How to Repair Your Company's Online Reputation

You’ve spent time building your company’s online presence, updating your website, and creating meaningful social content. Everything is going well until you get a disgruntled customer or a few negative online reviews, and suddenly you are faced with a not-so-prime online rating. This may seem devastating, but there are steps your business can take to control and mend your business’s digital scars or, better yet, prevent them from happening. 

Here are 5 tips to help:

Create a Google Alert 

Create a Google Alert to notify you if your business name appears online, and appoint someone with authority to address any questions, comments, or negative online reviews.

Implement SEO

Implement SEO by providing beneficial content that uses keywords your customers may search for.  It’s even more important to create this content if you’ve recently experienced a bad business review. The more positive content your business can provide, the deeper any negative information about your business will be pushed down in search rankings. This is crucial because 75% of searchers do not look past the first page of search results.

Be Prepared

Take a proactive approach. The best time to handle a crisis is before there is one, so have a plan in place and update it regularly. Make sure your strategy includes who will respond to negative information and who will be the public face of your company.  

Apologize When Appropriate

When you are in the wrong, apologize. A sincere apology can be a huge step in repairing lost trust with customers. Promptly post the apology on your website and all social media channels if the situation has been brought to public attention.  

Remove Disparaging Information

If there is defamatory, incorrect, or slanderous information out there, try Link Removal, a service many companies provide to remove disparaging online information. You can also ask Google to remove information. Check out Google’s removal policies for more information about what kinds of content they will remove.

Online reputation management is about actively working to control your online activity, working diligently to keep your business in a positive light, and preparing for when things don’t go quite right.

Contact Airtank today for more information and how we can help!