Why Online Reputation Management is Vital to Your Business

At least 85 percent of consumers research businesses online before making buying decisions. This means online reputation management—tactics used to control perception on the Internet—is absolutely vital to your business.

Consumers research (and contribute to) not only official review sites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, Google Reviews, Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot and Consumer Reports but also to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Year over year, these sites continue gaining traction—and flooding the Internet with content.

This increased dependence on online reviews is bound to affect the bottom line, highlighting the need for businesses to blanket the Web with content that sends a positive message about their brand.

Here are a few ways online reputation management can help you maintain credibility and increase your ROI:

Protect your brand. 

The right strategies can lead potential customers to content that emphasizes your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses. Updated content can push negative reviews down and off the first page of search engine results, helping to provide a buffer.

Improve rankings in search. 

Competitors with stellar reviews, higher traffic, and bigger advertising budgets may naturally yield better search results than your business; however, with the right techniques, you can improve your search rankings and compete with the best of them.

Build and improve customer relationships. 

Social media makes interacting with customers quick and simple. Leveraging your online networks can help foster productive conversations with current and potential customers.

Drive sales. 

Incorporating promotions, offers and new product announcements to your online marketing mix can lead followers to your site in an effort to boost online sales and drive conversion.

Need assistance with your online reputation management? We can help! Contact Belo Media Group to learn more.