An online reputation is different to an offline reputation. An offline reputation could be equated to having a brand without a logo. An offline reputation defines what a person or company is all about and that person’s/company’s principles or values. An online reputation is a little different because it is more about exposure.
Exposing Yourself On The Internet
Expose your target audience to a certain message and ally it with your company and people will assume your company is all about that message. For example, a company such as the Reputation Squad (http://www.reputationsquad.com/en/) may have your website feature highly on the Google search engine results, but may also ensure that other websites have content on your company that casts your company in a positive light. Also, remember that what people think is irrelevant; it is what your target audience thinks that matters.
Putting Out The Right Message On The Internet
Educating people about your brand will involve a lot of reputation management. It means ensuring people are exposed to the right message and are steered away from the wrong message. Some companies think this means steering people away from your competition, but that is not correct.
It is better to appear next to your competition and look better by comparison than it is to exist in what appears to be a competitor-less vacuum. That way people will not search out your competitors because they do not have to. Consider having web pages, blog posts and social media posts commissioned that compare your company and your competitors whilst casting your company in a positive light.
Steering People Away From The Wrong Message
Reputation management in this case can be as simple as pruning the negative comments from your blog posts and from your social media posts. It can also mean leaving neutral and inconsequential comments and feedbacks so that forums, social media pages, blogs and websites appear more balance whilst they are secretly being curated and managed by you or an online reputation management company. A good reputation manager may even allow negative comments and feedbacks to remain so they may be used as a way of proving how a company has grown and learnt from its mistakes.