Search Reputation Management

Reputation has always been the linchpin of business: it is the face of a business, the reason why people do or do not buy their products or engage their services. The internet adds a whole new dimension to this issue. Consumers now use the internet to research products, find suppliers, and leave customer reviews. If your company does not have a solid internet reputation, there are always more businesses from which they can choose. Search reputation management, therefore, is increasingly important in today's business world.

It takes years of hard work to build your reputation, and the internet can knock it down seemingly instantly. Bad press travels fast through blogs, forums, message boards, consumer sites, and more. What starts a one or two negative comments can snowball into a public relations crisis. Even worse is when the comments are untrue, outdated, inaccurate, vindictive, or malicious.

Negative publicity can destroy a company, but it can also make it stronger if the problem is dealt with effectively. Computer retailer Dell is a prime example. An angry customer posted his frustrations over his faulty Dell laptop and the subsequent poor customer service on his blog. Hundreds of people commented on his post, and the theme was picked up by other bloggers. In addition, a 2006 recall of 4.1 million laptops cost the company over $400 million and even more damage to their reputation. Dell still has a lot of work to do to overcome this debacle, but they are making progress. They have reached out to bloggers, commenting on their posts and responding in a newly created Dell blog, and they created IdeaStorm and StudioDell which allows Dell customers to give feedback and share videos. They even made news by introducing a computer that uses 25% less energy. When you search for Dell, the crucial first two pages contain no negative attacks, which is certainly an accomplishment and a testament to good search reputation management.

In the business world, reputation is everything. Dell could have easily been destroyed by negative publicity - all of which started in a blog. It is important not to underestimate the power of the consumer. As you can see with the experience of Dell, search reputation management is not about hiding or being dishonest: it is about confronting problems directly and taking ethical steps to combat it.

Need a bit of help with your search reputation management? Contact us today.