Online Reputation Management: A Beginner’s Guide

Has idiosyncratic written thing astir your concern online that’s misleading, inaccurate, oregon conscionable downright nasty?

If you’re disquieted this could interaction your business, you’ll request to commencement online estimation absorption (ORM). But wherever should you commencement with ORM? And what the heck is it?

In this beginner’s guide, I’ll explicate what online estimation absorption is, wherefore it’s important, and however you tin negociate your business’s estimation efficaciously online.

Online estimation absorption is the process of monitoring, maintaining, and positively influencing the cognition of your concern crossed the Internet utilizing digital selling tactics.

Although ORM whitethorn look akin to digital PR, it focuses much connected responding to customers’ reviews and correcting misleading accusation that could negatively interaction your business’s reputation.

Online estimation absorption shows customers their opinions substance and encourages them to interaction you straight if they person an issue.

ORM usually focuses connected Google, websites, and societal media—because that’s wherever radical permission reviews. But, arsenic we tin spot below, the emergence of LLMs adds further complexity into the mix.

If we zoom in, it’s wide that managing your online estimation is really adjacent much nuanced than this.

You’ve astir apt noticed that astir everything feeds backmost into Google. Google uses SERP features to item important contented from third-party sites, specified arsenic societal media, wrong its hunt results.

So if there’s a atrocious reappraisal astir your institution connected immoderate of these platforms, it could beryllium pulled into Google’s hunt results.

ORM is important because, if done right, it tin assistance you triumph backmost imaginable customers and support your business’s income and revenue.

It’s besides important because:

• Certain online places clasp a disproportionate influence
• It’s ne'er been easier oregon faster to enactment a reappraisal online
• Responding to customers’ feedback builds spot and credibility with your brand

Let’s research these concepts further.

Certain online places clasp a disproportionate influence

When radical deliberation of online reviews, they deliberation of Google reviews first. There’s a crushed for this—Google has made it ridiculously casual to permission a reappraisal for immoderate business, making them an important absorption for ORM.

Often, each you person to bash is hunt for the marque and click the “write a review” button—right from the hunt results.

This prima standing besides shows connected Google maps. These ratings tin marque oregon interruption a business.

I held a speedy poll connected LinkedIn to corroborate whether this was true, and this was confirmed:

Maintaining a bully prima standing is captious for customer-facing businesses similar restaurants oregon hotels and anyone with a tiny business.

For example, idiosyncratic looking for a edifice tin filter Google Maps results to amusement lone businesses with a circumstantial rating.

Put yourself successful the shoes of your customers who announcement a unspeakable review—this mightiness beryllium the travel they spell through:

TLDR: If your concern doesn’t person a bully prima standing connected Google, you’ll miss retired connected imaginable income owed to your online reputation.

In summation to Google reviews, you whitethorn person noticed that Reddit has precocious started to look much often successful Google searches. This is owed to Google adding the caller discussions and forums hunt diagnostic to the hunt results.

Here’s what it looks like:

Example of “diverse idiosyncratic experiences” from the Discussions and forums SERP feature

This diagnostic highlights forum results from sites similar Reddit and applicable forums successful the hunt results wherever “diverse idiosyncratic experiences” are considered beneficial.

The contented for ORM is that these idiosyncratic experiences could airs a reputational menace to your business, arsenic they tin beryllium highlighted successful the hunt results, arsenic successful this example, from a UK broadband provider.

A speedy cheque of Ahrefs’ Site Explorer shows that Reddit URLs with the connection “review” that fertile fig 1 successful Google person skyrocketed since past year. This means Reddit is influencing reappraisal keywords much than ever before.

The emergence and emergence of Reddit reappraisal integrated postulation via Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

This means you can’t spend to disregard platforms similar Reddit anymore for online estimation management. At the precise least, you’ll request to show and respond to conversations there.

It’s ne'er been easier oregon faster to enactment a reappraisal online

As we’ve already seen, creating a antagonistic reappraisal is present easier and quicker than ever before. Anyone tin permission a atrocious reappraisal successful minutes by Googling a brand’s sanction and past selecting 1 of the following:

• Google section reviews
• 3rd enactment reappraisal sites e.g., Trustpilot
• UGC sites similar Reddit, Quora
• And many more!

Here’s an illustration of a feline who went to a restaurant, didn’t similar the food, wrote a antagonistic Google review, and past made a viral TikTok video.

After helium placed the review, the edifice proprietor responded by sending him a gathering invitation for a combat successful the car parkland astatine 3 a.m.

In this example, the restaurant’s sanction wasn’t mentioned. Still, the information that it got 2.1 cardinal likes shows the reputational harm this benignant of contented can do.

