The Reputation Experts
Business Reputation Management
Google and social media change everything, because what people see when they search for you online, and what others are saying about your business, are the biggest influencers on your success. This is true for all businesses and brands, of all sizes and sectors around the world.
Everybody ‘Googles’ everything now, and they see websites, social media, blogs, review sites, press and media, video-sharing platforms and other digital platforms, that tell them about your business, or what other people think about your business.
Having negative press, social media comments or reviews, puts people off. But, if they are positive, people are more likely to trust you and do business with you.
What’s the benefit of business reputation management?
Online reputation management works to counter, weaken or eliminate negative material online and generate and promote the positive.
A well-managed business reputation online shows you in the best possible light. And this is good for you because your business benefits from higher trust, more business, attracts the best employees and protects you from harmful press, reviews and attacks on social media.
- 75% of businesses say that online reviews, comments, press and forum posts are important to the financial and reputational status of their business.
- Damaging content costs 1 in 20 UK companies more than £500,000, 5% lose £100,000-£500,000, 1 in 7 lose up to £50,000.
Business reputation management saves your business a lot of pain.
Why does online reputation management really matter?
- Google controls as much as 72% of all search engine traffic.
- The first page of a Google search for your company’s name attracts 95% of traffic from an average search.
- 90% of people only look at the first page of search engine results to form their impression.
- 64% of people trust online search engines the most when conducting research on a business.
So, what you want people to see when they ‘Google’ your business is a search results page filled with links that truly reflect who you are and what you do.
What’s the real influence and impact of different search results online to businesses?
- 75% of businesses say that online reviews, comments, press and forum posts are important to the financial and reputational status of their business.
- 46% of companies have been damaged or are worrying about negative press coverage, (up 29% since 2014).
- 1 in 3 businesses say negative content has already damaged their business and 1 in 3 worry about the impact of negative content on their business and its value in future.
- A further 1 in 3 businesses say negative social media posts pose the greatest reputation threat.
- Damaging content costs money.
So, it’s clearly important to manage your online reputation. But what impact does all of this have on customer behaviour?
The impact of reviews alone is huge:
- 93% of people say that online reviews impact their buying decisions.
- 90% of people admit reading online reviews before visiting a business.
- 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
- Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a business more.
What you might find surprising, and worth noting when you want to grow your bottom line, is that 68% of consumers are willing to pay up to 15% more for the same product or service if assured they will have a better experience. Which really shows the impact and value of positive reviews.
But when what people see, and say, is negative, be it reviews, press, social media comments and other content, it’s doing a lot of damage.
- Businesses are risking losing 22% of business when potential customers find 1 negative article on the first page of their search results, and 70% with 4 or more negatives.
- 51% of businesses say that their company has been negatively affected by unsubstantiated online reviews or targeted by trolls.
Search engines, such as Google, Bing and others, don’t care about your reputation. They don’t filter search results based on what’s negative and positive, but they do filter them based on what’s relevant and popular, making online reputation management especially relevant.
Take control – now
Taking control of your online presence with online reputation management enables you to present the best possible image of your business, brand or senior figures to the online community. It also protects your brand from any unwanted negative content online. How? The positive profiles and content make it harder for negatives to rank in the first few pages of Google.
Because our approach to online reputation management is organic and personalised, rather than automated, our clients’ reputation strategies last as algorithms change over time.
Contact our experts to find out how we can help you to take control.
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