Your online reputation is more important than ever!

One negative Reddit thread can cost you numerous customers and millions of Dollars.

Yet most people approach their online reputation wrong.

They usually just react frantically after they get a bad rep!

Huge mistake! You have to actively build and manage your online reputation.

This is especially important in the AI era! Why?

Chatbots just summarize opinions about you from all over the Web.

So here are three ways to manage online reputation properly.

What is online reputation management (ORM)?

Let’s take a deep breath first though.

Don’t panic! There are ways to get that reputation of yours fixed. How?

There is a whole business around it. It’s called online reputation management (ORM).

It’s not the art of making you look good even when you’re not.

It’s about fixing your appearance from the ground up so that people see that you deserve your reputation once they ask about you.

So it’s not about burying bad press or trying sweep criticism under the rug.

It’s about facing the issues, fixing them, and telling the public about it.

It’s a type of positive branding that does not wait until something happens. It’s spreading the word about you before the shitstorm.

Ideally you prevent it from happening in the first place.

The short history of online reputation management

When online reputation management appeared it was a relatively late addition to search engine optimization (SEO).

Also it was part of a larger marketing trend.

The hype has subsided over the years yet so called ORM or online reputation management is the daily bread of many companies.

Some social media and search specialists really focus on it ever since.

Many even started to sell reputation management services as their main offer.

I practice it for myself every day by helping people on the Web in various ways.

The different types of ORM or online reputation management

The overall idea behind ORM hasn’t changed much over the years.

Yet I noticed a stratification of the online reputation management types and approaches to it.

Thus I identified and categorized the 3 types of online reputation management I perceive:

1. Search engine optimization approach
In one sentence: “We have to rule the top 20 of Google for our name”.

2. Social media management approach
In one sentence: “We have to monitor all instances where our company is mentioned and react to them”.

3. The combined social SEO approach
In one sentence: “We will proactively build a reputation for ourselves by engaging in online communications”.

I use all three to some extent for myself and most renowned SEO experts do too it seems to me.

It’s a different thing for clients and companies though.

When online reputation management goes wrong and how to fix it

Sadly I often witness online reputation management gone wrong. Some of the worst practices are:

• Spamming social sites and blogs
• Setting up of fake blogs or social profiles
• Flooding the Web with disinformation
• Orwell like monitoring of the Web
• PR people denying any wrongdoing
• Companies spreading unsubstantiated claims
• Lawyers intimidating bloggers

None of these really work, in contrast, they aggravate the reputation problem in most cases. There are good examples though.

• Contacting bloggers and/or commenting on their blogs in a responsive manner
• Setting up and nurturing your own communities
• Fixing actual problems and being outspoken about it

These examples work and are appreciated by the public.

Yet in the SEO 2 or social SEO sense they are still not enough to fix your online reputation problems.

Building trust and credibility instead of fire-fighting

It’s not enough to manage an existing reputation.

It does not work when it is independently being created by others.

You have to tell the world about you instead of waiting for others to damage your reputation.

Disgruntled users are often the most outspoken. The scream the loudest.

In SEO 2 we focus on long term reputation building.

We react but we also act before issues appear.

We engage in online practices that shed a positive light on us.

We build trust and establish credibility.

Some commonly applied ORM techniques are:

• Socializing with experts in an industry
• Altruistic participation in online communities
• Non profit projects that aren’t directly self-promotional

This is only a very short introduction. I think it enough to get started with reputation management online though.

You ideally practice proactive reputation building from the start!

Low intensity ORM becomes mere fire-fighting!

It’s usually militating the damage after disgruntled customers have vented their anger.

In the worst case the press has reported about you in a negative light. You can shed light on your true achievements upfront.

Do you need help with that?

Contact me. Some of my services are related. I even specialize on Reddit.