Online reputation management is an important part of running a business nowadays. Since there are an increasing number of people going to Google to find solutions to their problems, it is important people come across positive information about you.
Think about the last time you wanted to buy a product or a service online. When scanning through all your options, you place a lot of weight on the reviews people leave behind. Even though you have never met these people and they can be using fake names, you still take their comments to heart.
This is often the case when it comes to purchasing things online. You can always ask friends or family for their opinions on a certain product but they may not know the right exact product you are looking to buy but they can give you some great insight.
Next time you do look for something, find what you are looking for and after reading the reviews, you may not continue your purchase with them. It can be because of the various negative reviews found on their different sites. If you decide not to buy from them, imagine all of the other people out there too who don’t make a purchase either.
Therefore, negative reviews can have devastating effects on businesses. There are things businesses can do however to make sure this does not affect them as much. One of them is blogging and content writing on their site and posting them on social media. This way potential customers will find out what you are all about and not be swayed by what other people might have to say as much.
In addition, it is recommended to reply whenever possible to the negative reviews to see how you can fix the situation. There are some things out of your control like shipping time, which can lead to customers being upset if it does not come when they expect.
Your current customers are important too since they make up your livelihood. Keep a good relationship with them in order to get good reviews published on the web. It does not hurt to ask them either to write one for you in exchange for a discount. Be careful though since it has to be 100% what customers have written and not something fabricated by you. If you write your own “fake” reviews, it is actually illegal and businesses have been caught and slapped with a fine along with multiple news and media outlets covering the story.