In a recent report by Clutch, a B2B research and reviews firm, WebiMax CEO Ken Wisnefski was featured as an expert source in public relations and online reputation management.

How businesses approach monitoring their online reputation has changed over the last decade.

Before, businesses would only pay attention to their online reputation if something negative happened that directly involved their brand.

Now, however, businesses need to pay more attention to their online reputation if they want to succeed and stand out from their competitors.

According to the 2019 report, 88% of small businesses monitor their online reputation at least quarterly.

As CEO of one of the leading online reputation management agencies, Wisnefski discussed how small businesses should approach monitoring their online reputation and why online reputation management should be part of their PR strategy.

Online Reviews Have the Power to Make or Break Your Business

Reviews are a huge component of a small business’s online reputation.

If a customer has a negative experience with a small business and they write a review about that experience, potential customers may see that and decide to choose a competitor.

“If the overwhelming majority of reviews about a business are negative, it will impact people’s decision to go there,” Wisnefski said.

Small businesses can monitor their online reputation by checking what customers say about their brand on third-party review sites.

Small Businesses Can Proactively Monitor Their Online Reputation on a Budget

Budget, time, and resource limitations may make it difficult for small businesses to proactively track their online reputation.

“Some small businesses may not have the ability to monitor their reputation as frequently as they’d like,” Wisnefski said.

Social media, for example, is a low-cost, high-impact way brands can directly monitor mentions about their brand online.

Through social media and social listening, businesses can see what customers really think about their brand in an unfiltered way.

“The benefit of social media is real time viewpoints,” Wisnefski said. “It allows you to understand people’s feelings about your business. However, one of the challenges is that people are more prone to complain than they are to take the time to go back and compliment good service.”

Using a Combination of Human and Digital Resources Can Make Monitoring Your Online Reputation Easier

According to Clutch’s report, most small businesses either use only human resources to monitor their online reputation (44%) or a combination of human and digital resources (30%).

Small businesses, even those on a budget, can use a variety of digital tools and platforms that are easy and simple to use, including:

• Google Alerts
• Third-party review sites
• Social listening tools, such as Hootsuite

These tools are most useful as supplements to those who are responsible for reputation monitoring, whether in-house employees or you online reputation management agency.

“Digital tools provide the information that needs to be interpreted, but people, whether an agency like ours or someone in-house, become responsible for managing the information these tools collect,” Wisnefski said.

Although digital tools are great for consolidating information, small businesses still need people to analyze the information these tools collect.

Small businesses without the in-house resources to properly manage their online reputation may want to consider hiring a reputation management agency to help them properly manage their resources.

Online Reputation Monitoring Is a Necessary Element of a Business’s PR Strategy

Online reputation management is a must for businesses looking to protect and build their brand image.

While public relations is an industry that traditionally focuses on the positive, knowing how to properly address the negative is paramount to businesses’ success.