Online Reputation Management and Why It Is Important

What is online reputation management?

Reputation management comprises all business activities that shape customers’ opinions of a company based on its online presence. “A small business’s online reputation serves as its public face, often forming customers’ first impressions long before they set foot in a store or make a purchase,” Mudd told Business.com.

Your company’s online reputation largely results from how today’s most-used websites present your company. This includes search engine results pages (SERPs), customer reviews published on Google, Yelp and other sites and social media posts on popular platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Reddit. 

Your online reputation can also be impacted by digital content, such as news articles, blog posts, podcasts and reviews, which has been published about you by media outlets or content creators. 

Why is managing your online reputation important?

There are a few key reasons every business, no matter how small, should care about and prioritize its online reputation.

It shapes how customers view your company

One of the most important reasons to pay attention to your online reputation is that it strongly informs customers’ perceptions of your brand. Ignoring this component of your online reputation might drive would-be buyers straight to your competitors, especially if there are negative reviews about your business.

“Most consumers will immediately Google a company or look up platforms like Trustpilot before interacting with a brand,” said Jay Egger, senior SEO manager at SBG Funding. “Since there are so many options across just about every sector, it’s more likely that your potential customers will just make a switch to another company if there are negative associations with your brand.” [Related article: SBG Funding review]

While your online reputation can suffer if you have only a few negative reviews, responding to those reviews with care, empathy and an interest in open communication can help revive your reputation. Don’t try to cram your online pages with fake positive reviews — discerning customers can tell.

It affects your search rankings

A strong online reputation helps to rank your company higher in search engine results. Having higher SERP rankings increases your exposure to potential customers, thus increasing your revenue.

Meanwhile, if Google ranks your brand lower than others, then Google’s algorithm likely doesn’t perceive your brand as reputable. Given that household-name companies often dominate the first and second SERPs, the lower your company ranks, the less trustworthy it may appear. [Related article: SEO Tips to Improve Your Website Traffic]

It gives you an opportunity to engage directly with your customers

Forging a positive reputation for your brand on social media begins with developing an engaging, meaningful social media presence, but it doesn’t stop there. Your social media pages allow you to post interesting content and consistently communicate with your customers. These types of interactions go a long way in building trust with consumers, and it’s an opportunity you might miss if you’re ignoring your online reputation.

How search engines affect your online reputation

Whenever someone searches for a company’s name, the information on the first page will tell a story about the company. If there are positive links, people researching are more likely to assume that the company is trustworthy, while any negative links can potentially raise doubts and erode trust. 

Generally, the information consumers find will have an anchoring bias, which can influence their decision-making process. In other words, internet users will find what they read on page one more important than what’s on subsequent SERPs. If a positive search result becomes an anchor, it will benefit the company. However, if it is negative, it will likely harm the reputation of an individual or hurt the perception of the business.

How to conduct online reputation management

Proactive online reputation management is the key to protecting yourself in the event that a negative review or article is published about your brand. Here are a few things you can do to get ahead of a potential crisis before it occurs:

Create organic content that reflects your mission, vision and values

A strong content marketing strategy is critical to developing and sharing content that your target audience finds helpful, entertaining or educational. Create blog posts and email newsletters with relevant original content that reflect the tenets of your business and showcase your company culture. Doing this humanizes your brand and makes it appear more authentic and genuine to your target audience. 

“Today’s shopper buys more than product — they see themselves as choosing to support a business and a community through their hard-earned dollars,” said Yana Ernazarova, chief marketing officer at Edushape. “Therefore, it’s important to show that you are a business worth supporting. When we implemented a statement about being a local, small business, our sales went up.”

You should also incorporate commonly searched keywords into your content to improve your SERP ranking. 

Explore earned and paid media opportunities

While it’s essential for your company to create and post organic content, supplement organic content with earned and paid media assets. With paid assets, you can tailor your ads to strategically drive traffic that will help bump newly added content to the first SERP.

Respond to all customer reviews (even the negative ones)

Responding to every review your company receives, whether it’s positive or negative, is an important component of proactively managing your online reputation. Not only does it show customers that you’re paying attention to their feedback, but it also gives you an opportunity to share your perspective and demonstrate the way your company handles customer problems.

