Reputation Management and Building an Online Stronghold

The Internet allows its billions of users to access and contribute to its already vast database of information. It also offers businesses plenty of opportunities to advertise to and engage with their customers. However, this also exposes them to various kinds of attacks online that can leave them with a damaged name and, consequently, less profit. As a business owner, you should take steps to make sure that your business is protected against malicious reputation attacks.

Create positive content.

This is one of the most efficient ways to bolster your reputation defense. The goal here is to ensure that positive results come up when potential customers look for your brand in search engines like Google. Here are the things you should remember about the content you create:

• It should be positive and highlight the good qualities of your business.
• Quality and quantity are equally crucial. It should not be written only to be indexed by search engines, but to compel readers to learn and read more about you. Once these high-quality articles rank high in search results, they will naturally push down the negatives.

Be active in social media.

Social networks generally rank highly in search engine results. Creating accounts and then actively participating in social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In serve to strengthen your online reputation. For maximum leverage, use your social media assets to:

• Engage in conversations with your current customers and targeted prospects
• Promote new products and campaigns
• Reward loyal customers with special offers
• Address negative feedback in a timely fashion

Use a relevant domain name.

Using your business name (which is also your keyword) as the domain name will help improve the rank of your website in the search results. Choose wisely when you sign up for social media accounts. Securing an account and URL with your business’ name in it will further reinforce your visibility and online presence.

Social media alone is not enough to eradicate negative content. For the more stubborn negative links, it is best to contact reputation management experts who are trained in more proprietary processes.