Many brands struggle to gain recognition in the SERPs and throughout social media, but achieving visibility is not the only important element of Internet marketing.  A company's reputation is crucial and managing that reputation is necessary in order to maintain a positive image both on and offline.

Discovering Reputation Concerns
Throughout both search results and social media, reputation concerns can often be easily identifiable.  Features such as suggestive search have been advantageous to business owners and online marketers in discovering potential brand reputation issues.  Keywords such as "scam", "ripoff", "complaints" and other similar terms may accompany a brand or individual's name in suggested searches and these results should be identified and subsequently managed to avoid gaining a negative profile online.

Developing a Strategy
Customer complaints and negative reviews can greatly impact a company's image and should be carefully monitored in order to design an effective reputation management campaign.  While every strategy should be customized and tailored to fit the brand, there are certain techniques that should always be utilized.  Encouraging satisfied customers to add positive reviews and feedback to social networks and other authoritative sites is a great way to fortify a strong reputation or rebuild a damaged one.

Long-Term Maintenance
Once a successful reputation management strategy is designed, it is important to maintain it.  To ensure a positive brand image remains in place online, long-term maintenance is required.  Brand and keyword research are part of the ongoing efforts involved and being proactive is also useful in preventing future reputation issues.

The importance of a strong online reputation is virtually immeasurable and is a crucial component of both Internet marketing and brand management.

For more on reputation management, see Todd Bailey's latest video on our YouTube Channel.