The Best Online Reputation Management Providers of 2020

Your business's online image is an important part of your ability to attract new customers, but it can be hard to monitor and manage on your own. Online reputation management services can help you build a new online reputation, improve a negative reputation, and/or maintain a positive one. They do this through a variety of strategies, such as content creation, review acquisition and management, social media management, search engine optimization, and online monitoring. Many of these services offer easy-to-use online dashboards, status reports, and dedicated customer support to keep you informed along the way.

Online reputation management services have three main goals: to repair poor reputations, build new online reputations and maintain positive ones. Here are some of the strategies and services these companies use to accomplish these goals.

Reputation Analysis

The first step most online reputation agencies perform is an analysis of the current state of your business's online image. They scour the web for mentions of your brand, and they look at your website, blog posts, and customer reviews, researching both positive and negative feedback about your business. The goal is for the first pages of search results related to your business to have all positive content. The more negative results the companies find on the first page of your search results, the more work needs to be done.

After the reputation management company completes the analysis, it puts together a proposal outlining the strategies and tactics it thinks are necessary to meet your reputation goals. Most companies offer this analysis for free. 

Content Creation

One of the most common tactics agencies will use to improve your online reputation is to flood the web with positive content about your brand. The goal is to get as much positive content (that you can control) on the first page of your search engine results as possible. To this end, most online reputation companies create content such as microsites, articles, press releases and videos.

The best business reputation services concentrate on the types of content that will help your site the most. For example, a travel agency specializing in honeymoons might benefit from a honeymoon-focused microsite, while a company changing management might bolster its reputation with press releases and interviews with the new CEO.

Search Engine Optimization

It's one thing to create all of this content; it's a whole other thing to make sure the search engines recognize it. Online reputation management companies make sure all of your content has the proper SEO, which includes ensuring the proper keywords are mixed in with the content, the headline is correct, and the metadata is optimized. Reputation management services also work to build links to your content in any articles that mention you. Backlinks tell search engines like Google that the information you offer is important to readers.

Online Review Management

Acquiring and managing online reviews is another key component of online reputation management. The first step of this process is to acquire positive reviews. These companies will help you develop strategies that encourage your customers to leave reviews. The second step is to manage all these reviews. You want to know when new reviews come in so you can respond to them promptly and accordingly. For negative reviews, you should find ways to correct the problems that resulted in the customer's poor experience. For positive reviews, you should thank customers for their kind words. Quickly responding to your reviews shows others you care about what your customers think of you. Also, analyzing trends in your reviews can help you improve your business practices.

Social Media Management

Online reputation management services can manage your accounts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you don't already have social media pages for your business, reputation management companies can create comprehensive profiles that accurately reflect your brand. They focus primarily on the platforms that your target customers are most active on.

Additionally, some services keep your profiles up to date with engaging content. An active social media presence can reflect positively on your brand. Some services help you monitor your social media profiles so you can quickly and efficiently respond to customers who engage with your business. Responding to positive comments and addressing negative comments can greatly improve your online reputation. These services can also monitor social networks to see what others are saying about your brand and your competition.

Crisis Management

Should your brand run into a crisis or a reputation attack, online reputation management companies have tactics to repair your image. Some reputation management companies can help you repair your reputation by suppressing negative online content or removing slanderous content. They can help create positive content about your brand to flood the internet and push negative content down in the search results. Many reputation repair and crisis management strategies also include managing and responding to negative reviews and social media posts.

Online Monitoring

Online reputation services monitor opinions expressed about your brand online. Some companies do manual searches of the common complaint websites to find out what people are saying about you. The top online reputation services go a step further to read the complaints in depth and identify common issues. Most services employ monitoring software, while others have computer labs for automatic searching and clicking to influence your website rankings.

It is important to remember that online reputation management services can only help you up to a certain point. For example, an online reputation company may do a brilliant job of promoting your good reviews, but if your business doesn't fix its customer service problems, negative reviews will continue to surface.

Other variables influence your online reputation. For example, your website may have superb SEO, but if the website containing complaints about your business has even better SEO or a great social media presence, the negative content may rank higher than yours. Therefore, it's prudent to enter online reputation management with the understanding that it should be just one of the tools for improving your company.

What can an online reputation management company do for me?

It used to be that you needed to consider online reputation management only if you or your company had fallen victim to negative reviews or smear campaigns. However, consumer practices have changed, and people are more likely to seek out information about a company or product, especially when they expect to do more than make a one-time purchase. As such, it's become vital not only for you to appear in a positive light on the first page of an online search but also for your good reputation to span the internet, including online reviews, social media outlets and news sources.

Online reputation management companies consider this and can deploy several strategies to salvage an unfairly tarnished reputation, enhance a good reputation, or even build a new reputation for a business that doesn't have one yet.

Why should you have an online reputation management plan?

It's important to have an online reputation management plan so you know how to react when someone posts something negative about your business online. The more quickly you react to these situations, the better chance you have to mitigate the issue before it turns into a problem beyond repair. Your plan should include how you'll respond to negative reviews and the steps you'll take when a negative blog post about your business is published. Also, what if your business gets wrapped up in a full-blown PR crisis? You should have a plan to address the situation immediately.

