How important is a modern business's online reputation?
How important is online reputation for the modern business? What are some negative impacts of a bad online reputation? I have heard many times that having a strong online reputation is necessary for every business.
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Nov 19, 2018
A business, at any time in history, knows the value of its reputation. Now that businesses have online reputations, the same remains true. It's invaluable.
People more easily seek reasons not to do business with you than choose to patron your business. It's human nature, a protective behavior.
A negative online reputation is costly. It creates doubt, it prevents and discourages trust, it directs prospective customers or clients to competitors or no provider.
Thus, taking care of people with quality services or products, with an outstanding attitude, courtesy and professionalism is not only vital but critical.
Aug 16, 2018
The importance of online reputation is growing rapidly. Therefore, both individuals and organizations should focus on their online reputations. The first step would be to secure, control and own their existing reputation from any service. Also, organizations should concentrate on risk profiling their applicants during the sign-up process. I would suggest both individuals and organizations visit https://reputationaire.com/ to avail the above-mentioned services from them as I had a good experience with their services.
Jul 18, 2018
Very. Pretend your offline store is all messed up with someone's graffiti. This is exactly the same, but online. Make sure you track your online reputation with tools like:
-Google alerts
-Mentions
-Ahrefs, etc.
Plus, I go to Google each week and check things manually.
If you want to go beyond this even, you need to track your competitors' reputation, especially bad reviews.
Jul 17, 2018
Having a great online reputation is very important in making your business successful. Online reputation is the very first thing that your customer learns to know about you, so don't let it be ruined for silly reasons.
Jul 16, 2018
Yes, in a word.
There have been many great comments and responses, so let me start from a different approach.
If a negative post or link appears on the top of Google searches, the business could be in jeopardy.
For example, a law firm had a negative link--it probably was from a disgruntled ex-partner--and it cut their billing by about 40% or more.
I also know a CEO that could not get a new position because of something that happened 19 years earlier at a party now appeared in a New York Times article, which came up right of the top in Google.
This one link probably cost him $500,000 to $750,000 in lost salary or more.
So there are some real-world examples of what happens when something goes wrong and how it can impact a business or professional's online reputation.
Jun 6, 2018
It is crucial.
In the world of easy access information that we live in today, a customer or consumer has many choices and gauges their options largely by online presence, website, reviews etc. Amazon is famous for soliciting reviews from customers for products for this very reason. YELP rewards customers who review businesses as well. Manage your online presence carefully and thoughtfully, it may be the only chance you get to make an impression on a customer.
Jun 5, 2018
Good question. Here's a recent article that shows how 41% of reviews are the most important factor when selecting a business. The next closest category is only 21%.
https://blog.reviewinc.com/2018/03/08/best-advertising-channel-2018/
Might want to check it out!
Jun 2, 2016
I agree that your online reputation is always evolving. The best way to deal with a bad online reputation is to publish new content. Get enough new positive content out there and it will push down the negative content. No perception of one company is stuck in place forever.
Jul 29, 2015
Quote: “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Benjamin Franklin
Quote: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Warren Buffet
Quote: “Your brand name is only as good as your reputation.” Richard Branson
If you ever need help in getting your good name or reputation back. The Reputation Group is the leading expert in removal of negative and unwarranted content online. www.TheReputationGroup.org
May 11, 2015
Online reputation is very important for every business.People before hire must check the online reputation. so we also take care of our web reputation.
