingly, some businesses treat their online customers terribly.
Many of them are rude with their responses and some of them don’t respond at all to their online audience. Both of these are huge mistakes.
Doing business online should be handled in the same manner as live business dealings. Just because a customer is online does not mean they don’t require the same respect and attention as a customer that is standing right in front of you. Let’s say you come across a negative comment about your product or service online.
The worst thing you can do is ignore it.
By addressing it, you are giving yourself a chance to correct whatever was wrong from the customer’s perspective.
Therefore, you have a chance of regaining their business. Not only that, but ignoring negative remarks made by a customer will be perceived as “rudeness” to other potential customers.
No response from you is just as bad as “admitting that the remarks are true.” So what about those negative comments that are downright bogus? You should be able to respond and TELL THEM OFF, right? Wrong… You still have to maintain your professionalism no matter what. Respond tactfully and honestly to get your point across. When it comes to managing your online complaints, it all goes back to business basics: Outstanding customer service. The better the customer service, the more sales you will have and the more recommendations happy customers will provide.
This will, in turn, improve the reputation of your local business.
Some people don’t mind paying high cost for products once they’ve received stellar customer service. 4. Politely ask for negative reviews to be removed.
There’s nothing wrong with asking a negative reviewer to remove their comments – especially if there was some type of misunderstanding.
Of course, you can’t force them to remove it, so all you can do is ask. If they don’t, move on. 5. Engage in Social Media and build a loyal following and solid online reputation.
You’ve heard of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube… these social platforms have changed the way the world communicates as well as how we do business. Did you know that 93% of adult internet users are on Facebook? However, many local businesses are being left behind because they’re not utilizing the power of social media to build and manage a strong online presence. Did you know that your business Facebook page could show up on the first page of Google when people search for your business’s, type of product or service?
That’s IF you have one… If you don’t, you should put that on your to-do list as soon as possible. When you setup your social media accounts, be sure to:
Speaking of “content…” 6. Content is KING – Generate positive content about your business and distribute it online.
Online press releases are a great way to let the world know what your business is up to and build a strong reputation.
Keep consumers updated on your special offers, corporate changes, product additions, and anything else you want them to know in these press releases. Also, be sure to get a blog if you don’t already have one.
Blogging is one of the most popular forms of online communication today.
Once you setup a blog, tie it into your social media accounts to create a strong source for lead generation and customer retention. These blog posts can also be used as articles and submitted to several different online article directories to give your business even more positive online exposure online. The more “positive” content you have, the more your customers will love you… the more your prospects will love you… and the more Google will love you. Whatever you do, keep the content flow consistent and steady. 7. Ensure that all information on your webpage is accurate.
Nothing turns away a customer faster than inaccurate information.
As much as you want to catch a potential customer’s eye, you should not over-endorse your product or skill into something that you know you can’t deliver. What you will end up with is a disgruntled customer. The fastest news to get around is bad news, and if that customer has access to the internet this could mean trouble for your business reputation. Once something is placed on the internet, it really never goes away unless specific actions are taken.
So be honest about what your company is offering, therefore leaving you with satisfied customers who will be more likely to use your business in the future. Not only that, but they will also send recommendations and glowing customer reviews your way for the whole world to see!
Read more... Positive Effects of a Good Online Reputation
Having a good reputation is crucial to the growth of your business. Therefore, it’s critical that you focus on building a strong, positive online reputation that will make doing business with you a NO-BRAINER for your target market. Let’s take a look at the benefits of building and maintaining a positive online reputation: - You will retain your existing customers, which is priceless.
As a business owner, you already know that generating a NEW customer is much harder and expensive than getting REPEAT customers.
Why risk the chance of losing the easiest income your business can bring in? - You will be able to get new customers easily.
Again, people are checking online to see what others are saying about products and services before they move forward with purchasing.
If your company has a glowing reputation online, you will attract more new business and long-term customers. - As the reputation of your business becomes noticeable, you may be offered great deals by other companies willing to work with you, or even investors looking to hand you some money. Building a positive reputation for your business online is not easy - and not everyone is willing to put in the hard work that is required.
However, if you want to sustain in these tough economic times, it is in the best interest of your business to build a strong, solid, positive reputation on the internet. How to Maintain Your Business Reputation 1. Actively seek reviews from your satisfied customers.
