Online Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet once put it rightly when he said that “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. Preserving and managing the online reputation of an individual or a corporate entity is one of the most daunting tasks in an age of the ubiquitous Internet.

Incidentally, cross the magical access figure of one billion documented users in January 2009. If the Internet has provided millions with a way to boost their private and public reputation, it has also made it possible for millions more to damage the online reputation of others. It has therefore become necessary for many individuals and companies to seek professional consulting assistance not only to sustain a positive online reputation usually reflected in the results pages of the major search engines but also to resolve those issues which result in online negativity. Regardless of whether the Internet is used for slander or for adulation, it invariably generates back links which in turn gently propels search engine placement and most importantly helps you to increase website traffic. Here are a few effective ways to preserve a positive momentum on the Internet through strategic reputation management that will maximize website traffic for you and your organization.

A Comment and a Link

Consider developing the practice of searching your name and your company name on the major search engines including the blog search engines like Google Blog Search and Technorati at least once a week. Each time you spot a blog entry or a forum posting which features you or your company, be sure to respond to it with a comment, a forum post plus a link back to your website. The Web 2.0 model, currently in vogue, offers plenty of opportunities for you to go on record with either an affirmation or a rebuttal. Never ignore an online remark about you or your company. If it happens to be a positive recognition of your capabilities and achievements, thank the author for it. If it is a negatively charged ion, respond with dignity and clarity. Remember, you have the right to present your point of view at all times with a link to your website of course!

Become an Opinion Maker and Set the Trend

You can be proactive and help to build the reputation of your company too. This exercise is made possible with little or no expense through press releases, articles, case studies and white papers on your website, business networking profiles, a corporate blog and even a forum for your customers. If content generation, which is key to reputation building, poses time restraints, consider hiring a professional content development firm to generate and post your content on the Internet. Remind them to validate your back links periodically.

Online Reputation Management through e-newsletters

Online newsletters have emerged as an outstanding vehicle to build and preserve a loyal customer base. The articles and features you publish in your newsletter to build your company’s reputation and brand power should remain copyright free so that webmasters can repost this content on their websites complete with a link to your site. Back links which qualify in this category are known to boost qualified and targeted traffic on your website.

Close Encounters on the Internet

If you believe that an article, forum post or blog entry has seriously compromised your online reputation for no fault of yours and your pleas are going unheeded, it is time to call in the professionals. They are trained to work closely with the originators of such potentially damaging content and eventually eliminate it permanently. The best strategy, however, is to remain proactive at all times and assign the responsibility of managing your online reputation to seasoned professionals who can achieve results much sooner than you can.

Thanks for article to More Google Traffic

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