Identify Actions needed. The first thing to remember, regardless of the internet marketing steps you take, is to always take a professional approach. Address any legitimate complaints that are raised. If however, you find comments that are untrue and unproven, there are other actions that you can take. Email or write to the owner of the website where the comment is placed, detailing the situation and requesting that they remove or amend the comment.
There are laws that govern online defamation but if you can get a comment removed, this is always the best route. Legal actions can be seen as a negative as people will mention free speech etc, having the comment removed quietly is always the best solution.
Manage Your Domains Some disgruntled customers and even former employees have been known to purchase similar domains to your own (like the .com when you own the .eu) and post harmful information or reviews there. Other possible domains may be yourdomainHELL.com or yourdomainBADNEWS.com. These should show up when searching for your company name. If you can buy as many domains for your businesses as you can. Even if you don’t use them they wont be able to be use against you. Also many popular websites have different websites using a miss spelling of the popular sites name. Make sure you don’t have any of these which would reflect negatively on your website. E.g. a copy of your site with negative content.
Create a Positive Reputation Even businesses that operate purely offline could find they are the subjects of poor online press. Create a simple website and become an active member of the community around it. This can help build you a reputation as being an industry expert or authority and it can ensure that any negative reviews posted in the future take a back seat to the good reviews.
Ongoing Online Reputation Management If you can run your business without making enemies or mistakes then it is highly unlikely that you will ever be on the receiving end of bad reviews. However, mistakes and accidents happen, and situations develop from even the most unlikely things. Try to fix any disagreements before they get out of hand. So if you have a problem that means you can’t meet your expectations as promised then tell your clients, potential customers, and your employees. Learn more about how social media marketing can help establish or improve your company’s online reputation.
