Why Business Owners and Individuals Need Reputation Management
With the internet living in the palms of our hands, Google has never been closer to using and finding out every bit of information we need and answering all of our questions. We’re all private investigators these days, but what happens when someone else is doing their research on you?
Why is reputation management important?
When someone Googles your name or business, what will they find? Positive reviews or negative reviews? Social media accounts that positively reflect your brand, or maybe they miss the mark? Images that aid in others’ ability to trust you, or do they send onlookers in the other direction? It all adds up when establishing your online reputation, and opens the door to the possibilities of reputation management.
Bettering your online reputation strategy can help both businesses and individuals improve their online presence for good. Reputation management strategy is a form of digital marketing that incorporates search engine optimization and brand awareness to help increase positive online search results and remove negative online search results.
This helps business owners and entrepreneurs improve their Google search results, get more clients, convert sales, gain website traffic, get more and better online reviews, and more.
How do you manage your reputation online?
While reputation management is a relatively new term, reputation goes back as far as the beginning of man. Your reputation, no matter who you are, whether it related to your personal or professional life, is everything. Below, we list who needs to manage their reputation. Are you on this list?
- Job seeker
- Entrepreneur
- Brand or business owner
- College-bound
- Looking for a relationship
- Looking for a loan
How reputation management can help job seekers
Looking for a job? Ever searched for a job? Think you’ll search for a new job in the future? We’re all job seekers at some point, and most often, multiple times in our lives, and when we apply for positions, employers do their due diligence online to research backgrounds.
Potential employers take what they see online in social media, pictures, and other venues and use this information to make a decision – for better or worse.
According to a study done by CareerBuilder, over 70% of all potential employers use social media to screen their candidates. Of that number, 54% of employers reported finding something that made them decide not to offer the candidate a position.
Why entrepreneurs need better online search results
Thinking of starting a new enterprise, a new company, or your dream business? Most creditors, investors, and potential clients will determine your worthiness by what they see said about you and your business: in social media, review sites, forums, you name it.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to pay attention to their organic search results. Reputation management ensures that when your name or business is Googled, quality content and search results are the first thing your potential customers and investors see.
By incorporating reputation management tactics into your business’s marketing strategies, your website traffic is guaranteed to increase organic traffic naturally, without spending thousands of dollars on SEO campaigns and advertising that never seems to get you the results you’re looking for.
Building a better business with business reputation management
Already own a business, but your online reputation is lacking? An online reputation management strategy is a form of digital marketing in which your online presence is catered to reflect your brand or business in an accurate and positive light to help your target audience better understand your products and services while improving your brand identity.
Negative information like bad reviews or profiles and accounts that make your business appear untrustworthy may significantly impair your ability to be successful long term.
Working with a reputation management firm can greatly improve your business’s ability to connect with the right audience and ensure lasting connections with the right people.
Do employers look at your online presence and social media profiles?
70% of employers are looking at candidates’ social media, and if you have a bad rep online in social media, blogs, websites, images, etc., then companies you are applying to will see it.
Josh Moody, a reporter for USNews said it best with his research on how your social media presence can get you kicked out of college, “with a single-digit acceptance rate, Harvard University in Massachusetts has been among the toughest schools to get into. But in recent years, some students who cleared that high bar for admission had their acceptance rescinded before even stepping on campus. The reason: inappropriate social media posts.”
For anyone applying to college, how you are perceived online should be an important factor in performing your college admissions process. Prospective students need to take the extra step to pay close attention to what they post on social media because odds are, your college admissions officers will be seeing it too.
Reputation management can help you remove negative content and repair your online reputation with improvements that will open doors to success in your educational career and beyond.
How to improve your chances of online dating with reputation management
Are you single and looking to date? Do you Google potential dates online before meeting up? Let’s be honest, almost everyone does, and our potential date does it too.
Maybe you’re in a relationship looking to become more serious and settle down. There’s no doubt that your spouse’s family and friends are also Googling your name. What they see will either allay their fears or send your spouse packing.
How your online presence can impact your personal finances
Are you a first-time home buyer, looking for a car loan, business loan, or other large financial commitment? You might not think that banks care about your online reputation-but they, too, are not ready to take a risk on someone of ill repute-whether it’s true or not.
And this list is far from exhaustive. If you are looking to get a promotion, impress new clients, or further your life in any way that includes people you do not know, your online reputation will come back time and time again to color and, often, discredit your good name. This is your life. Take control of the reputation that shapes it.
Reputation management services
Reputation911 offers several different reputation management service packages for both individuals and businesses.
- Business Reputation Management
- Personal Reputation Management
- Executive Privacy Protection
- Online Review Management Services
Call today for a free consultation, and improve your online reputation for good!