Your Online Reputation?

How’s Your Online Reputation?

Make sure it’s stellar with these 10 tips.

Building a positive online reputation is critical for business, as nearly everyone interested in your company will first do a Google search. Don Sorensen, principal of Big Blue Robot, which helps corporations and executives manage their online reputations, offers these tips:

1. Google your business name and be familiar with the first-page results.

2. Set up Google Alerts for your company and brand names.

3. Secure social profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr and Pinterest.

4. Develop an active public relations strategy and use major press sites like PRWeb or PRNewswire.

5. Assign a member of your team the task of posting news, ideas and short commentary on your social media profiles.

6. Create a YouTube channel and three to five videos about your company and products. Be sure to title the videos first with your company name.

7. Become a thought leader by having your executives write insightful blog posts about your industry.

8. Create an online forum for
customer support.

9. Be actively involved in charitable giving and create a separate website to highlight your work.

10. Refrain from responding directly to negative criticism about your company on websites you don’t control—your rebuttals will only help the negative website move higher in the Google results.