There are several online review sites that are great resources for local businesses. For instance, if you have a Google Places business listing, you should ask your customers to leave reviews on your page. There are also other review sites you can utilize such as Yelp!, CitySearch, and InsiderPages, and others. Choose the ones you want to build up and ask your customers to leave reviews on all of them.
One way to get them to do it is by offering incentives such as discounts.
Everyone loves a good deal and many people will sacrifice a couple of minutes to write a review in exchange for a few dollars off of their next meal. 2. Flood the first page of the internet search engines with “positive” content about your business.
Get as much positive information about your business on the first page of Google as possible.
This is achieved with search engine optimization (SEO) and will help dilute any negative information floating around online about your business. For instance, after getting all of those positive reviews from your customers, try to get your Google Places business listing optimized so it shows up at the top of Google for your local keywords.
Besides, what good are those glowing reviews if no one can see them? 3. Treat your online customers with respect.
Shockingly, some businesses treat their online customers terribly.
Many of them are rude with their responses and some of them don’t respond at all to their online audience. Both of these are huge mistakes.
Doing business online should be handled in the same manner as live business dealings. Just because a customer is online does not mean they don’t require the same respect and attention as a customer that is standing right in front of you. Let’s say you come across a negative comment about your product or service online.
The worst thing you can do is ignore it.
By addressing it, you are giving yourself a chance to correct whatever was wrong from the customer’s perspective.
Therefore, you have a chance of regaining their business. Not only that, but ignoring negative remarks made by a customer will be perceived as “rudeness” to other potential customers.
No response from you is just as bad as “admitting that the remarks are true.” So what about those negative comments that are downright bogus? You should be able to respond and TELL THEM OFF, right? Wrong… You still have to maintain your professionalism no matter what. Respond tactfully and honestly to get your point across. When it comes to managing your online complaints, it all goes back to business basics: Outstanding customer service. The better the customer service, the more sales you will have and the more recommendations happy customers will provide.
This will, in turn, improve the reputation of your local business.
Some people don’t mind paying high cost for products once they’ve received stellar customer service. 4. Politely ask for negative reviews to be removed.
There’s nothing wrong with asking a negative reviewer to remove their comments – especially if there was some type of misunderstanding.
Of course, you can’t force them to remove it, so all you can do is ask. If they don’t, move on. 5. Engage in Social Media and build a loyal following and solid online reputation.
You’ve heard of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube… these social platforms have changed the way the world communicates as well as how we do business. Did you know that 93% of adult internet users are on Facebook? However, many local businesses are being left behind because they’re not utilizing the power of social media to build and manage a strong online presence. Did you know that your business Facebook page could show up on the first page of Google when people search for your business’s, type of product or service?
That’s IF you have one… If you don’t, you should put that on your to-do list as soon as possible. When you setup your social media accounts, be sure to:
- Steadily build a list of followers and fans
- Engage with your audience and “socialize”
- Comment frequently and generate relevant content
Speaking of “content…” 6. Content is KING – Generate positive content about your business and distribute it online.
Online press releases are a great way to let the world know what your business is up to and build a strong reputation.
Keep consumers updated on your special offers, corporate changes, product additions, and anything else you want them to know in these press releases. Also, be sure to get a blog if you don’t already have one.
Blogging is one of the most popular forms of online communication today.
Once you setup a blog, tie it into your social media accounts to create a strong source for lead generation and customer retention. These blog posts can also be used as articles and submitted to several different online article directories to give your business even more positive online exposure online. The more “positive” content you have, the more your customers will love you… the more your prospects will love you… and the more Google will love you. Whatever you do, keep the content flow consistent and steady. 7. Ensure that all information on your webpage is accurate.
Nothing turns away a customer faster than inaccurate information.
As much as you want to catch a potential customer’s eye, you should not over-endorse your product or skill into something that you know you can’t deliver. What you will end up with is a disgruntled customer. The fastest news to get around is bad news, and if that customer has access to the internet this could mean trouble for your business reputation. Once something is placed on the internet, it really never goes away unless specific actions are taken.
So be honest about what your company is offering, therefore leaving you with satisfied customers who will be more likely to use your business in the future. Not only that, but they will also send recommendations and glowing customer reviews your way for the whole world to see!
Read more... Positive Effects of a Good Online Reputation
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