In today’s high-paced, mobile world, information spreads faster than ever. While this can have positive effects on businesses and brands, it also has its downsides. Factors such as online presence, reviews from past customers, and social media interactions have now become an integral part of the final purchase decision made by modern consumers. Having a great online reputation can have a variety of benefits for your business, including:

• Being able to repress and resolve negative reviews or comments
• An increase in conversion and retention
• Improved trust and brand loyalty from consumers

Unfortunately, this means that bad reviews or negative publicity online can have disastrous results for businesses. According to SEOhog, negative online information will deter a prospect from calling your business or visiting your website. In fact, it’s estimated that it only takes 1 to 3 negative reviews to prevent the majority of consumers from choosing to purchase a product or service. That’s why it’s so crucial for businesses today to making sure they are properly managing their online reputation. Especially in a competitive industry, such as the independent insurance industry, agencies shouldn’t take any risks when it comes to their online presence and reputation.

Think about it this way: If you aren’t managing your business’ online reputation, then you’re leaving it all up to someone else to do so, such as your competitors or past clients who may be posting about your business online.

In order to make sure your agency is on the right track, here are some online reputation management tips to follow:

• First of all, it’s important to understand what managing your business’ online reputation actually means. Search Engine Journal defines Online Reputation Management (ORM) as “monitoring your brand image online and suppressing false and negative information in order to ensure a positive impression on potential and existing customers”.
• What comes up in search results when you type in your business’ name, your name, or the products you offer? Do the search results have a positive, or a negative connotation? Assessing and monitoring is crucial when it comes to managing your online reputation.
• To help you monitor your online reputation, set up Google Alerts for your agency’s name, so that you get email updates about web results, news, blogs, etc. Social Mention can also help you monitor your presence in social media conversations.
• Use your assessment of your current reputation to help determine any problem areas that your business should work on, and develop a strategy to improve them. Every mention of your company in search results should provide positive, relevant, and valuabl
  e information about your agency.
• It’s not enough to simply monitor what is being said about you. Get involved with conversations about your agency, answer questions that are posted, resolve customer service issues, etc. Better yet, post relevant and engaging content that will help build your brand’s image as a credible authority in the industry and help increase your overall reputation.
• Make an effort to collect customer testimonials, and post them on your website for prospects to see.
• Being proactive is crucial. Don’t wait until you have a problem before caring about your online reputation! Especially if you haven’t put in a lot of effort to improve your search results, bad reviews or press can quickly rise to the top of the search results.
• Do research on current best practices for Search Engine Optimization, Keyword Research, and Inbound Marketing in order to better optimize your website, connect with consumers, and improve your online reputation.

Start managing your online reputation today, and avoid losing potential customers due to any issues with your online presence.