Reasons Why Repairing Damaged Reputation Is Critical For Any Business

Online reputation plays an essential role in the growth of any business. No matter the size of the company, its reputation can determine whether it will succeed or fail. A negative review can affect customers’ loyalty leading to severe damage. This is why brands must maintain a positive image. Having an excellent reputation will not only help retain current customers, but it can also attract prospects.

Fortunately, there are ways businesses can repair a damaged reputation. Why should businesses strive to repair their damaged online reputation? Well, keep on reading to learn more because this article gives you incredible reasons why businesses should repair their damaged online reputation as well as ways of what online reputation repair means.

Reasons why businesses need to repair their damaged online reputation

Online reputation repair is vital for the following reasons.

1. To build trust and credibility

One of the most significant reasons why businesses need to repair their damaged online reputation is to retain their customers. Of course, businesses need customers in order to grow; a business without customers is bound to fail. Online reputation is a modern word-of-mouth.  So it means it can make a business succeed or fail.

When a customer buys a product from a particular store, they are more likely to discuss their experiences with potential customers [friends and family]. And with the power of the internet, potential customers’ buying decisions can be affected by online reviews, whether positive or negative. This is why businesses need to have more positive reviews. The more positive reviews your brand has, the better.

To achieve this, they need to have an online reputation management strategy. Building credibility can be quite challenging. However, using a tool that integrates customer reviews can help them understand how their customers perceive their brand. With those reviews, positive or negative, they can make improvements where necessary.

2. To improve business

More than 75% of consumers evaluate how a brand values them through their customer service. This should be one of the reasons why companies need to have an effective reputation management strategy. It can help them improve their customer service.

Brands can establish a strong relationship with their customers in many ways. They need to understand their customers’ needs, listen to them, pick their suggestions, and collect their feedback and opinions. With this information, businesses can improve their products and services to match their customers’ tastes and preferences. In the end, they shall have built a relationship with their customers.

Additionally, they can manage their reputation by addressing unsatisfied customers’ concerns to prove that they care about them and are willing to address their concerns.

3. To improve employee loyalty

For any business to succeed, it must have professional and loyal employees. Businesses need to know how they are perceived by the public since how they are perceived can influence customers’ buying decisions and new employees’ hiring. Of course, all employees want to work in or be associated with a company with an excellent reputation.

Therefore, companies must ensure that their employees are loyal and comfortable with them. They can achieve this by collecting their reviews and addressing their complaints. Employees play a crucial role in the growth of any business that’s why their loyalty is vital.

How to repair a damaged online reputation

As mentioned above, a bad online reputation can affect your business significantly. Sometimes, even if you think your business is doing well, you can still get one or two bad reviews- a fact that you should accept. But don’t let these two negative reviews damage your brand. You can still work on your damaged reputation. Here is how you can repair your damaged online reputation.

1. Identify the root cause of the bad reputation

The first step to repairing your online reputation is to identify the source of your problem. You need to find out what damaged your reputation. Is it a former employee who left a bad review on your company’s site? Is it a negative comment from the CEO? Or did your competitor mention your brand’s name negatively?

Identifying the root cause of the problem will allow you to tackle it with a clear head and focus on building a positive reputation.

2. Repair negative content from the source

Usually, Google doesn’t remove content from the search results. But this does not mean there is nothing you can do about it; you can still attempt to address the problem right at the source. If it is a blogger who published a bad story about your business, you can try and reach out to the blogger and ask them to delete or update the content.

If you decide to reach out to the publisher, remember to:

• Be polite
• Document as much of the request in writing as you can
• If the content gets removed, don’t forget to remove it from Google’s index
• Do not threaten legal action because these can worsen the situation

3. Remove negative results from Google

Once you have removed the content or successfully corrected it, you can submit a content removal request to Google. But remember that this work only for content that no longer exists. If you haven’t succeeded in removing online content from the source or on the internet, you can push those negative results to the bottom of the SERPs.

4. Apologize, if necessary

To err is to be human. Sometimes, a brand can make a mistake without realizing it. What happens in such an occurrence? Well, the brand needs to own up. Owning up a mistake can go a long way in repairing a damaged online reputation. When a brand owns up and apologizes to its customers, it can help increase their trust. It shows that the brand values them.

When apologizing, you can issue a formal apology letter on your social media platforms and website. Although you may try to put a positive twist on your apology letter, don’t sugarcoat what transpired. In your apology letter, be as genuine as possible. Be brief and factual on what really happened and how you will make things right. Instead of being defensive, explain to your customers why the error occurred and how you will prevent it from happening in the future.

5. Increase your online presence with positive content

The best strategy to restore a bad reputation is to strengthen your online presence. Optimize your content and continue to post unique, fresh content that is appealing to your customers. You can achieve this by:

• Maintaining a strong social media presence
• Build backlinks to promote your brand visibility
• Prepare timely and press releases that represent your brand’s voice and mission.