How To Choose A Reputation Management Company

First, let it be said that we are in the business and thus our viewpoints may be slightly skewed. With that said we believe you will recognize that which is true for you and take what makes sense and add it to your collective wisdom.

Reputation Management is a good thing but Reputation Marketing is where the money is for any business looking for an R.O.I while maximizing their existing advertising, word-of-mouth and repeat customer retention. When looking at which direction to go in regarding the reputation game here are some key factors for consideration. Define your goals, choose wisely, assign your budget and watch your business grow faster than would otherwise be possible.

Reputation Management Hot Points

1. No one can push negative content down the search engine rankings. You can only push content out to the Internet. The quantity, quality, frequency, how well optimized and relevant it is determines what moves up the search engine rankings. Short cuts need not apply.

2. Third party review sites are great in small doses and in moderation. Remember that regardless of your reputation on these sites they will redirect over 40% of your visitors on average to competitor’s ad or listings. Finally never hire a company to post reviews on 3rd party review sites on behalf of you or your customers. This is becoming a highly illegal process any way you slice it up. The content must come from your customer.

3. The first three pages of Google will control 90% of your online reputation. Control your Google and you Control your income. How many positions within the first three pages of Google can the company control when someone searches for you, your reviews or your complaints?

4. Google the reputation of the reputation management companies i.e. reviews and complaints to see if there are any issues to be concerned about and to determine how well they use their own technology on their own brand.

5. Reputation management is not reputation monitoring. Reputation management or marketing is the process of insuring that what people see reflects the real you, while reputation monitoring consists of listening to the conversation about your company on the web. Does the company you’re considering include a solid monitoring program?

6. What about social media? The ultimate reputation marketing program would focus on getting satisfied customers to integrate with your Facebook, Twitter, blogs and any other social media outlets that you engage in. How do they stack up?

7. Make sure the company you hire can control the star ratings on your third party review listings without doing it for your customers and without you having to do the heavy lifting.

When it comes to all things Internet usually the best advice is to pick a rope and climb it, but when it comes to reputation management and marketing the rope you pick means winning or losing the game.