Business Reputation Management Online: A How To Guide

How can I handle business reputation management online?

Slips of paper with various keywords on them.
Know your client base, and do what you can to keep them happy–what goes around comes around.

So what exactly is online reputation management? Reputation management is the process of identifying what other people are saying or feeling about your business, and taking steps to ensure that the general consensus is in line with your goals. There are some important steps to take in order to make sure that you are leaving your customers with a positive impression based on your online presence. Here are a few we that are essential:

  1. Provide exemplary customer service.

    The easiest way to gain positive reviews and prevent negative ones is to create an ideal environment for your clients.

  2. Take time to approach your customers while they are at your business.

    Unless they think about reviewing your business while they are still at your business, chances are your customers aren’t going to take the extra step to log on and write a review. Simply letting them know—either by using signage or telling them directly—that you are on Yelp can put the idea in their mind that they should leave some feedback.

  3. Make sure you know how to respond to reviews.

    Positive Reviews: Make sure that the main focus of your response is to deliver a thank you and let the customer know that you care. Here’s an example:

    Maggie, thank you so much for you glowing review. We’re so glad you enjoyed your experience at our salon. Sounds like Ariel was able to give you a cut you loved. Thanks for the compliments; I’m glad we made such a good impression on you. I hope you come back to see us soon.

    Negative Reviews:  There are several important tips for responding to negative reviews on yelp. Generally, you want to avoid answering with a negative review with a scathing or defensive review.  Rather, you should make the effort to address the criticisms and let the customer know you’re working to correct the issue. You can see more tips in our post here.

If it seems too daunting to manage your online reputation on your own, Vision Advertising is happy to help.  We have recently implemented a new service for managing your online presence. Learn more about it here, or contact us directly to see what we can for your business!

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About the author : Vision Advertising

Vision Advertising is a full-service marketing agency enhancing the online brand presence of business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies across the US. We focus on providing custom marketing services to address unique client needs, customer profiles, and budgetary concerns, created in-house by our team of skilled marketing specialists. This author profile is used for deattributed posts or when content is posted to this blog without comment.