April 1st, 2010 by Mike

Internet reputation management is important to all those who conduct business online. We all get hurt when someone says something about us that we know is unfair or untrue. Online, it’s a thousand times worse, because those doing the damage can hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Everybody cares about their reputation, whether it’s from a personal or a business point of view. But whereas we can challenge a disgruntled customer or lying competitor, it’s not so easy when the attack is online by someone at an undisclosed address. It goes far beyond how others perceive you personally. An online attack can damage brand or corporate perception, and even lose you a contract.

In these days of libel suits and suing for damaged feelings, people have the mistaken image that unethical business practices are over. But they’re not; they’ve just moved underground – to the internet. There, you will find plenty of examples of unethical practice, mis-sold goods – and companies using underhand tactics to “bad mouth” their competitors in an effort to move further up the Google rankings. Those who know their product or services to be above reproach are not beyond being used in this way – in fact, they’re the ones most likely to become victims, because they pose the greatest threat.

Online reputation management should be of interest to all CEOs, whether their business is online or bricks-and-mortar based. People equate a CEO with their company image – to them, they are one and the same. People use the internet to catch up on news, and if they develop negative perceptions about a company leader, it will reflect badly on the brand or organisation. Blogs, social networking pages and social news pages can all be targets – so it pays to look yourself up now and then, and check nothing bad has been said in your absence.

However, online it’s more likely to be the reputation of the company or brand that is called into question. After all, that is what people are usually searching for. If a negative result or low degree of satisfaction is thrown up in a search query related to your site, the consumer will generally go elsewhere. This is true of both brands and companies.

Often, reputations are damaged on blogs or discussion boards, in the form of flaming. A flame war develops when an internet “troll” denigrates a person or a product online, in order to generate a response. Often, they have no knowledge or interest in the product they are lashing. It’s the virtual equivalent of starting a punch-up in a pub with a complete stranger. Such flaming was very damaging to PayPal a while back – so don’t underestimate the damage it could do to your own trade.

Reputation management can be undertaken individually. However, there are a growing number of companies who will undertake the task on your behalf. They use search engine reputation management and media analysis tools to scan for possible problems. If your company has taken a sudden, unexplained dip in sales, it’s well worth considering.

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