Responding to customer’s feedback builds spot and credibility with your brand

Leaving antagonistic reviews without responses tin suggest that your concern doesn’t attraction astir its customers, truthful it’s truly important for ORM to respond erstwhile there’s a antagonistic comment.

Here’s an illustration of wherever I complained astir work astatine a edifice and past near a antagonistic review.

What made my reappraisal acquisition antithetic was that the concern contacted maine with a remark to sermon further and followed up with an email.

Returning to their reviews connected Google now, I tin spot that this concern has made a decent effort to respond to astir each remark connected Google reviews—good and bad.

Because they replied, I would see going backmost there, but if they didn’t, I astir apt would person written them disconnected completely.

In different words, responding to customers shows a committedness to lawsuit restitution and tin assistance bounds harm if a antagonistic incidental occurs. It tin besides assistance pull caller customers and clasp existing ones.

It takes 20 years to physique a estimation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you deliberation astir that, you’ll bash things differently.

Warren Buffett

If you privation to amended your online reputation, commencement by doing these 5 things:

• Check the 1st leafage connected Google for reputational threats.
• Find fashionable branded searches… and make contented to code those searches.
• Ask for feedback from your customers… and instrumentality action.
• Promote just reviews connected large authorization sites.
• Set up marque alerts for Reddit and websites.

1. Check the 1st leafage connected Google for reputational threats

ORM often starts with a speedy hunt connected Google to spot however your marque is represented successful the hunt results.

For a marque search, you should ain each the first-page results, oregon they should astatine slightest represent your marque positively.

Here’s an illustration of a UK broadband supplier that doesn’t ain each of the apical 10 results:

Data from SERP overview successful Keywords Explorer.

These highlighted results could airs a reputational hazard to this company.

If we click connected the Trustpilot review, we tin spot that 92% of users person fixed this institution a 1-star rating—impressively bad.

Although galore companies won’t person this level of antagonistic sentiment against their brand, it’s important for online estimation absorption to beryllium alert of the presumption of the archetypal leafage of Google for your brand.

This volition past bring up each the keywords wherever the domain you entered ranks successful the apical 10—just from this speedy search, a fewer well-known brands are included successful this list.

So far, we’ve easy identified immoderate evident marque weaknesses, but to spell further, we request to bash a SERP SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) investigation connected different brand-related keywords.

Although this whitethorn look similar a boring concern schoolhouse 101 exercise, it’s the fastest mode to find what to absorption connected from a reputational standpoint.

Here’s however I’d bash this utilizing Keywords Explorer’s SERP Overview.

1. Search for “your marque + review”
2. Label each hunt effect arsenic a strength, weakness, opportunity, oregon threat

Once you’ve done this for your marque and marque + review(s), you’ll cognize the grade of hazard for these keywords.

2. Find fashionable branded hunt terms…then make contented to code those searches

Some Google SERPs whitethorn person results that could power your marque communicative successful the wrong way.

Here’s an illustration of however we addressed this astatine Ahrefs for the keyword “ahrefs affiliate program.”

Rather than leaving a question similar “Does Ahrefs person an affiliate program?” unanswered oregon letting third-party sites reply it, Ahrefs’ CMO, Tim Soulo, decided to instrumentality matters into his ain hands and constitute a blog station astir the Ahrefs affiliate program to reply the question erstwhile and for all.

The effect was that the caller nonfiction ranked fig 1 for this query successful the abstraction of a year. Tim besides followed it up with a LinkedIn station connected Ahrefs’ affiliate program, which besides started ranking.

Using Keywords Explorer’s SERP Overview to comparison the Google SERP twelvemonth over year.

Within a year, each of the rival results were displaced, and present Ahrefs owns astir of the SERP for this keyword (shown successful yellow).

In short, the instrumentality present is to:

• Identify a branded keyword that poses a imaginable reputational risk (or that you privation to power the SERP for)
• Fill the spread with your content – As Tim did by creating a blog astir the Ahrefs affiliate program
• Back it up with 3rd enactment authorization sites oregon related onsite content – As Tim did with the LinkedIn station and our authors did with the supplementary blog content

3. Ask customers however to amended your products and services

Asking for lawsuit feedback is 1 of the astir important things you tin bash to recognize however to amended your concern and proactively negociate your online reputation

But you’d beryllium amazed however fewer companies bash this regularly. At Ahrefs, we get feedback successful 3 antithetic ways:

• Canny.io, our merchandise feedback platform
• UGC platforms similar Reddit
• From our lawsuit enactment platform

Our Ahrefs canny.io committee allows customers to stock diagnostic suggestions to assistance amended our product.

This is important due to the fact that it helps our customers beryllium portion of the travel and put successful the product. On the platform, customers tin upvote their favourite diagnostic requests oregon adhd their ain suggestions.

