Online Reputation Management

In today’s world, online reputation management is essential. The Internet, and more specifically what people say about you online, is perhaps the single biggest influence on your success and that of your business and brand. This is true for businesses and brands of all sizes and sectors around the world. 

When people Google you, everything they see in the search results influences their perception of you. Their perception is your online reputation.

Let’s face it – if you search for something and all the online chatter about it is positive you’re going to want to get in on the act. If it’s a sea of negative chatter, you’ll go elsewhere for what you’re looking for.

Online reputation management works to counter, weaken or eliminate negative material online and generate and promote the positive. This matters so that when people search for you online they see you in the best possible light.

Why does it matter?

Online reputation management – online search and reputation facts and stats

Online search:

• Google controls as much as 92% 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.

When people search for you or your business online, you want people to get a positive first impression at a glance on page 1. If the results are positive – website, profiles, positive press articles, good star ratings, and reviews, etc – they’ll want to do business with you. Or at least move closer towards it. If you have bad press, negative reviews or even nothing of note at all they’re less likely to believe that you’re right for them and look elsewhere.

So, what’s the real influence and impact of different search results online?

The impact of online reviews 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 and consumers read an average of 7 reviews before trusting a business.
• 68% of consumers also say they are actually willing to pay up to 15% more for the same product or service if they are assured they will have a better experience – never underestimate how much customer experience matters.

It’s also interesting to note that:

• 49% of consumers need at least a 4* rating before they choose to use a business.
• Nearly 3 out of 4 consumers trust a company more if the reviews are positive.
• Every 1* increase in Yelp rating means a 5 to 9% increase in revenue.

Negative press, content, reviews, and trolls can really harm 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 future value.
• 1 in 3 businesses say negative social media posts pose the greatest reputation threat.
• Negative content has cost 1 in 20 UK companies more than £500,000, 5% have lost £100,000-£500,000, 1 in 7 have lost up to £50,000.
• 51% of businesses say that their company has been negatively affected by unsubstantiated online reviews or targeted by trolls.
• 70% of consumers will avoid buying a product if they don’t like the company behind it.
• 1 in 5 companies surveyed by Igniyte are unhappy with the way they’re portrayed on their Google page 1.

Negative results are a huge worry for businesses as well as individuals.

But highly visible positive search results on page 1, really influence perception, reputation, consumer behaviour and business and individual success, which is why it pays to look after your online reputation:

• 97% of consumers search online for local businesses, 12% do it daily.
• 87% of customers comparison shop for every purchase.
• Executives say that, on average, 49% of the reputation of their company is attributable to their CEO’s reputation.
• 45% of consumers will post about a positive interaction if a brand responds well to a complaint on social media and 37% will share their story with their friends online.

How individuals appear in search results also has a big impact on their appeal to recruiters:

• Social recruiting is fast growing and virtually all companies are employing social recruiting in one form or another.
• 93% of recruiters state that LinkedIn is the most popular in-house digital recruitment platform.
• 73% of recruiters successfully place people identified via social media platforms.
• 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates.
• 57% of employers are less likely to interview a candidate they can’t find online.
• 54% decide not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles.

And on how candidates perceive companies:

• 69% of job seekers are likely to reject a job offer from a company with a bad reputation.

The benefits of online reputation management

• Credibility – positive links, comments and high visibility online makes you credible in the eyes of customers, stakeholders, employees, influencers and peers.
• Trust – people trust a company, brand or person with a good reputation.
• Profit – companies with higher star-ratings, reviews and positive content and PR get more business.
• Talent – brands with a positive reputation earn better employees.

Search engines, such as Google, Bing, and others, don’t care about your reputation. They don’t filter results based on what’s negative and positive, but rather on relevance and popularity. This is why online reputation management is especially relevant.

Taking control of your online presence enables you to present the best possible image of your business, brand or senior figures to the online community. As an individual, you’ll also control what people see when they search for you, and for businesses, you’ll help prospective customers notice you before your competitors and convert them into sales. 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 bespoke, rather than automated, our clients’ reputation strategies last as Google’s algorithms change over time.

Why online reputation management matters for businesses and brands

The more search engine results you ‘own’ on the first two pages of an online search the better. Why? Because it enables you to control what people see and influence their decision-making process. As well as your website, you want them to see positive reviews (which are very important for trust and credibility), social media, profiles, and PR.

A study conducted by Chitika reveals that the first page of a Google search for your firm’s name attracts 91.5% of traffic from an average search.

Credibility, trust, profit and attracting talent are all linked to your search results.

Why online reputation management matters for individuals

People search for people online, whether they’re looking for a potential new hire, or want to know more about you before choosing to do business with you. They’ll check out your social media and professional profiles and notice if you’ve been in the news. What people see in the first 2 pages of an online search is what shapes their opinion of you. Google yourself, do you like what you see? It is true and fair?

How long will reputation management take?

Often, one of the first questions we get from our clients is “How long does online reputation management take?” And understandably so.

It will vary from straightforward removals taking anywhere between 1 and 4 weeks, to improving online reviews which can take upwards of a month. Online reputation management activity to suppress/push down negative search results takes on average 6 to 12 months.

Every project is different and with lots of factors to consider, some projects are ongoing and never ‘finished’ but will be improved over time. We use our expertise and experience to help guide clients through the process and understanding the amount of work that goes into improving online search results.

How online reputation management works

Find out more about how online reputation management works for businesses and people.