Not everyone is going to love you. That’s just how it is. However, there is much you can do if your reputation is suffering some hits out on social media. Comments, whether positive or negative, greatly affect your overall SEO strategy. With regard to negative comments, they will come and you must take the management of your reputation seriously. Some comments will be legitimate, others not so. Regardless, there are immediate steps to take to guard your reputation and the survival of your brand.
One of the immediate problems regarding a negative review or comment is that the comment may end up ranking higher on a SERP than your actual website. You must be dedicated to responding to every comment on any of your social media platforms at all times. If you can’t do it, find an SEO marketing company to do reputation management for you. It will not be a cost, it will be an investment in your company’s future.
Your overall marketing and SEO plan does, of course, include social media. Being on several social media platforms helps, not only to drive traffic but to lessen any noise made from a negative comment on one of the sites. The sad part of all of this is that many small companies are not taking their reputation management seriously and their traffic, and bottom lines, are taking severe hits.
In order to overwhelm the negativity, you can set up separate social media accounts for each of your products and services. Aside from your products or services, you may want to start a reputation management strategy for yourself and all of the key players in your company. Many potential clients and customers look up the major players before buying. Sure, LinkedIn is great, but they need positive profiles elsewhere like at Facebook and Google +. Not only is it positive branding for you but will immensely aid your SEO marketing strategy as it is that many more things that can be searched for with your business. People like to do business with people they like. People like to do business with people they trust.
Having a blog at your site is a great way to manage your reputation as well as to boost your SEO efforts. With regard to the comments, especially the negative ones, you must respond right away. Recent marketing research declares that negative online comments are expected to be acted upon by the complainer with an hour of the comment being posted.
You need to approach the negativity with care and with honesty. You must treat the complaint as real because the one who posted it does. Apologize and try and make it right with a coupon or special discount or even a free product sample. Never, ever, get into an argument with a poster. This mistake is made all too frequently by the entrepreneurs with the gigantic egos. When they get into arguments, their reputation suffers immediately even if they are right. If you don’t think you can handle it in a cool manner, then delegate it to your professional or outsourced staff; preferably, one of your sales people.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
