Have you ever wondered how and why companies assign “reputation scores” to individuals? These scores are based on a complex web of online data that companies use to measure, manage and optimize people’s online profiles.
Learn the basics of understanding and managing your own personal reputation score here.
Monitor Your Online Presence
Consistently monitoring your online presence is key to understanding and managing your reputation score. Pay close attention to where you are mentioned and what content appears in search engine results.
A few ideas include ‘googling’ yourself, joining message boards and other online discussions, and regularly checking social media accounts for your name or business.
Optimizing profiles and pages with current contact information help reduce inaccurate information in search engine results.
Monitoring for potential issues proactively can ensure a low profile and keep your reputation score healthy.
Listen to Your Audience and Respond Quickly
Listening to and engaging with your audience is essential in understanding what’s being said about your brand, product, or service, and staying ahead of any potential issues. When customers have positive experiences, it makes sense to be sure they are sharing them with others.
When customers have negative experiences, however, the best course of action is to address those quickly and effectively in order to minimize any damage to your reputation score.
Responding immediately and seeking solutions shows you care about customer feedback and are willing to make improvements when necessary.
Identify and Remove Unfavorable Content
Unfavorable content on search engines can have a negative effect on your reputation score. Be sure to monitor the content that is being said and remove or deindex any unfavorable results that might appear in the top search results.
You may do this by challenging the information if it’s not true, contacting the source directly and requesting the removal of incorrect information, or disputing inaccurate reviews with review sites and search engines. Using an online privacy monitoring service can help automate the process for you.
Encourage Positive Reviews
Asking for positive reviews from customers, clients, and contacts can help improve your reputation score. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on review sites such as Yelp, Google My Business, and even Facebook.
Try to cultivate relationships with people who have had positive interactions with you and request that they leave a review.
Also, be sure to respond constructively to every customer review – whether positive or negative – as this too will have an impact on your overall online reputation.
Keep a Consistent Message Across Platforms
Creating and maintaining a consistent message across all of your online platforms is key to improving your reputation score. Across sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram, try to keep linked accounts that have the same information about yourself for accuracy.
This can be done through profile photos, contact details, and professionally used language when interacting with others online.
Additionally, ensure you are reflecting the values of your business in each post or comment you make online to further strengthen your reputation score.
