Do's & Don’ts: Online reputation management

Do's & Don’ts: Online reputation management

You must start managing your online reputation from you, yourself. There are several things that you should keep in mind to improve your reputation over internet. Normally, we don’t think of it till we provoked by any bad situation. So, here are some suggestions what you should do & what you shouldn’t. This do’s & don’ts article will help you greatly in this context.

Do’s:

·        Recognize your clients: You must know the audience or people you are marketing to. These are the same people, may it be personal or professional. Deal with them appropriately with the proper content in order to get the maximum benefit. You must find out their preference & also provide them new contents to refresh & update their taste.

·        Act on negative reports: Make a proper plan of action to for your complaints or negative actions. If you find these reports on the first page of SERPs then get them down in the search result page as far as possible. This can be done by submitting press release to several PR distribution websites like PR.com & PRnewswir.com. You can also create a new blog & provide positive information about your brand or service. Because even if you have resolved the issue with the customer, the results will stay there in the internet & even though you have cleared your name, the links are still there.

·        Get certification: When you get certification from an agency like BBB, then it has its own effect. So you should get a certification if your organization is in a state to have this. This makes you more credible you your customers.

·        Take care of your clients:If you find issues of dissatisfying customers then give your best to resolve these kinds of problems. This will be very tough for you if they take any decision against you in secret. This will extremely harm your online reputation. And resolve the issues publicly, as this will show your transparency & care for your customer. Always take quick actions.

·         Make good use of Social Networking websites:One of the best ways to improve your online reputation is to make the best use of social networks like Facebook, twitter, MySpace, StumbleUpon and Digg. As these social networking sites have a huge user base, this will help you to communicate faster in less time. Always get the appealing information for your targeted customers

·         Updated blog: You must create one or two blogs for your company and update them frequently. Use different platforms for different blogs. Provide the latest news of your company & stuffs. Some useful comments on other blogs are acceptable. But careful while giving comments.

·        Keep an eye on your online reputation: Regularly monitor your online reputation. Google alert is very useful for this perspective. And take proper action to improve it.

·        Avoid unusual contents: Always be conscious to your information. Remove or alter the inappropriate contents. This will keep you clean and reliable. This will help you increase your reputation online.

·         Internet always remembers.You can post many stuffs on the web, you just can’t take it down alwaysSending your frat party photos to others online may leave anenduringinscription.

·         Never forget to say “Thank you”: Always thank the people who help you to improve. Never ignore them. Make them feel special. May it be a positive or negative feedback, never forget to thank them for their influences that help you improve. After all your company relies on its customers.

Don’ts:

·        Never consider negative reviews as failure: One can’t always satisfy everyone. So don’t depress if you face any negative publicity of your company. Try to work on that issue but make sure that negative issue boost your spirit not weaken you. Make sure that you have 100 satisfied customers for an unsatisfied one. Never panic; it results more problems.

·        Don’t take immediate actions: If you find any negative information then don’t take sudden action. Never give your focus to a single issue. Always make strategies before executing some issues. Always a well-planned strategy gives good results in return. While an unplanned one can put you in a deeper problem.

·        Don’t admit mistakes, Be diplomatic:If you admit your mistake then your complaint will not be removed from the search engine. So never admit your mistakes rather handle them technically. It may increase your trust issue. But make sure your activity shouldn’t confuse your customers about you. So, convince them handle them never leave them. Accept mistakes diplomatically.

·        Don’t wait for Negativity:In today’s market your customers will share their negative feedbacks or complaints to you. But serious fact they also share these issues in their personal networks and social networks like Facebook, twitter. So before such things happen, you must be careful to such kind of sensitive issues. Because people will read this feedbacks and take services depending upon these comments.

·         Don’t afraid of social media, neither do feedbacks:Never avoid the negative feedbacks or comments. This will add fuel to fire. Because the person who complaint is not a moron. Neither the people moving around the internet. So face the problems with proper plan. Face the social media. This will increase your online reputation for sure.

·        Don’t post embarrassing stuffs to your blog, Facebook or twitter: This is a very small but sensitive issue. If you are thinking that your post is visible to the recipient then I must suggest you, think again. This will harm your online reputation.

·        Avoid political debates-Don’t argue:This is not a wrestling ring. You have to do things gently. No one is going to accept you if you force them. No matter who is right, but customers always hold a strong sympathy. So never ague or debate on issue. But remove then technically.

·        Don’t threaten an intentional online attacker straight:By opposing the person straight in a public forum or an online comment or review, you could be just adding fuel to the fire. The bad thing is that the more negativity you generate on the internet about your site, the more it gets pushed in the search engine rankings. Always find an online reputation management professional to handle such attacks.

·        Don’t ‘Pay-Off’ Bloggers: Normally, Bloggers write anonymously. A lot of unprofessional writers also feel that in order to maintain a ‘cutting edge’ to their work, they can only do so by being overly and often cynically critical of others. The advice is not to respond and takes the usual RM steps to ensure it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

·         Take valuable brand evangelists for granted:Brand evangelists are your free sales and marketing team.  They take the time to express anyone who will listen that they love you. Take the time to tell them that you appreciate their interest, and they’ll continue to spread the word.