Sep 15, 2014
you need to do research if you do not know this,, what people say about you and your business and what VALUE you bring to them, can make a big deal. You need to have a management team to manage your social media. If you get a bad or discontent customer posting bad reviews you need to step back and see how to handle this. Sorry to say people love drama especially if they have nothing better to do. There is an article we use, called Amy's Bakery , she argued with a customer on line it turned into a mess, foul language and all, Got to say some of it is funny, but stupider than hell, not a smart business move, PS they put her out of business!!!! I have a team to mange social media reviews and all your platforms if you need it...until then do research, and DO NOT go head to head with bad reviews on your own...You want uplifting, positive reviews, some thing to share, something of value, something to show your business cares about their clients. Keep them coming back to facebook page with good reviews, hope this helps
Sep 8, 2014
I would go so far as to say that due to the tremendous increase in the number of reviews, review platforms and the growing trust factor with consumers, any business's online reputation can easily determine their future revenue and growth potential. A business with a bad reputation will almost always be discounted heavily if the owners want to sell the company. Ever heard of a good will factor in business valuations?
No matter how someone finds your business, by word of mouth, advertising or search, 82% of them will jump online for more information. Of those, more than half will look for previous customer reviews and make decisions based on those reviews.
After 20 years of working with small and medium businesses, and 10 years working with Fortune 100's, I now focus exclusively on coaching and servicing SMB's based on developing and managing their reputation SO THAT they can leverage that reputation to get more customers in the door.
We live in a very connected world and word of mouth is now measured in visitor engagement and REVIEWS! Here's a series of articles on Building a Solid Reputation Foundation - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140629204837-504850-bulding-a-solid-reputation-foundation-part-1
Sep 4, 2014
Business' online reputation is important for the consumers may have a preference to your company even if there are similar products and/or services as yours. The reputation of an organization can enable a company to differentiate its product in highly competitive markets, also it allow you to have premium pricing, and can become the ultimate factor in whether a customer decides to patronize one business over another.
Sep 4, 2014
If you are not genuine online; just like in a job interview. Have a nice life.
Sep 4, 2014
Absolutely essential. Even the slightest hint of bad reputation has repercussions across all areas of the business irrespective of the cause.
Sep 3, 2014
Hi Jim,
In this day and age I believe that a business without an online presence is like a wheelbarrow without a wheel.
I think you will find the following article answers your question and I don't think I could have put it more succinctly....
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/reno-charlton/the-importance-of-online-_b_3768343.html
Good luck!
Sep 3, 2014
In their annual survey (July 2014) on consumer attitudes on online reviews, Bright Local reported:
88% of users use online reviews to determine whether a local business is a good business;
Only 13% of users do NOT trust online reviews as much as personal recommendation;
After reading a positive review of a business, 57% of users visit their website, 22% continue their research (shop around), and 15% call them
72% of users say that positive reviews help them trust a local business more;
72% of users say that a rating of "3-Stars" (out of five) or lower is too low for their consideration.
These trends have only accelerated over the three years that Bright Local has been conducting this survey. For the full report see: http://www.brightlocal.com/2014/07/01/local-consumer-review-survey-2014/
Sep 3, 2014
Jim the questions that have been posed are quite broad. An online reputation could possibly depend on the type of business sector that you are talking about, some businesses that I know of do not care about technology and/or being online so do not understand or care about having an online reputation means.
Nowadays many people do purchase based on the power of online reputation/reviews - take for example trip advisor and their hotel reviews. I take a look at these before booking anywhere I stay so if a hotel has bad reviews it gives them a negative online reputation whereas a hotel with good reviews has a positive reputation.
Sep 3, 2014
e-ssential!! You can not really market yourself or your business, if your customers or clients don't trust you. Example, this from my childhood, a business on our main street in my home town owned and operated by a father and son team, which sold candies, general merchandise and toys " The Five and Ten". continually over the years purposely failed to make accurate counts of individual candies to juvenile customers, this store was right next to the local Movie theater, so we kids habitually bought our goods there, filling our pockets because the theater's inventory was limited and expensive. Well for years in the less than 18 year old patrons was known as "Joe Jip"s", when the father passed on and the son took control, he had a devil of a time trying to break the stint on the business reputation. The last time I was home saw the store closed, and the Theater closed. I think you get my point. Trust is everything in business. The change to technology doesn't change the minds and hearts of your followers.