subject: Businesses Should Look At Their Online Reputation [print this page] Did you know that 78% of people search for information about a person or business before choosing whether or not to contact them. Also 74% of people said they would refuse to do business with someone or a business if they found any negative information on them.
Every business owner should sit up and pay attention to these results. A drunken photo posted on Facebook or the email sent to someone could be made public at any time!
This exact situation has happened to the US restaurant chain called Chipotle. Their facebook account was allegedly hacked and someone posted a message saying they ran over a cat on her way home from work. This sparked outrage and it could have easily led to a sudden drop in their sales or their share price.
James Winsoar, CEO of English SEO firm JW Enterprises told reporters, "What would you find if you searched for your company name? Many business owners are faced with bad reviews linked to their business added by angry customers or ex-employees onto internet review sites such as Google Places, Yelp or Tipped".
"The good news is that businesses can do something about it. There is the legal route which can be taken if there are libellous comments but it can be dear to hire a solicitor. The better method is to set up blogging sites, social networking accounts, and a forum where people can ask questions and learn about you or your company. Post articles, videos and press releases that describe you or your company in a positive light".
Many customer complaints can be resolved by encouraging communication. The main complaint from genuinely unhappy customers is that they are not being listened to. Both the issue of unhappy customers and negative comments can easily be resolved through proper use of social networking websites.
It is well worth the short time investment needed to manage the accounts, perhaps an hour a day spent wisely posting useful information and answering customer enquiries. Many tasks can even be automated making it easy to spot potential prospects to interact with based on key phrases they mention - your company name is one example. Many businesses are finding that use of Twitter for customer service is great for building up trust and managing their online reputation.
There are some techniques you should steer clear of - for example reposting multiple testimonials onto review sites. Anti-spam measures exist in all the top ranking review sites. Review sites expect real customers to post reviews from their own computers and from different IP addresses. Having customers send positive reviews about you is a sure-fire way to get higher rankings and a better reputation online.
