90% of hiring executives use the search results of Google Before Hiring

Have you Googled yourself lately? What did it say? It’s important to take control over what is being said about you on the internet as it can destroy potential job opportunities and career advancement. If you don’t control what is being said about you online then you can fall victim to losing out on opportunities that you may be best experienced to take on but will never have the chance. All too often we find ourselves helping victims of unjust arrest who come to us to remove their mugshots, arrest records, and other legal issues on the internet so they can step back into the real world without issue. Our online reputation management services are used to help people of all backgrounds who succumb to attacks on the internet.

How To Effectively Battle Fake News

According to a recent survey from Network Research, consumer trust in media has fallen significantly in the recent due to the proliferation of fake news in the business space. In particular, this survey found that nearly 40% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 distrust the media. Unfortunately, in this era of social media, fake news is becoming increasingly common in media. For instance, in 2016 alone, about 25% of American adults shared a fake news story, whether knowingly or unknowingly, according to a 2016 survey from the Pew Research Center. This survey also noted that more than 60% of American adults get their news from social media. In view of these statistics, you should take proactive measures to protect your brand against fake news. Below is a detailed look at some of the strategies you can use to achieve this goal.

An In Depth Reputation Management Strategy

Unfortunately, companies such as Google and Facebook do not have an effective system of fighting fake news and have little to no incentive to remove defamation or something negative about you or your business. In fact they get more traffic when these stories are live on their platforms so there is a disincentive for them to make a change. Fortunately, a good reputation management system can help you counter negative press and fake news effectively. Also known as online reputation management, a reputation management system would not only help you identify, but also influence your brand’s online credibility and reputation. This is important because research has shown that more than 90% of your local consumers are likely to research your business’s reputation online before visiting your business. Your business’s online makeup consists of, among other things, online listings, consumer and peer reviews, your website, corporate videos, and social media. Because of this, it may be difficult to manage your business’s online reputation across the internet trying to control just internal properties can be daunting none less trying to control what others say on your own. This is where a reputation management system comes in handy. In essence, a good reputation management system should consist of tools and resources that would enable you to monitor your business’s online reputation automatically. More importantly, a good online reputation management system would give you critical data and information about your brand, allowing you to make informed and data-driven business decisions. Some of the benefits of a reputation management system include:

• Increased customer satisfaction – Your reputation management system will send you an alert every time an internet user mentions your business’s name on the internet. In turn, this will allow you to respond to comments and complaints quickly. According to marketing experts, you should respond to customer concerns within 48 hours because shorter response times generally lead to quicker resolutions to customer concerns, increasing customer satisfaction. Additionally, responding to customer complaints as quickly as possible will prevent further damage to your brand’s image.

• Gain customer insight – A reputation management system will help you collect and consolidate key data, allowing you to identify, among other things, trends and influencers, as well as learn what people are saying about your business online (social listening). To put it another way, this data and information will help you gain customer insight, allowing you to provide your customer with what they need and tailor your marketing strategy accordingly.

• Eliminate inconsistent information – Inconsistent or inaccurate information can cost your business money and even worse, damage your brand’s reputation. In fact, a recent study found that 37% and 32% of consumers will not consider a business with inconsistent information and wrong information listed online, respectively. Examples of inconsistent and inaccurate information include a broken link, outdated product information, and incorrect phone number. Fortunately, an online reputation management system can help you identify such problems as it automatically searches the internet for any potential mention of your brand. You can hire an expert witness such as Richart Ruddie who specializes in defamation removal. This is one way to delete and remove content and be rewarded for the unjust damage caused by harmful online search results.

• Increase your brand’s online visibility – As mentioned above, an online reputation system will help you attract more traffic, improve your brand’s ranking in SERPs, increase your social presence and engagement, and improve customer satisfaction. In turn, all these things will help increase your brand’s online visibility.

Time Share and Travel Companies Need Reputation Management Help The Most

The more you deal with clients the more complaints you can expect to have. That’s the problem with Hotels, Restaurants, Timeshares, and property management companies that we help. It’s not a question of if but rather when you will get more negative complaints about your services. Whether it’s the tactic of hard-selling, the destination not being up to par, or just poor customer service those who like to complain love to go onto Consumer Affairs, Yelp, TripAdvisor.com, and just vent to the world about their experience. While we agree with their initial reactions we are here to help train and teach Travel companies the best practices to battle back and ways to suppress these events from happening more often. Our quality control and ORM solutions are second to none and have helped improve the bottom line of our clients for over a decade now.

Get Everyone in Your Business Involved

In addition to an online reputation system, you should also use your employees and other allies, both inside and outside your business, to defend your business from fake news and misinformation. This is particularly important if you have a less-than-stellar reputation. Of course, you should not necessarily wait for fake news or a cyber attacker to threaten you or your business for you to act. Instead, you should be constantly working to build and maintain customer trust, as well as improve your brand’s image. At the same time, you should have a crisis plan in place to allow you to counter fake news quickly.

Build an Online Community

A strong and vibrant online community is probably your best defense against fake news. For this reason, you should endeavor to establish a strong online presence and more importantly, cultivate a huge and engaged online following. At the same time, ensure you interact with your online community regularly and talk about your brand’s core values frequently. This will allow your followers to identify fake news targeting your brand and help you fight such news. Also, enroll with a trusted reputation firm that can handle and monitor the web while also protecting your good name online.

So What is a reputation management system?

A reputation management system consists of a top down approach where you have a team or hire a team of experts to handle and battle an online public relations crisis. Our strategies are defined by the ability to get some negative news completely deleted within 24 hours of its submission, overpowering our own news sources’ stories to hide and lessen the damage of a potential catastrophic news situation, and a system that monitors the results so proper actions can be taken to help your brand, company, or yourself survive the attack and live to see another day. Once processes and systems are in place you will sleep better at night.

Today, fake news tends to travel extremely quickly, thanks to the power and influence of social media, as well as fake news sites dedicated to creating and distributing fake news. Unfortunately, fake news is becoming increasingly common in the business space, meaning businesses should develop strategies to protect themselves from fake news. To fight fake news effectively, you need to act quickly and aggressively. In particular, you must have a reputation management strategy in place. Such a system will help you gain consumer insight, learn what people are saying about your brand online, improve your online visibility, and improve your social media presence and engagement. In addition to a reputation management system, you should also cultivate a vibrant and engaged online community.