What do your customers think of you? If you’re at all unclear or otherwise uncomfortable with the answer, your business could be suffering because of it.

Fortunately, there is a proactive way you can take part in the conversation: Online Reputation Management (ORM).

It’s a strategy that generally involves actively engaging with both the material in Google search engine results page (SERP) and online reviews/feedback about your brand. Just how important is your online reputation management strategy?

According to BrightLocal, “85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”

So, how do you shape your online reputation management through SEO and social? Get your crash course up ahead.

The Big 4

When it comes to ORM, there are four major players. A complete online reputation management strategy will, at a minimum, involve these four digital marketing channels.

·   Media mentions

·   Paid media

·   Social media

·   Your domains

Let’s start from the beginning.

Sometimes you get lucky and a big (or small) media outlet drops your brand’s name in an article. That’s great! In the biz, we call this earned media. Because of its ability to positively and immediately impact your rank, it is among the most highly coveted of all ORM efforts. Some companies find that working with a public relations or digital marketing firm can help them secure more of these valuable placements.

More and more, businesses are turning to paid media in the form of PPC campaigns and sponsored posts on social media and influencer accounts. It’s a great way to get your name out there, but then it’s up to you to continue growing and forging those new relationships. 

Don’t neglect your social media accounts either. They’re a direct reflection of your brand and implore potential customers to interact with you online. As a general rule: the more actively you monitor them and engage with your audience, the more effective they’ll be.

Finally, whether you’re focused on your website(s) or blogging platform(s), realize that they’re pillars of building a strong online presence. You have control. Use it wisely.

Online Reputation Management Tools

Now that you know where to focus your efforts, let’s shift gears to how you can successfully gauge the effectiveness of those efforts.

Google Alerts is a great place to start.

If you do nothing else, at least set up an alert so you know when anyone publishes content that mentions your brand. You can use the same function to keep tabs on your competitors as well as relevant current events or news as it relates to your industry.

Quick pro tip: Make a note of any especially active journalists or bloggers who might be interested in receiving a pitch about your products or services!

Setting up the alert is easy.

Simply pick your keyword(s) and populate the frequency of email notifications you wish to receive. If you have a preference about which type of content you get sent (blogs, videos, news sites, etc) you can add those specifications, too. If you’re trying to improve your local SEO or reputation there’s also a field for you to specify your geographic location.

It’s a free solution that ensures you never miss an opportunity to re-post the nice things being said about you or respond when the feedback isn’t so great.

Other ORM tools we like include:

·   Social mention – a social media monitoring tool.

·   SentiOne – for insights about what people are saying about your brand.

·   Reputology – a review management platform that lets you monitor reviews for each individual location of your business.

·   Meltwater – a media monitoring tool that helps you do far more than organize your press clippings.

Ready to take your reputation into your own hands? You don’t have to go it alone. Let us help put your good name on everyone’s lips! Start chatting with an account specialist here.