Online Reviews and Reputation Management
Online Reviews and Reputation Management
For most small businesses marketing has changed. Today most searches for a local business will start on mobile devices and not the big yellow book in the past. Consumers now consider reviews, testimonials, case studies and social media to determine if a company is worth doing business with. Because of this, the competition is greater than ever for business and a positive reputation can be a key factor in standing out.
Line Of Credibility
We all have a line of credibility in our mind. When we hear an idea we immediately place either above or below this line. Below the line we discredit them and above the line we are willing to accept it. We also have a line of “super credibility” that we reach when we hear an of something that we are blown away and accept it immediately.
In the world of online and social media marketing, credibility can be lost or gained over time. Some may seem credible to start and lose that over time while other may have less credibility at first then gain credibility over time and even become super credible.
In the example below see if you can decide what order they would go in listing from “dismiss,” “credible,” and “super credible.”
- You get an email promising you “Top Google Ranking for Only $99 a month. The email has grammatical errors and miss-spellings and comes from a generic email service.
- You search for a plumber and you get a local pack of plumbers in a search engine results with one at the top of the list.
- A search for a marketing agency shows a company first in the PPC results with seller ratings (5 gold stars), third in the local pack with 5 gold stars, and in the organic results with review stars showing for the organic listing.
It is easy to see which of these three business listings you would consider credible, super credible or dismiss out of hand. This example illustrates just how credibility is layered over a typical local search.
Credibility: An Ongoing Process
It is important to be aware of how potential customers become aware of your business and how credible your business looks as visitors travel down their path to purchase.
- How professional and credible your website looks.
- How you stack up on local review sites.
- How you project an image of professionalism and credibility on a variety of social media channels.
Online credibility is an iterative process that is never truly finished and not something to simply check off your list. A single new review each month may be plenty for some businesses, while others may need daily reviews. The point is to tailor the maintenance of your credibility to the unique needs of your business.