How To Manage Your Company’s Online Reputation

You know as well as I do that mobile devices are taking over how we interact as a community. As more user-generated reviews web sites such as Citysearch and Yelp are accessible on mobile devices, and with social network web sites that offer real-time status updates like Facebook and Twitter, consumers now have the power to share their experiences as they’re experiencing them. While this can capture the immediate excitement of finding a new restaurant, it can also serve as a channel to express frustration or disappointment with an outing gone wrong. Previously, consumers had to wait until they got home to post a user review. Now, they can do so in the heat of the moment, when passions run high and filters are non-existent. The result can be crushing for the local small business owner.

So how do you as a local business combat less than stellar reviews? Well many businesses have already spoken up and asked for an equal voice on the user review websites. For example, last week, Yelp announced a new offering enabling local businesses to respond publicly to inaccurate facts or statements, which is a service some other web sites, such as TripAdvisor already allow.

But this is probably not enough! Truly successful reputation management calls for business owners to be proactive for anything being said about their business online. Here are a few suggestions on how to be proactive:

1. Jump in and learn what is being said about you. Monitor your business name on social networks, set up google alerts, etc.
2. Use the social media and user review websites to speak to your customers and provide a voice of reason to them. Don’t be defensive but if the consumer is correct thank them for the comment and tell them the actions you have taken so it won’t happen again.

The worst business problem is not knowing what the problems are. By monitoring your online brand you should be well versed in what is being said about you and how to fix it.