Reputation Management Can Negatively Affect Your Business

The online world can be excruciatingly painful when it comes to businesses and the competition. It is not easy to point the blame at anyone, but a seemingly simple account of having a mug shot taken for a DUI offence, can have a very damaging g effect on a business owner.

Many business owners have become the victim of extortion attempts by providers, who offered to remove compromising images for a small fee of a few hundred dollars. The problem is after complying with the requests; the images will often reappear, followed by similar requests. Many observers believe that these tactics may, in fact be used by some of the Reputation Management firms. There are some unverified claims that the Reputation Management firms may have undisclosed agreements with review sites where damaging information is published.

While certainly not all of the reputation monitoring firms may be involved with this practice, it may be noteworthy. There are ways that online reputation can be managed effectively, and a few pointers are offered. It is ironic that a Reputation Management company can be involved in scurrilous racketeering, but by a following a few important points, can save or avoid extensive damage.

It can be counterproductive to respond to customer complaints in public, as the issues get prolonged, and the longer issues remain in public, chances for improved rankings is increased. A more entries are added, the popularity is increased and position will increase organically.

One of the more effective methods that can be used for Reputation management is to enlist the help of customers and advocates. Encourage them to respond to the negative comments about your business that may be posted on the popular review sites. They do not need to respond on the review site, as this swill extend the issue, but they can publish positive comment on other social networks, or on their own Facebook page, or on your company site. The idea is to have a much wider social footprint that will eventually over shadow the negativity of the review site.

The cost may be immaterial when it comes to online monitoring, especially if it involves the survival of your business. There are companies that will perform the necessary on-line monitoring and management of your profile, while others offer a free tutorial. Other companies will offer to erase all mention of your company from the web.

If there is one task, that should assume priority over the others, it would be to ensure that your profile is fully optimized. Create as much positive content as possible, in order to force the negative comments downwards.

It is important to search your name or that of business periodically to see what others may be saying. It is easy to set a Google alert, so that new content is sent to your mailbox.

It is strongly recommended that you purchase your own domain name and variations as some form of protection. The content should remain exclusive, with a short bio, your resume, and a few interesting article or blog posts.

It is important to include reputation management Orange County as part of online monitoring process. Keeping an eye on both positive and negative mentions will help your survival. You can get more information from reputation monitoring Orange County.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Afshin_Nejad
http://EzineArticles.com/?Reputation-Management-Can-Negatively-Affect-Your-Business&id=8436995