Proactive Reputation Management is Far and Away the Best

Every business should be concerned about its reputation.  Needless to say, having a bad reputation will not be particularly great for business.  When it comes to dealing with their reputation though, many companies only react to bad situations.  It is important to realize that being proactive about reputation management is far and away the best solution.

It is easier than ever to spread information to a significant number of people.  If someone has something negative to say about your company, then it can quickly rise to the top of the search results.  When people search for information about your company, you certainly will not want them to find this negative press, would you?

Most people spend at least a little bit of time researching companies online.  They no long rely on word of mouth recommendations or the listings in the yellow pages.  If they stumble across negative reviews or information, then they will be much less likely to give your company their business.

It is best for you to work on your company's reputation right from the start.  The more you build it up, the more you will be able to withstand negative press.

Another proactive solution would be to dominate the first page of search results.  People do not tend to look past the first page when researching online.  Wouldn't it be better if most or all of those results were listings that you yourself created?

You definitely want your company's official website to be listed in the number one position.  But, what about numbers two through ten?  You can register your company on social media sites and work on getting those ranked high in the results. 

You should also be aware that unscrupulous people may register domain names similar to yours in an effort to take advantage of your brand's popularity.  It is best for you to keep this from happening in the first place.  Instead of only registering the .com version of your domain name, you should consider registering the other variants such as .net, .org, etc.

Managing your reputation proactively may not be something you have the time to invest in although it is certainly very important.  A good solution to this problem would be to hire a professional online reputation management company.

Just as when doing business with any new company, you will want to spend some time researching to ensure you find the best.  Look at how long they have been in business.  Also, try to find out what their past customers think of the service.