Protecting your Online Reputation Starts with Knowing What is Being Said

It seems like everyone has a computer nowadays.  With everyone spending so much time on the internet, they are sharing their experiences when dealing with various companies in their everyday lives.  If they have a particularly bad experience with yours, then it can definitely be damaging to your online reputation.

Anything can go viral thanks to the state of the media nowadays.  A simple video on YouTube denouncing your company can easily be picked up by mainstream media and be tweeted and re-tweeted over and over again, resulting in thousands or even millions of hits.  In order to protect your online reputation, you have to know what is being said.

One of the easiest ways is to go to your favorite search engine and input your company's name.  You will be presented with a list of web pages mentioning your company so you can see what is being said about your company – good or bad.

You can catch these web pages even without looking for them manually.  All you have to do is setup a Google alert for your company's name.  Whenever a page appears in its index mentioning the name, it will send you an alert automatically.

Blogging is huge nowadays too, as people can start their own blog in just a few minutes without paying a penny.  Some bloggers will focus on particular industries and may mention your name.  Favorable reviews will certainly help increase business.  Conversely though, a bad review can be particularly damaging.  You can check your online reputation by searching the blogosphere with a blog search engine.

Many people who your business caters to will hang out on forums as well.  It can be a good idea to join some of the most popular forums and become a contributing member.  This would help build favor with the community, which would help blunt the effects of negative press to some extent.

There are all kinds of review sites on the internet nowadays too.  Many of them will cater to specific industries, while others will offer all types of customers to recount their experiences with a particular company.  You would definitely want to track down and address any negative reviews on one of these sites.

With the advancement of technology, negative information about your company can spread like a wildfire.  It is vital for you to protect your online reputation at all costs.  You can only do that if you know what is being said.  Be proactive about tracking down information.