In the post-pandemic digital age, one bad comment or review on your Google reviews or social media pages can inflict more damage than a robbery. Whether you’re a startup or small business, you need to be concerned about what people are saying about your business because a bad online reputation usually results in financial and/or credibility loss.
Fortunately, this is where online reputation management comes in to help brands tune into social commentary and develop SEO, content, and PR strategies to boost their digital credibility. However, many businesses either lack the budget or the will to hire professionals for this purpose.
If you’re one of them, you should consider following our guide on online reputation management. In this post, we’ll share a 3-step guide to DIY online reputation management, so you have a game plan before getting started.
Do-It-Yourself ORM for Small Businesses – 3 Steps
1. Monitor Your Social Commentary
The first thing you need to do is monitor what’s being said about your business, products, and services. You can start by searching your company’s name on Google Review to learn what your audience says. To speed up or automate the process, you can employ social listening tools like Cyfe or Google Alerts.
Along with Google, you also need to know what they’re saying on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and review sites like Amazon or Angie’s List. Ideally, you should set up an account on two or three review sites related to your business, so you’re not overwhelmed. For instance, if you’re a travel agency, set up an account on TripAdvisor.
Similarly, if you’re a dentist, lawyer, doctor, barber, or any solo practitioner, you should opt for Yelp.
2. Respond to Reviews
No matter how occupied you are with your daily operations, you need to be reactive and engage with your audience when your brand is mentioned or discussed online. Not all reviews are bad. Some are positive or neutral, while others are just inappropriate. Therefore, you need to strategize your responses and ensure they’re not generic.
Online consumers can easily tell when brands are using pre-written response templates that either lack empathy or fail to address their issues. So, take your time to read what your customers are saying and personalize your response accordingly.
For instance, if they’re blessing your timeline with an appreciation for your quality service, make sure you respond to them quickly and thank them for the wonderful feedback. You can also use this opportunity to reward them or promote other goods or services.
However, if customers share their poor experiences due to faulty products or subpar customer service, you need to look into the matter urgently, find a solution, and retain them.
3. SEO and Content Strategy
Finally, the third and final step involves using the information collected from online commentary related to your brand to refine your SEO and content strategy. For instance, you can create blog posts or videos to address your audience’s pain points or answer their questions.
Similarly, you can build links to specific pages using the anchor text from search queries or keywords from reviews. You can also employ tools, such as Buzzsumo, to learn about trending topics in your industry to keep your customers and viewers hooked.
Bottom Line
So, there you have it – 5 simple steps to DIY online reputation management. With this information, you can kickstart your reputation repair or enhancement campaign without professional intervention. However, there’s a reason the ORM industry is rapidly growing in the digital age, with thousands of agencies operating worldwide.
ORM professionals have the tools, expertise, and strategies to build your digital credibility using a mix of social media, SEO, and PR strategies. So, before taking the DIY route, consider your capabilities, priorities, target audience, and current rep.
If you feel you need help, RMG Digital Solutions is a leading online reputation management agency that can take care of every aspect of repairing or enhancing your online image. So, let us do what we do best while you focus on your core business activities.
Feel free to get in touch with us and let us devise a tailored solution for you.