Today, most businesses struggle with negative reviews, bad feedbacks and other types of defamatory statements posted by customers on social sites. This sort of criticism not only affects a business’s image, but also its revenue. Therefore, it is important for online businesses to take serious steps to curb such type of criticism. Facts:

• 65% of global respondents trust online search engines while conducting research on a business.
• Over 90% of all online experiences originate from a search engine.
• 92% of North American consumers read online reviews to learn about a business.

If your brand is struggling with negative reviews, consider the following strategies. Contact the source If you find negative reviews, comments or feedbacks on a site, immediately contact the owner of that site for their removal. If possible, ask them to remove the entire comment/article along with the links of your website. This will save your website and improve its rankings as well. Tips:

• According to a Search Engine Watch report, a Wikipedia page is the top result of half of all searches conducted, so a reputation management strategy should always have a Wikipedia plan woven within it.
• Closely monitor industry blogs, social networks and review sites.
• Indentify the best tools, techniques and platforms to communicate with users.
• Improve your communication.
• Use videos to enhance your online reputation. (Syndacast predicts that video will account for 74% of all online traffic in 2017).
• Always try to cultivate a positive reputation by providing fast service.

Improve your social media presence According to Pew research, 65% of adults use social media sites. If you want to defy the effect of negative comments, make sure your business has effective social media profiles on many social sites. It must be noted that people pay close attention to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles of a business. This will push defamatory comments and improve your website’s rankings. Tips:

• Create your business profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Youtube, Pinterest, and Instagram.
• 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute their content.
• Users spend about 21 minutes per day on Facebook.
• 91% of retail brands use two or more social media channels.
• Build relationships with users.
• Optimise your social media profiles for better results.

Publish high-quality content Your content can distinguish your business and improve its credibility in long term. This will also help your website to outrank negative comments or articles posted by dissatisfied or fake people. Tips:

• Try to provide in-depth and analytical industry related articles, which can show your industry expertise.
• Use SEO and SEM.
• Use articles, blog posts, videos, tweets, images, and press releases.
• For the maximum benefits, publish your analytical articles on the top publishing platforms.
• Publish guest posts for good results. (Target top news websites and industry blogs)
• Try to request genuine positive reviews from satisfied customers.

Use Yelp A Yelp business account allows online businesses to connect with their customers. It is an opportunity for local business owners to establish their brand in a professional manner. Statistics: 

• About 23 million unique visitors visited Yelp via the Yelp app and 69 million via mobile web in Q2 2016.
• You can access Yelp via iPhone, Android and many more.

Tips:

• Create an impressive business profile.
• Try to build trust and respect for your online identity.
• Complete your business’s profile to provide complete information to users.

Facts:

• Online reputation management is a time consuming task.
• Most business owners neglect negative reviews.
• According to a research, 86% of people hesitate to buy from a brand that has negative reviews. (Source: Business2Community)

Conclusion So, invest your time in online reputation management (ORM) to protect your brand.