The Power of Online Reputation for Brands
In today’s online world, perception is everything. A brand’s reputation can make or break its ability to attract new customers, retain existing ones, and stay ahead of negative news cycles. Online reputation can be directly tied to a brand’s positioning in the minds of consumers.
If you are a brand struggling to stay afloat in organic search results, you might think: That sounds serious, but what am I expected to do about it? Luckily, we’ve pulled together a brief guide covering online reputation management for brands, as well as actionable steps to help you stay on top of your branded web results.
Online reputation for brands: The basics
At its base level, your brand’s online reputation largely comprises your company’s branded search results (or, what appears on-screen when a customer searches for your company online). Those search results usually contain the content your brand publishes. However, they’re also packed with third-party content you don’t control.
These results can take the form of online customer reviews, comparison sites, and press articles that mention your brand. If a search engine thinks that a particular piece of content can help users to make informed decisions about a brand or product, it will rank that content higher on the search engine results page.
Why should you manage your company’s reputation? Because online reputation is your brand’s most important digital asset.
Let’s look at an example. Think about what you would expect to see when searching for “Joe’s Shoe Superstore.” What would a “good” search landscape be? Ideally, you’d see some of the following on the first page of results:
- The main web domain for Joe’s Shoe Superstore
- Product or category pages
- Any relevant social profiles (Instagram, Twitter, etc).
- News coverage (either nationally syndicated content or localized to the user)
- Third-party reviews or comparison sites
Notice that only the first three bullets are assets controlled by Joe’s. This means remaining search results can be populated according to market trends, perceived relevance, and authority of the sites mentioning Joe’s brand.
If Joe’s has a PR blunder involving the quality of their service or social media comment, for example, a negative news cycle or a round of unfavourable reviews can spill into its branded search results.
When negative content reaches the first page of Google, it can drastically impact any potential new business (regardless of whether a consumer is there to buy that specific pair of sneakers or they’re just scoping out the brand).
Your brand will want to integrate proactive online reputation management into its marketing strategy, making the company more agile in the event of a brand crisis.
Let’s look at a few actionable steps your business can take to proactively manage its online reputation.
#1. Place Priority on Customer Service
No matter what type of business you have, providing a seamless customer experience goes a long way towards a better online reputation. In our earlier fictional example, we saw that online reviews can compose a significant chunk of branded search results — especially for e-commerce brands.
Some of the biggest review sites out there, like Yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook, ServiceGuru and more, cost businesses untold sums per year. Why? Consumers trust online reviews to give them context about a brand or product prior to purchase.
Unfortunately, many consumers are unable to tell the difference between a legitimate complaint from a dissatisfied customer and a fabricated review. Review sites exist to give consumers social proof and to provide brands with much-needed feedback. Bear in mind, however, that while you can’t personally delete a review you believe to be fraudulent or inaccurate, you do have the right to flag reviews for possible removal.
Beyond monitoring review sites for fake or harmful reviews, your brand should make a concerted effort to create positive customer-brand experiences. Reach out to recent shoppers and crowdsource testimonials, encourage word-of-mouth referrals via a loyalty program, or simply engage with customer concerns and share positive feedback on social media.
#2. Get Social
One of the easiest ways to gain control of your online reputation is to expand your brand’s presence within search results. As mentioned earlier, the less branded content you create, the more likely a search engine will fill in the gaps with third-party content.
Moreover, it’s a widely held best practice among marketers to engage with consumers in the environments they spend the most time. Get creative! This is your chance to publish branded blog content, reach out for collaboration on thought-leadership pieces with other authoritative brands, and craft a compelling social media strategy.
It’s not just web content that shows up in search results. Oftentimes, images can crop up that are unflattering or don’t align with your brand’s message. Additionally, images can populate Google’s “featured snippet” function, which can influence click-through rates to your website. That’s why image SEO is just as important to your online reputation as any other content.
First, make sure you have a plan in place to produce and share brand-approved imagery. Ideally, this will be part of your larger content strategy.
Next, ensure you’re optimizing and resizing images to provide the best SEO value to your website. Not only will this help when users view image results for your brand, but engaging content could be shared by others. This can amplify your reach, and increase links and brand mentions.
#3. Think Globally, Act Locally
Google’s former unofficial motto was, “Don’t Be Evil,” a sentiment that was embedded into their code of conduct for nearly 18 years. In an era where everything is public, negative articles can be syndicated and weigh down search results for years.
That said, brands must focus on being socially responsible. Purpose-driven brands create better connections with consumers and garner positive press that can land in branded search results.
Ben & Jerry’s is a notable example. Founded in 1978, the brand has long engaged in social advocacy. Most recently, they’re tackling issues like climate change and criminal justice reform through strategic partnerships with other brands and nonprofits. Their social mission is interwoven through their website and in their branded search results.
Branded search results play a pivotal role in informing the public about your business, as well as attracting new customers. What shows up in search is informed by the strength of your customer service, content, and PR strategies.
It’s pretty clear — you should start integrating online reputation management into your company’s marketing strategy.
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