Reputation management is a complex and delicate task. Businesses have often got into a great deal of difficulty, both with offline and online reputation management. The net is a great thing to have at your side when things are going your way, but it is a problem when the boot is on the other foot. The variety of ways in which good news about your firm can be spread online can also serve to tarnish your brand. Constant vigilance and knowing how best to respond to complaints or bad publicity are inherently problematic. Site owners who undertake reputation management independently are prone to making errors if things turn against them.
At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we have experience and expertise in assisting firms with reputation management issues. In matters which need considerable care, there is little substitute for relevant practical experience.
It is vital to have systems in place which can prevent trouble from getting out of hand if it arrives. There is a lot of work which can be performed before any problem arises. This means that it is best to have this work done as part of the overall campaign. For most sites, the campaign will consist of both search engine optimization and social media marketing. These activities should be conducted according to principles which are likely to help safeguard the image of your brand. The following list may be of some utility:
• In the first instance, it is prudent not to put out any content which could have a detrimental impact on the performance of the site if it is reacted to in a negative manner. Caution should be used when putting out content that may be considered controversial.
• Controversial content can be the cause of a problem, but it is important to recall that bland content will not work well in terms of getting traffic. It is thus essential to maintain content at a level which is interesting enough to stimulate content but is not overstepping the mark.
• Monitoring reaction to content is a sensible notion. A blog should always be moderated properly, guest blogs should be checked for suitability and what is happening on the social networking sites in relation to the firm and its output should be watched with care. The social networking sites should be used to develop a loyal target audience who will not be keen to believe the worst of the firm.
• Search engine optimization techniques of an ethical type should be utilised so that the upper reaches of the search engine results pages for relevant keywords are dominated by positive mentions of the firm concerned. This means that any bad news will hopefully not become as visible as it might be otherwise.
• It makes commercial sense to draw up a process for responding to complaints. This should be accomplished by a partnership of the SEO company and the site owner. If a negative review or a nasty complaint is made, a measured and calm response can often defuse the situation. Any negative publicity should not be increased by an inflammatory rejoinder.
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Posted by Steve.
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