Corporate credibility is generated by different variables that alter public opinion over time. These variables include search engine results, news articles, social media updates, feedback, and other public comments. All of which play a role in your online reputation.
It was relatively easy to boost your credibility before Google. Companies can rely on individuals to promote their business’s importance through word of mouth, industry associations, and other (mostly) face-to-face encounters within their sphere of influence.
Now the number one aspect that can make or break the credibility of your business is Google. Social networking is an online reputation factor and helps distribute news among people quickly, but social media appears to have a shorter shelf life than search results do.
Whether or not they want to do business with you, you will decide what individuals see when they search for the name of your business or even just the goods or services you offer.
Google now stands between character (truth) and credibility (subjective perception), in other words.
Your credibility is critical. It’s a crucial differentiator between the market and you. And your search engine outcomes are profoundly affected by it. Controlling your search engine results allows you to begin retaining the credibility of your business.
Of course, it is challenging and, in many situations, impossible to gain complete control over your search engine results. Still, there are plenty of critical variables to focus on that can boost your search results over time and thereby affect your credibility.
Factors that influence reputation
One of the main factors affecting online credibility is the stuff that an organization does or does not do), but what happens after that is up to different online platforms. Google is situated at the top of the chart.
- Search engine results: In generating first impressions of your brand, the search engine results’ first page is essential. On this page, something negative will cause people to lose faith in your brand. Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, YouTube, among others, are search engines.
- Reviews and star ratings: On big review sites like Yelp, Travel Advisor, Amazon, and the Better Business Bureau, what do people think about you?
- Social media: 78 percent of customers’ purchasing decisions are affected by social media messages. On social media, keep a watchful eye on any feedback and posts about your brand. Social networking has a shorter shelf-life than a quest, but understanding is still strongly influenced by it.
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a powerhouse with search engine performance. It displays more than 50 percent of the time on the first page of Google search results and ranks for almost all search queries. As factual material, it is widely trusted but is very) often a source of vandalism.
- Knowledge panel: The Google Information Panel is part of the search results, but it’s so relevant that we figured we would also add it separately. Google automatically produces the information box at the top, which appears on the first search results page. This information snapshot is often the first thing people read while investigating your brand, so it must contain positive data.
Google’s role in online reputation
When Google’s search results pages become more advanced, there is less incentive for study to go somewhere else. Google is a convenient knowledge source that stands between a corporation and the user who is investigating it. It is the greatest judge of how a company, in the long run, is viewed.
Search features such as knowledge graphs, snippets featured, autosuggest, carousels, and sections “people also ask” provide a wealth of information without ever clicking on a connection. All of this data provides a strong first impression of your brand and recreates the customer’s journey. But there’s no “reality” given by Google, only relevance. There are just about ten slots on the first page of the search results, which does not even matter if the truth is in slot 11.
If your credibility is affected by Google, you need to understand the process that individuals take when communicating online with your company. This emerges from three main questions:
- What are they interested in?
- What are they looking for?
- When they look for it, what comes up?
Consider a person who wants to purchase an air purifier. The first thing they’re probably going to do is “best air purifiers” by Google.
They’re going to see a mix of commercials, impressions of the air purifier, and commonly asked questions. They’ll probably pick a couple of brand names that look nice after glancing through this first page, open a few tabs, and start reading reviews.
Based on what they read in those articles, search results, and autosuggest, they will shape opinions on some of the leading brands and will eventually pick the brand they believe is the best match for their needs. Quite often, the brand they select is the one with the best search profile.
The above example is so commonplace that customers don’t even think twice about using Google to decide which morning coffee shop to stop by, where to get their hair cut, or which air purifier to buy.
Managing reputational risk
All of the factors above contribute to your credibility, but additional variations and risk factors can alter the way people view your business over time.
The most significant thing is that your reputation suits your personality. The cornerstone of your reputation is your character. When you believe that nobody is watching, it is how you behave (spoiler alert: someone is still watching).
No matter how much effort you put into handling items like your search results, social media, Wikipedia, and ratings, there would be issues if the acts the business takes do not fit what you claim you are doing.
In today’s economy, 70 percent to 80 percent of market value comes from intangible assets such as brand equity, intellectual capital, and goodwill that are difficult to measure. Your credibility, in other words, is a crucial driver of the market value of your brand.
Develop a robust online reputation based on sound business character and handle the critical factors addressed in this blog (search results, social media, Wikipedia, and reviews). The brand will be better placed over time to retain a positive reputation.