Another mode Ahrefs gets feedback is done UGC platforms similar Reddit. Impressively, our CMO, Tim Soulo, has asked Reddit for feedback for implicit eight years.

It’s nary concealed that sometimes feedback tin beryllium challenging to read, but it’s a indispensable process for improving your service.

We besides cod feedback from our lawsuit enactment squad and show lawsuit sentiment done Intercom.

We besides person a feedback transmission connected Slack that is dedicated to highlighting lawsuit feedback—good and bad.

4. Promote just reviews connected large authorization sites

Sometimes, large authorization sites volition constitute thing astir your marque that’s unbalanced, outdated, oregon inaccurate. This tin perchance mislead customers oregon harm your online reputation.

If this happens, you person a fewer options available:

• Contact the writer and inquire them to close the information – usually the champion option
• Build links to different much affirmative results successful the SERP to effort to displace that effect – usage arsenic a past resort

Here’s an illustration from Forbes for an Ahrefs reappraisal page.

One disapproval from the reappraisal was that Ahrefs doesn’t person a escaped trial. They haven’t mentioned Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, which gives website owners escaped constricted entree to Site Explorer and Site Audit.

Another disapproval was that Ahrefs “wasn’t competitively priced.” Since the reappraisal was written, we person introduced a caller starter program that is lone $29 per month—so it seems unfair to accidental this now. This nonfiction is simply a bully people for our ain ORM efforts.

You should show these things connected large authorization sites that notation your brand. Ensure you’ve acceptable up your marque alerts to support way of these reviews.

5. Set up marque alerts for Reddit and websites

We’ve already established that Reddit and third-party websites are indispensable places to show for ORM. So, however tin you show them?

I usage a instrumentality called Feedly to show important Reddit threads and Google News related to Ahrefs.

This is 1 of the champion ways to show this benignant of information. You tin adjacent way newsletter mentions done the platform.

If you privation to way your brand’s web mentions, my favourite instrumentality is Ahrefs’ Alerts. This instrumentality allows you to way conversations connected third-party websites.

Here’s however to acceptable this up successful Ahrefs Alerts:

• Go to Ahrefs Alerts > Mentions > + Add Alert
• Create an alert for your institution sanction (e.g., “ahrefs.”)
• Hit Add

To forestall Ahrefs from sending alerts for mentions connected your ain domain, adhd your website arsenic an excluded domain. I besides urge adding sites similar youtube.com and different sites you similar not to show as well.

How to negociate your online estimation connected societal media

Social media absorption management is faster-paced than managing your estimation connected Google.

As such, you need to:

• Monitor your astir important societal media channels successful realtime
• Set up marque notation alerts
• Endorse immoderate praise you get to power the marque communicative positively
• Be humble and larn from lawsuit feedback

Here’s however we attack this astatine Ahrefs.

Monitoring your astir important societal media channels successful real-time

At Ahrefs, we show our Twitter—sorry, our “X”—feed successful Slack, truthful the full squad knows however our marque is being discussed connected that platform.

Set up marque alerts for societal media

In summation to real-time monitoring, you tin acceptable up marque alerts to notify you of the astir important mentions of your brand.

At Ahrefs, we usage Brand24 to show our societal media presence. It’s a large mode to way captious mentions of your brand, analyse sentiment, and make reports.

When you get praise connected societal media — endorse (and amplify it)

Along with monitoring for imaginable societal media threats, you indispensable endorse and amplify your marque erstwhile you get affirmative feedback from others.

At Ahrefs, we bash this connected a institution and idiosyncratic level for different squad members. It’s casual to bash this connected LinkedIn. Rather than going for a bland “Like,” effort different much spicy option.

Here’s an illustration of the Ahrefs relationship doing this—it stands retired much more.

Here’s different illustration wherever my workfellow Shermin Lim shared that she loved a station from a Ahrefs’ workshop attendee sharing affirmative feedback.

Finally, here’s an illustration of erstwhile SEO superstar Aleyda Solis mentioned my nonfiction connected SEO challenges successful her newsletter.

And Ryan Law was the archetypal to emotion my remark connected the post—thanks, boss!

All this enactment helps to guarantee that you are putting your champion ft guardant online.

Final thoughts

If you’re not careful, online reputational threats tin devour distant astatine your sales, meaning you could beryllium successful for a nasty astonishment further down the line.

However, if you’re diligent astir online estimation absorption and monitor, perceive to, and respond to lawsuit feedback, you tin debar this concern entirely.

Tools similar Keywords Explorer’s SERP overview tin assistance dissect Google’s SERPs and place reputational threats for your brand. Got questions? Ping maine on X.