Do you feel like you’re not getting as much business as you could? The problem might not lie in your productivity but your online reputation.

That’s right. Your online reputation has the potential to completely affect your business. If customers find your page and see any potential warning signs, they’ll choose someone else, so you must analyze how your company appears online and make some changes.

Not sure how to get started? The Reputation Management Company team is here to help. This guide will cover ten reasons why your online reputation isn’t where it should be and how The Reputation Management Company can help you build a strong online presence.

1. Bad Reviews

Your online reputation can make a difference. Consumers scour the reviews to see the general experience with your company. Any complaint can turn customers away, whether a bad review is left on your website, social media, or a third-party review site. The customer may be exaggerating their experience, but they could also have experienced poor service– which needs to be addressed.

Simply ignoring the reviews can harm your business just as much, if not more so, than the review itself. It’s important to professionally address the review or concerns in the complaint. Don’t look at a negative review as a personal attack, but as an opportunity to meet a disgruntled customer where they’re at and resolve the issue. If multiple reviews report a similar issue, you may need to consider the matter yourself.

2. Removing Criticism

Sure, you want to address any bad reviews you receive. However, you can make your reputation worse by removing anything negative about your company. These comments can be seen as opportunities to improve the quality of your brand, uphold the standards you set for the company, and show that you care about customer satisfaction. 

By addressing the issues in the review, the reviewer may feel the issue is resolved and delete the review. However, you won’t solve their concerns by simply deleting the review. They may notice and post another and warn people that the reviews are manipulated. Not only do you have an extremely unhappy customer but also serious allegations about your character.

Plus, customers notice when there are only ever positive reviews. No matter how great your company is, there are always negative reviews. If you choose to remove the criticism from your site or social media, people will notice and call you out for it. Rather than face harsh scrutiny from the public, address the concerns listed in the negative reviews to avoid giving your company a bad reputation.

3. Badly Researched Content

All the content you share must be filled with accurate information. Content written specifically to generate traffic or make the brand more visible is referred to as bad content, as it does nothing to either inform, entertain, or engage a specific audience. This can harm your online reputation the same way negative reviews can because bad content tends to cut corners on quality. You may also find obvious spelling errors in the piece, which makes your business seem unprofessional.

Besides the time and money wasted on poorly written content, the payoff is marginal. If anything, you do more harm because Google’s ranking system considers quality when looking at SEO content. Not only will the author’s online reputation suffer, but the company’s as well. You don’t want to be known as the producer of poor content. It drives customers away and shows them that your brand can’t be trusted in the long run.

4. Poor Customer Service

Bad experiences are bound to happen, but how you handle them matters. Whether it’s a shipping mistake or a larger issue you’re dealing with, the quality of customer service is imperative to maintaining your online reputation. A reputation management company can assist you with these situations when they spiral out of control. Still, proper training can keep customer service employees prepared to handle things independently.

The customer is not always right, but you have to make sure they feel heard regarding their complaints. Remaining polite but firm will ensure you stay professional while handling the matter. Being forceful or rude to customers puts a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and deters other people from doing business with you.

Most of all, always offer a solution rather than dismiss their claims. 

5. Posting Personal or Political Opinions

Your opinions matter, but your opinions are not the opinions of your business. That’s not to say your company cannot take a position on world affairs, but try to remain unbiased. Don’t let your personal opinions influence what your company says and does without reason.

Discussing controversial issues on your business accounts can turn people away. If you can’t avoid a subject, or it feels wrong to ignore it, keep a neutral tone in your writing and make sure it is relevant to your business. A reputation management company can help you get back on track if your comments were taken the wrong way or if you find yourself on the wrong side of an online tirade. 

6. Management Issues

With more than one account to handle across various platforms, it’s normal to have multiple people manage them. However, this can lead to conflicts that will negatively impact your business. Your professional social media accounts portray what your brand stands for, which means you need a manager who can exemplify your company values.

A poor manager can bring negative attention to your accounts. Because the nature of the job requires them to interact with people daily, you’ll need someone who understands how to engage with consumers without harming your business’s online reputation.

7. Inconsistency

To maintain a good online reputation, you need to engage with consumers consistently. People follow your social media accounts for updates on your company, but a lack of communication will cause them to look elsewhere. Be consistent with posting online. Posting multiple times a day, followed by a period of silence for days or weeks at a time, can throw customers off.

We recommend establishing a routine and engaging with customers to ensure your content is seen and interacted with. You can use multiple platforms to do this, and each has several tools to do so. For example, stories on Instagram and Facebook are a great quick way to interact with customers daily, and posting videos or reels can grab consumers’ attention. 

No matter what platform you use, just remember that an irregular posting schedule will limit how many people engage with your content, which can hurt your online reputation.

8. Compromising Posts and Pictures

You are entitled to post about your private life even though you’re a business owner. However, know that what’s posted on the internet, even between friends, can come back to haunt you. Whether you post a picture after a night out with friends or someone else posts about it, it will come back to reflect on your business. 

And what you say matters on personal social media accounts. Your business’s online reputation is tied to you, so how you behave online shows people across the internet who you are without ever meeting you in person. While people can argue back and forth about what is or is not appropriate to post, one thing is for sure: erasing what is said is extremely difficult.

However, once a compromising picture or video is posted, there’s still a solution. Our team at The Reputation Management Company can assist you in dealing with creating a positive image around your brand regardless of a controversial picture you can’t erase.

9. Going on the Defensive

It’s natural to want to defend your business against negative reviews, but doing so can give your company a bad reputation. It gives the idea that your company is not concerned with customer satisfaction. Additionally, there may be cause for genuine concern that gets lost in the heat of the moment. 

Remember, if someone complains, there is almost always a reason for it that can be discussed and settled without crossing any lines. However, if you’ve already started a heated argument with a customer, The Reputation Management Company team can assess these issues and help you handle them professionally.

10. Being Invisible

In addition to regularly posting to stay engaged, some companies make the mistake of relying too heavily on automated processes to handle their content. While great for posting content regularly, you can’t miss out on the opportunities to directly engage with customers. If you do, your online reputation suffers since customers can’t get an accurate read of what your business stands for.

Auto-pilot is helpful for staying consistent with your posting routine, but to generate consistent traffic, you’ll need a more hands-on approach. Collaborating with a reputation management company can help you find the balance between automated posts and friendly interactions.

A Reputation Management Company Can Help You

So, now that you know the top ten reasons your online reputation might be hurting your business ask yourself: which of these issues is relevant to your brand?

If you are struggling with your business’s reputation due to any of these concerns, get in touch with The Reputation Management Company. We can monitor your social media accounts to keep track of both positive and negative engagement and develop a strategy to improve your brand image or minimize the damage from a particularly harmful post. We’ll even interact with customers through your accounts to deliver quality customer service and nurture your brand’s image.

Don’t let your online reputation suffer when help is just a few clicks away; get in touch with us to strengthen your business’s reputation.