Figuring out the best strategies to handle each of these situations is one reason why it makes sense to work with an online reputation management company. These firms have experience dealing with each of these scenarios and many more. They can help you lay out a specific plan to diminish the impact of a negative online post. In some situations, they can also help you turn a negative situation into a positive one. The key is to have a plan that allows you to react quickly. The longer you wait to respond in these situations, the bigger hit your reputation will take.

How important is a modern business's online reputation?

For businesses today, a positive online reputation is critical. When deciding where to spend their money, a growing number of shoppers turn to the internet first. They want to see what others are saying about your business, services and products.

This is especially true for shoppers looking for businesses in their local communities. Recent research from BrightLocal shows that 86% of consumers read local reviews to decide whether to use a business. The studies also show that what consumers read online ultimately impacts their decision to shop with a local business: 68% of consumers said positive reviews make them trust a local business more, while 40% said negative reviews could deter them from using a business.

Considering how much consumers trust and rely on what they read online, your online reputation can't be an afterthought. If it is, you take the risk that consumers will have a negative impression of you, which will surely lead to a decline in customers.

How bad can it be to have a negative online reputation?

A negative online reputation can have drastic consequences. There is a good chance that consumers won't even consider spending money with your business if you have a poor online image. Star ratings are critical: The BrightLocal study found that more than 90% of consumers won't even consider shopping at a business that doesn't have at least three stars on Google, and 47% said they need at least a four-star rating to choose a business.

Even if you feel the negative reviews aren't accurate or fair, you still need to address them. If you don't, you run the risk of never proving those reviews wrong, because most shoppers will never give you the chance.

What is an example of online reputation management?

Online reputation management can take many forms, depending on your current reputation and what needs to be done to it. For example, a business that has negative online reviews could use an online reputation management company to find and respond to the negative reviews, acquire and promote positive reviews, and resolve any internal business problems that common complaints identified. Additionally, the reputation management company could monitor the business's website, Google reviews, social media profiles, and third-party review sites to ensure any future reviews are addressed immediately.

What is the difference between public relations and reputation management?

Public relations and reputation management are similar, with some overlap. The purpose of both is to improve your business's image; however, their primary strategies tend to differ. PR firms use overt strategies to enhance your brand, like writing and promoting press releases, putting out social media statements, and booking interviews and news conferences. In short, PR is more promotional than reputation management.

Reputation management is the behind-the-scenes work necessary for your long-term image. This can include acquiring and responding to online reviews, updating your social media profiles, creating positive online content (e.g., websites, microsites, blog posts), enhancing your SEO, and removing negative content. Reputation management can also entail creating and promoting press releases, but that is not its main focus. Some agencies perform both reputation management and public relations.

How can social media affect your reputation?

Social media is a relatively new aspect of reputation management, but it is one of the most important. Most online shoppers look to social media to analyze a new business. Your presence on social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn can give consumers a better idea of who your business is, and it gives you a chance to acquire and respond to online reviews on social networks. This can all enhance your overall image. 

Since your customers are likely already on social media, having business profiles allows you to connect with them and stay top of mind with fun, engaging content. Social media is a less formal way to interact with consumers, read and respond to social threads and mentions about your business, and promote your products or services in unique ways.

Why are online reviews so important to local businesses?

You can't please everyone, and that's OK – but you should still respond to them. Many consumers turn to online review platforms to complain about a product or service that didn't meet their expectations. Fewer consumers turn to those platforms to write a positive review. This means that, regardless of how great your business is, there is a good chance that negative online reviews are hurting your company's reputation. Without review management, this can greatly impact your bottom line.

Most consumers read online reviews before they decide whether to purchase a product or service from a business, with more than half forming an opinion after reading just one to six reviews. Research also shows that nearly half of consumers won't use a business with less than four stars. In other words, if your company has negative online reviews, you are losing out on a lot of potential customers. It is important to have positive online reviews to enhance your online reputation and entice new customers to support your business.

As part of our research, we reached out to small business owners to find out what they look for in a reputation management service. The top features they looked for were flexibility and review management. For instance, Max Harland, CEO of Dentaly, said his small healthcare business uses WebiMax as its online reputation management company mainly because of its extreme flexibility.

"Customers don't need to commit to a long-term contract but can opt to use the service one month at a time," Harland told business.com. "The unique flexibility perk is beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have enormous funds at their disposal. It allows businesses to effectively manage their budget instead of dumping a large fraction of their budget to online reputation management alone." 

Online reputations are changeable and unique, and your reputation management company should reflect that. Look for a reputation management company that is willing to adjust its strategy (or temporarily suspend its services altogether) to match changes in your business's needs.

Natik Ameen, CEO of Canz Marketing, said his team of more than 100 workers uses Podium for its business online reputation management because of its great customer relationship management features, including review management.

"We use Podium for reviews, feedback, web chat and video chat," Ameen said. "I like how it made it very easy for businesses to maintain relationships and connect with their customers."