Your business is only as good as its reputation

Protect and improve yours with the Axia PR reputation management e-book

For everything you do in business, reputation matters. Sometimes it precedes you, other times it follows you – but it’s always there. It’s up to you to give it form and control its direction. You can learn to do this with Axia PR’s Online Reputation Management e-book.

All it takes is one careless comment on social media or a few negative reviews to damage the good reputation it took you years to build. However, by learning to manage your online reputation, these incidents don’t have to spell disaster for your company.

What you will learn from this e-book

How to design a reputation management campaign that gets results
How to use social media to control and enhance your online reputation
How to combat negative information by focusing on the positive aspects of your business
How you can use both your owned and earned media to improve search engine results
How to handle a crisis – such as a social media disaster – and quickly shift the conversation back to your company’s good deeds
What to look for in a reputation management PR firm

What you should know about reputation management

Today’s consumers travel through a majority of the sales cycle without ever consulting a salesperson. A majority of the awareness and attraction stages are completed through online research, product reviews and general searches. What they find online about your company makes up your reputation and could be the reason why they choose your competitor’s product instead.

A disgruntled customer, business rival or former employee can wreak havoc on your online reputation with just a few keystrokes. The complaints don’t even have to be true for them to find their way to the top of a search list. The criticism could be from an old issue that has since been resolved, but can appear in Google hits many years later.

Your personal life can also have an effect on your business reputation. For instance, a former spouse, your disgruntled children or anyone who feels aggrieved by you in any way can decide to trash you and your company online.

Worse than having negative information about you online is for consumers to find no information at all. You must work to ensure that customers can locate you with the right keywords and that what they find shows your company in the best possible light.

You also want to be sure that you appear online the way you should. For example, perhaps you once had a business where you sold insurance but your current business is selling healthcare supplies. You want customers to locate your present company, not the prior one.

Research has shown that more than 90 percent of consumers never venture past the first page of Google search results. If the first few hits about your company are negative, they will simply move on to your competitors.

Trust Axia PR for your reputation management needs

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Often, it costs less to prevent an issue than it does to fix it.

Whether you’re trying to protect a good reputation or needing to repair one that’s already been damaged, Axia PR can help. Don’t let a few negative comments block your continued path to profitability. Download our Online Reputation Management e-book or contact us today to get started on making your reputation work for you.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter @axiapr.