“It is important to truly pay attention to [reviews] and seek to improve,” said Ernazarova. “Consumers sniff out inauthenticity in brands and don’t like being brushed off. Therefore … brands must show that they are listening and hearing their consumers.” 

With this productive approach, even negative reviews can be an opportunity to build a relationship with customers, Ernazarova added.

Ask satisfied customers for positive reviews

A steady, consistent stream of genuine, positive customer reviews can help quickly drown out any negative ones. If a new customer had a positive experience with your business, ask them to leave you a review on the platforms that are most important to your business, whether that’s Google, Yelp or a social media site. You might even consider offering a discount on their next purchase if they leave a review.

Monitor your digital presence regularly

Digital media is constantly evolving, so it’s vital to continuously monitor your brand’s digital presence and manage any negative search results and social media posts with the appropriate tools as soon as possible. Setting up Google alerts for your brand name, as well as investing in social listening tools and SEO monitoring tools, can help you stay on top of any new results and mentions about your company that may surface.

Understanding and managing online reputation management assets

Your company’s online reputation management assets may include managed assets (social media profiles and content), influential assets (information aggregators, such as Wikipedia), earned assets (positive news articles and blogs) and paid assets (advertisements on Google search pages).

All online reputation management assets should be managed collectively to improve your ranking on Google’s desktop and mobile algorithms. However, the assets managed in-house by the company should be optimized when first deployed and improved continuously. 

The most compelling online reputation management asset is the content on the company’s website. When someone searches for the company or its brand name on Google, the first link, in most cases, is the company’s website. Google and other search engines can also direct users to relevant subpages on a business’s website, so it’s essential to have relevant content across your site, not just on the homepage. 

Meta tags and meta descriptions are also crucial for organic search engine optimization. Google and other search engines will automatically investigate essential components, such as the URL, location of the business, keyword strength, site encryption and relevant tags, from the website and social media handles, providing more reason to manage these assets first.

Finally, ensure that all content you create to promote your brand, including social media content, should link to your company’s website. Doing so helps to improve brand awareness and visibility by creating an online presence for your brand.

How to repair a damaged business reputation

Negative reviews or search results often originate from dissatisfied customers, disgruntled former employees or mischievous competitors. These reviews are typically available on online review sites, such as Glassdoor and Yelp, as well as on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Defamatory content may also be found through blogs or websites such as Reddit. The negative results can appear from past or current allegations against the company or specific executive management team members. The company could be named in an allegation without being at fault or have been found innocent of charges, but older links with select keywords may continue to appear and resurface.

Here are some effective strategies for repairing a damaged online reputation.

Respond carefully to negative reviews

Even if you disagree with a customer’s negative review, it’s important to respond calmly, politely and in a timely manner. “Apologize if warranted, address the issue constructively and invite the customer to discuss their concerns offline to resolve them directly,” Mudd advised. “This approach demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction without escalating the matter publicly.” 

Mudd also said to avoid reacting emotionally or defensively as doing so can further damage your brand’s credibility. “Strategic follow-up and genuine efforts to improve the customer experience can turn potentially damaging situations into opportunities to showcase your responsiveness and dedication,” Mudd added.

Flood your search results with positive owned media

If negative search results appear on the first page, focus on posting timely technical content to shift those results to the next page. Working on your own media strategy (that is, channels like your company website/blog, social media channels and email lists that you fully control) is a good way to boost positive search results and dilute the impact of negative ones.

Consult experts

Depending on the severity of the situation, your business might need to consult with a professional reputation management firm. These firms have the expertise and contacts to suppress negative search results and remove the content if necessary or possible. 

Reputation management firms also understand the legal ramifications of negotiating directly with content publishers and domain authority managers to remove or hide harmful content or reviews from search engines.

Use a reputational crisis as an opportunity to learn and grow

According to Egger, the adage, “any press is good press” rarely holds true. “When a company comes out of a crisis better than before, it’s only because they used the crisis to implement real change and were honest with their audience,” he said. “To mitigate negative reputation, it requires real cultural and business change to tackle the problem head-on.”

Egger added that “no comment” is rarely effective; it’s better to be genuine with your audience and take action on the changes you say you want to implement.

Remember, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. To salvage your business’s reputation, it’s vital to manage your digital reputation assets before it’s too late.

Sameer Somal and Max Freedman contributed to this article.