10 Ways Online Reputation Management Protects Your Business

 If you own your own business, you know the importance of having an online presence and managing it well to provide good information about your company and allow customers to connect with you and with each other. 

Online reputation management (ORM) refers to the process of protecting your online reputation and helping it grow through positive, natural search results and mentions on relevant websites. 

ORM also includes monitoring what others are saying about you online, such as on social media and review sites, so that you can take appropriate actions to ensure the reputation of your business stays strong and healthy. 

Today we’re going to take a look at 10 ways online reputation management helps your business grow and improve your bottom line. Here we go!

1) Strengthens brands

No matter how good your products or services are, if customers can’t find you online, it’s almost impossible to build a successful business. Online reputation management gives you control over all of your content so you can strengthen your brand and help customers discover it with ease. Make sure people see what they need to see when they need to see it by hiring an online reputation management company for professional search engine optimization (SEO) services that keep customers happy and businesses thriving. Use these tips to protect your company now

2) Reduces customer acquisition costs

While we don’t want to reveal our actual ROI here, we can say that you’ll notice a dramatic drop in your customer acquisition costs (CAC) after starting an online reputation management program. For example, if you can cut your CAC by 50%, then that means that you only need half as many leads to hit your target revenue. 

You may also be able to use more aggressive sales techniques with lower costs of failure. This leads to happier customers because they are being sold what they need instead of something they don’t necessarily want, which further reduces costs and improves performance for you as a business owner.

3) Improves profits

On one hand, your business needs to maintain a good reputation. That’s because people buy from people they trust. But there’s another important reason for improving your online reputation: money. 

The more satisfied and confident potential customers are, the more likely they are to buy from you again and again and become loyal customers of your brand or service. And if their friends and family members hear about positive experiences through word-of-mouth advertising, you can gain new clients without spending a dime on advertisements!

4) Provides data security

Almost every business that accepts credit cards relies on a merchant account. A merchant account allows your business to accept credit card payments for products and services online. Additionally, all businesses need a robust Internet connection for fast upload speeds. Maintaining a stable Internet connection is vital to protecting your reputation, as customers will think twice about doing business with a company that can’t provide uninterrupted service or posts accurate product descriptions. 

All of these tools help guarantee your online reputation is protected from competitors, dissatisfied customers, and scammers alike. When you maintain an active online presence, you boost customer confidence in your products and services by showing that other people have been satisfied with what you have to offer.

5) Improves productivity

A company’s reputation can be truly harmed by bad online remarks. These negative remarks can spread rapidly, costing your business deals, customers, and likely freedoms. A reputation management system will assist with checking the thing is being said about your organization progressively, alarming you of online analysis before it spreads.

This will save you valuable time that would have been spent trying to undo the damage already done by a damaging comment or review.

6) A Push To SEO Strategy

If your company is looking to break into a new market or expand an existing one, you must have a social media presence—that is, your target audience needs to be able to find you. Unfortunately, most online consumers use search engines when shopping for a product or service. 

This means that if they can’t find you on search engine results pages (SERPs), they probably won’t find you at all. If your business doesn’t have a strong SEO strategy in place, it’ll take more time and money than it should to get off the ground and prove its value in terms of ROI.

7) Minimizes legal risk

A business's reputation is not something to take lightly. Numerous legal issues can arise when dealing with online reputation management. For example, if you make a claim on your website or in your marketing materials about your product (its size, effectiveness, etc.), you risk getting sued if it’s false. 

Similarly, if your marketing campaign isn’t compliant with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations—specifically its law protecting consumers from deceptive advertising—you could get into legal trouble. It is important to understand that an SEO firm can help maximize your online reputation by identifying potential problems and finding solutions that will help minimize these risks. To read more on how they do it, click here.

8) Promotes human rights compliance

Let’s say you work for a client who has a less-than-stellar reputation. Your client is notorious for disregarding human rights laws. You don’t want to lose business by turning down jobs from such an organization, but you also don’t want to contribute to injustices—it could be hard to sleep at night if you knowingly took part in something like that. 

Thankfully, due diligence and online reputation management can protect your company and its employees from these sorts of sticky situations: it ensures that any questionable content about your clients or partners is removed as soon as possible.

9) Ensures public safety

When you’re running a business, there are few things more important than public safety. Many companies find that online reputation management is a good way to gain control of information and ensure that both their customers and potential employees can trust what they’re saying. 

Properly managing your online image is key to safeguarding yourself and your company from false accusations, potential lawsuits, or losing professional credibility with stakeholders or community leaders. 

Ensuring your reputation is safe also has tangible value: It builds trust between you and those who matter most to your organization, such as suppliers, vendors, and clients. This makes it easier for them to want to continue doing business with you because they know their interests are being taken care of.

10) Helps avoid lawsuits

Internet libel and defamation laws vary from state to state, and if your reputation is damaged by a negative review or other harmful content, you may have legal recourse. What's more, those who publish false or misleading information about your business can be held liable for damages under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. In some cases, even those who simply distribute defamatory material can be held liable. 

Of course, proving someone is liable requires a lawyer. However, knowing that online defamation exists as a possibility can help guide you in establishing an online reputation management plan.

Conclusion

How can I trust your business if you've gotten bad reviews online? If you've gotten negative reviews, don't panic. You may not know that many studies show that 75% of people make buying decisions based on an online review. 

With access to more information than ever before, consumers can find out about your company faster than you could ever hope to tell them about it. Therefore, online reputation management services are vital for businesses looking to establish themselves and grow their client base. 

As seen above, there are many positive effects of reputation management; companies should take advantage of these benefits by working with a reputation management firm today!