Before availing of any service or product of a particular company, buyers often check online reviews first and this is why negative reviews or results on the first page of the SERP can have a terrible impact on your business. It is true that even if you have an impeccable track record, the Internet gives freedom to anyone who can easily damage the brand. This would of course lead to lost leads and opportunities and is not something that should be left to chance. There are numerous ways that can help in online reputation management and limit negative search results.

Marketing executives often fail to understand that a bad ORM can harm the company’s sales and that it is very important to control the negative effects on the company.

Let’s discuss some tips that can help you manage your brand reputation.

Create your presence on all web properties: Your business must have Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts and a few other additional social networking sites so that you can have a strong web presence in this highly competitive market. For professional service types, your employees and executives must integrate with LinkedIn. This will prevent others from tarnishing your brand name and help you command more spots in the SERPs.

Protect people linked to your organization: Developing a strong social media presence for the names of CEOs, founders, and executives can help. Maintain a good profile so that you are known in the market and this will help protect your identity from defamation. Most people are looking for reputable doctors, lawyers, or professionals, so creating collateral to rank these people can go a long way.

Consider the products and services: Building your online material and social profile is very important for online reputation management. In case you have specific product or service names, you can develop some informative content to rank for those names as well. For this, you need to develop web pages, collateral materials and social media profiles and reserve each brand name.

Listen and apologize: If you find online complaints or bad reviews about your company, take it seriously and fix the problem without wasting time. Listen to what customers have to say and if your business really doesn’t provide adequate customer service, make a genuine apology to those affected. Staying transparent and real can help you reconcile and help bring the crisis to an end. Don’t get into arguments online.

Literary paternity: If you are an expert in any service, please post informative and useful content and use the author tag. This will help you establish authority and when people find the right and trustworthy information, they will trust your brand and this will help create a positive online reputation for your business.

Online reputation management helps you easily remove friction between customers and your ability to offer products or services. Developing an ORM strategy assures your potential customers that you are reliable and trustworthy.