Act first to avoid negative publicity - By: Brigette Federico

Most companies have a reactive approach to reputation management. Online or offline, it's always been the same. Companies are too caught up in the daily processes of business to worry about the possibility of negative press. The time to deal with it usually comes after a negative review is published, and the damage needs to be repaired.

Dealing with negative feedback after it has gained public attention is far less efficient than stemming it in the bud. If you wait until a negative review appears below your own listing in Google's results, it's too late to prevent internet users from seeing it. All you can do is scrabble around, trying to offset the negative publicity wherever you can. This takes a lot more time than simply ensuring that the negative review never saw the light of day.

For some reason, companies continue to foster a reactive approach to online reputation management. Part of this comes from a false economy of time, as reputation management can be seen as an unnecessary precaution. It takes time to foster positive reviews around the net, reviews a company might feel they may not ever need. Much as a budget-stressed house owner might not insure their contents, a time-stressed business owner might decide to deal with reputation management when needed.

Patching holes is not a best-case scenario The reactive approach is much like patching holes in a boat while you're sailing in it. Imagine a company performing a Google search on its main brand keyword and seeing a lambasting blog post appear directly below their main listing. They might be able to manoeuvre a few pages so that the post is pushed off the first page for the business keyword, but what about other keywords? If the post comes from a high-ranking site, it could appear anywhere. Not only will they need to take action on their brand-related keywords, but the keywords for any product or service mentioned in the blog.

That adds up to an amazing amount of work, and it all needs to be performed as quickly as possible. The effect is of a company scrabbling around a sinking boat, trying to patch holes as they discover them one after the other. When it comes to something as important as a business' reputation, it's vital to take preventative measures.

The side-benefits of being proactive Internet reputation management is about much more than damage control. Companies who maintain this view are overlooking the side benefits of reputation management. Investing in your site's reputation can bring some solid benefits in terms of your search engine optimization campaign, further your online marketing plan and get you more customers. When you spend time in nurturing your online reputation, you're actually feeding several streams of your online campaign.

Reputation management plans can benefit your site in a number of ways, and need to be worked into various aspects of your marketing budget. It's a good idea to consult a professional if you're uncertain about reputation management, and you can talk to us at SearchEngineOptimization.co.uk about your reputation concerns.

About the Author

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