Internet reputation service is a growing business with many people and businesses starting to require these services. That is due to the fact that there is an increasing amount of people searching for the name and brand of individuals and companies online. Search engines have been a key platform for customers to look for solutions to their problems. When someone needs a new vacuum, chances are they will turn to search engines to search for the different models that are out there in order to compare them to their competing companies.
How This Will Affect Businesses
When people are to look at their search results; what will appear on the screen will greatly influence their decision toward any company in the market. The information and content that is out there for your company as a business owner as this will be their first impression of the service that you offer. This would be the best practice to ensure that there is positive content on the Internet about your brand and your company. Your website information, as well as your social media networks, will all be viewed for the world to see therefore it is paramount that the information that you put “out there” is safe for the eyes of your potential clients or for those that you are trying to impress for that matter. Negative reviews and comments on the Internet can greatly impact your image online, therefore, it is essential to be proactive about your online presence by posting as much content as possible. There is no such a thing as “too much content”; the more words in your articles, blogs, and comments the better! Post content that is relevant and engaging for your customers and customer to be. Your content must capture their attention in order for them to follow your business and engage themselves in your campaign.
Repairing Your Internet Reputation
When you notice that the negative reviews are creeping up on search engine pages but your positive reviews are conveniently going down in the ratings you should know that this will eventually cause issues to your online presence and may potentially damage your reputation.
There are some steps that you are can implement in order to increase the positive reviews about your company and encourage a positive online presence but it is not guaranteed. An online reputation management specialist will, however, be able to give you all of the tools and guidance that you need to bring your company to the next level in terms of appearance online. There is not that great of a difference between online reputation management (ORM) and search engine optimization (SEO) as their main purpose is to encourage online visibility and positive reviews and comments. The main difference would be the fact that the main purpose of SEO is to increase the number of visitors when it comes to your website or social media platform whiles ORM is encouraging the positive reviews to be pushed up on the search engine results page.
What To Ask The Potential Candidate
You have finally decided as a business owner that you will go ahead and find an expert in ORM in order to help bring down the negative content under your name. What do you do? How do you start? Here are some questions that you would want to ask your potential candidate in order to ensure that you are not being duped:
You must first have an in-depth understanding of ORM and what it is that you are looking for in order to know how to approach the person in question.
- What is online reputation management and how does it affect my company? (This is a very critical starting question to ask as you want understanding they have about the industry and how it affects businesses. What is their perception of ORM?
- How will you go about improving my online reputation? ( You must know what their game plan is! What do they intend on doing for your company? By asking this question you will be able to determine whether their approach will be effective or not. Do not be afraid to push back their proposed method if you see that the candidate has potential but simply has a wrong methodology.
- What is your timeframe for working on a project? ( You need to know how long they will be working on your campaign for so that you know how to prepare financially. Do not take it for granted that it says “5 – 6 weeks timeframe” on their website as every project is different)
- How much will you be charging us for your work? (Many argue that it is not good practice to ask about the money during the first meeting but I would prove otherwise as it is important to know the cost from the onset so that you are not wasting each other’s time. In the event that you know that you cannot afford the service, you can then put an end to the conversation by saying that it is over your budget)
- How have you helped clients in the past? Do you have examples of such projects? (Ask about their past work experience to get a better understanding of their work ethics. Do not take their words for granted but instead ask for proof based on a testimonial or a specific reference that they would have given your candidate on a social media platform or even their website)
- Do you prefer to work in a team or individually? ( Know what their work preferences are. In a discipline where they might work alone one day and work with a big team the following day, it is important to know that they are comfortable working in that type of setting and that it will not impede on their productivity.)
- What are you most passionate about when it comes to ORM and/or SEO? (With this question you will know if they are just there for the money or if they actually are passionate and love the job that they do)
It can sometimes be tough to decipher the right candidate for your company but in all things, you must remain optimistic and know that you will eventually find the right person for your company.