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An online reputation repair strategy aims at molding your customers’ perception and further take back control of the online information.
The definition of a “perfect strategy” might differ for individuals to a businessman.
Yet the significance can’t be denied by anyone.
In case you’re new to the concept of “online reputation repair”, we’ve got you covered.
In this blog, you’ll be provided with the ultimate details on online reputation repair strategies. But, prior to that let’s understand what reputation repair is and why it is important in modern businesses.
What is Reputation Repair?
Reputation repair is the process of taking back control of the information showing up online and organize them in a way that pushes the defamatory contents far back on the search result page while ranking up the positive ones.
When you type a name on the search bar and fire the search button, tons of results come up. Right?
You can search for typing your brand name on it and notice the results showing up on the first page.
If defamatory results are showing up on the first page, then undoubtedly it’ll impact your business. As a majority of people just take a second or two to judge your brand by the first impression.
One such instance occurred with Facebook when Mark Zuckerberg was accused of Cambridge analytical data breach.
This one issue made him lost $9 billion dollars instantly and also he has dropped three places down on Forbes’ ranking.
So, defamatory information holds this much power to make your business poof in the air, irrespective of its size.
An online reputation repair experts control this information and organize the contents in a way that represents your brand as an authoritative and reliable one.
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Online Reputation Repair Procedure: How to Craft a Perfect Strategy to Shield Your Online Reputation
Now that you’ve realized the importance of repairing your reputation, a rock-solid strategy is a prerequisite.
Often times, businesses overlook this part and implement some of the common practices without being aware of the current scenario. This doesn’t lead them anywhere.
I’m sure you don’t wish to repeat the same mistake, unlike others, right?
Let’s get started with the steps to craft unbeatable online reputation repair strategies that a guaranteed reputation management service leverages;
(1) Conduct a Thorough Research
Conducting thorough research (Google search) is the primary step to take before you craft a strategy.
I mentioned Google search to be specific as most of your customers prefer Google to search any query.
The research part will guide you to measure your current online reputation and give you an idea as to how wretched your reputation is and the steps you need to take further.
For your convenience, we’ve classified the research part into 3 major steps that include corporate sentiment analysis, search on incognito mode, and social media analysis.
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Corporate Sentiment Analysis
Are you not focusing on measuring corporate reputation?
Well, it’s time you do as this is a crucial step to analysis to craft an online reputation repair strategy.
During this step, analyze the amount of positive content you own and the amount of earned content you’ve. Adding to this analysis the number of competitors you’ve in your field and the number of influencers such as news or publications, etc.
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Conduct Research on Private Window
Your search results on Google are often influenced by the browsing history and cache files loaded in your device.
So, in order to have an idea of how other people are perceiving your brand, open Google on incognito mode.
Now search for your brand name, individual name, or product name or any such related to your business to get an idea of the kind of reputation you presently hold online.
Or if you want to directly hit on the negative results, add scandals after your brand name and fire the search bar. For example, “your company name” + scandals.
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Social Media Research
A social media profiles hold the widest range of trolls, negative comments and positive coverage too.
Social media research should be done in two steps that include looking into your social media profiles, comments, posts, likes, etc. and looking into the review sites like Yelp, Facebook and Google.
To conduct the first step in more detail, you can place hashtag+ your company name, to know what people are talking about you on social sites.
To run the analysis on highly-preferred review sites, make sure you cover all the sites that you’ve been covered up.
Adding to this run a research on your competitors too leveraging the same approaches to craft an invincible online reputation repair strategy.
(2) Combine the Research Data
Once you’re done with the research part, it’s time to combine the data founded in the preceding step.
You can organize the compilation sheet in different parts, like;
- The overall brand analysis report.
- The brand report compared to others.
- Factors that made your brand look good or bad.
- Factors that you can control and that you can’t control.
- Average star rating in different review sites.
- Reasons behind your competitor’s success
- Steps to take to outstand others.
Once you’re done with the assimilation step, it’s time to plan your strategy.
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(3) Map Out Your Plan Now
You’ve done your research, you’ve compiled the data and now it’s time to map out your plans.
It’s not a step that suddenly pops out of your mind, rather it takes unwavering focus and dexterous knowledge to put everything into the right places.
Here’s how online reputation management experts plan out streamlined and result-oriented online reputation repair strategy;
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Leverage One Strong Sword
It’s best to back yourself with one strong support rather than hopping around different weapons.
So, list out the talents you’ve got and prioritized them according to your requirements.
Example: If you have a well-versed team of content creators, then put them in the forefront of your strategy. With their intangible content creation process, you can improve your reputation.
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Point-out the Risk zones
The reasons for having a damaged reputation can be many.
But, only a handful of them can be seriously damaging to your business. So, point out the risk areas where your business is most vulnerable.
Once you figure out the weak points, you can instantly start working on them for improvement.
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Imitate Your Peers
There are reasons behind your competitor having a stellar online reputation while you’re distressing over a wretched one.
Figure out the things you’ve been doing wrong.
It’s best to imitate the robust strategy and activities of others who hold a much stronger search presence online.
What are Things to Avoid While Making Unsurpassed Online Reputation Repair Strategies?
Oftentimes, businesses or individuals come across some common mistakes that hinder their growth.
While you’re in the process of maintaining and repairing your reputation, you can’t take a chance to repeat the mistakes and make it irreparable.
Let’s have a look at the mistakes people make;
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Overlooking the Concept of Online Reputation Repair
Some of the businesses assume that there is no need to have an online reputation repair strategy, everything will fall into places on their own.
This is one of the common yet most damaging thoughts you can ever have, being a businessman.
Even if you hold a positive online presence today, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll hold such a reputation incessantly.
“The reputation of a thousand years may be undermined by the conduct of one hour” – Japanese Proverb
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Inconsistent Process
Your job is not concluded right after crafting a perfect strategy.
You should maintain your consistency too.
When your customers are looking for your product or relevant information you should serve them beforehand.
That’s what makes you trustworthy and reliable.
Being inconsistent in the process of repairing your online reputation will make your brand appear more as an unauthentic source.
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Handling Negative Reviews Violently
You can’t expect all your reviews to be positive. Right?
Handling negative reviews violently is even worse than bearing with negative reviews.
Research says 44% of customers revisit a brand, seeing the way they respond to negative reviews. You know why?
It shows your problem-solving attitude and the understandable nature which people fall for.
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Posting Falsified Reviews
Has this idea of creating positive reviews on your own to rank down the negative ones not popped up in your mind?
Not a single professional reputation repair services make this mistake.
Because popular sites like Google or Yelp have their own algorithm to filter out falsified feedback.
So, don’t waste your time and energy on making fake reviews rather focus on earning genuine reviews that count.
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Taking Positive Reviews Casually
You can’t ignore a positive review.
It takes amounts of effort to generate a positive review authentically, and ignoring these will lead you to the opportunity to make those customers review you again in the future.
You must show gratitude to each of your customers for taking their time out for reviewing you.
Wrapping it Up
So, the process of crafting a perfect online reputation repair strategy might be tedious but, it’s worth in recent times.
You can start seeing the benefit of a well-crafted strategy when you’ll hold a long-term stellar reputation online.
The above guide will help you to create a perfect strategy in 2020 and beyond and make you aware of the mistakes to avoid.
Do you leverage any other strategy for repairing your reputation? Feel free to let us know.
