A business’s online reputation is extremely important in today’s business world. If your business has a negative online reputation, the chances of you succeeding are very slim. This is due to the fact that most people trust what they read online, and make purchasing decisions based off of it. According to the reputation management company Status Labs, positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more, and 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. This means that what is said about your business online heavily influences a consumer’s decision on whether or not to purchase an item or service from you.
Since it is clear that your business’s online reputation is important, you want to make sure that you do everything in your power to protect it. Even though it is virtually impossible to control everything that is said about your business online, there are ways in which you can protect it, and limit the possibility of your business developing a negative online reputation. In this article, I will be discussing three ways in which you can protect your online reputation and minimize the risk of your business developing a negative status.
Use Database Security For Your Online Business Data
The first thing that you need to do is make sure that all of your business’s online data is safe from hackers. The best way to ensure this is by using database security. Database security helps protect your business data by restricting any unauthorized access, and by running multiple tests per day in order to ensure that the system does not crash and that the security system is working properly. This type of security system in particular keeps all of your business’s data safe, and secure from hackers. If you do not have database security, you are making it that much easier for people to hack into your business’s data. Once someone has access to your business’s data, the possibilities of what they can do with that information to sabotage your online reputation are endless. That is why using database security is the first step you should take in order to protect your online reputation.
Respond to ALL Online Reviews
Responding to every review that is written about your business online can be challenging, and sometimes unrealistic. However, this is something that you should try to do as much as possible. The benefits of responding to positive online reviews are fairly obvious, but what about responding to negative online reviews? Many business owners choose to ignore negative reviews that are written about them online, and this is a big mistake.
Responding to negative online reviews are important because it gives you the opportunity to defend your business, and protect it’s online reputation. For example, if you are in the restaurant business and someone writes on Yelp that your service is poor, chances are that readers are going to believe it.
However, if you respond to that review, the likelihood of a random consumer believing the original negative comment decreases tremendously.
When responding to any review written about your business online, you always want to make sure that you do not say anything that could be deemed controversial. If you say something that is controversial, it could potentially have a negative impact on your online reputation as opposed to a positive one. Responding to all online reviews also increases customer engagement, customer satisfaction, and shows consumers that you are listening to them. All of these will result in an increase to your business’s online reputation overall. That is also why you should respond to all online reviews, whether positive or negative.
Establish a Social Media Presence
The third and final thing that you should do in order to protect your online reputation is establish a social media presence. According to Statista, 77% of the U.S. population had at least one social media profile in the year 2018. What this means is that there is a good chance that your business’s online reputation can be impacted by what is said on social media. Therefore, it would be wise for you as a business owner to be on social media so that you can monitor what is said about you, and act accordingly.
For example, if a person is spreading false information and criticizing your business, it would be beneficial for you to respond to that criticism.
Furthermore, if this negative information is spread via social media and you don’t have any social media accounts to refute those statements, then it can really damage your online reputation, even if the information is false. That is why establishing a social media presence is so important when it comes to the protection of your online reputation.
In summary, a business’s online reputation is extremely important. Having a negative online reputation will hurt your business’s bottom line, and having a positive one will help it. This is due to the fact that so many people believe what they read online. Because of this, knowing how to protect your business’s online reputation is something that every business owner should know how to do. Luckily, all you need to do is follow the three pieces of advice that I provided in this article, and your online reputation will be as safe as possible.
