How reputation management forms the first line defense of your company

Building up your company's reputation might have taken many years but a few negative consumer generated media buzz can damage it very badly. With the online shopping options getting more popular, customers browse through online posts and forums to find out the good and the not so good companies and products. Posts that are placed on blogs, forums, and social media sites reach large audiences in no time. Viral in action these negative blogs or comments can do a substantial damage to the brand repute and the painfully built up reputation. In many cases these could be scandalous posts made by an unhappy customer or your ex business partner to settle scores with you.

Statistics show that around 80 percent of adults are more likely to buy a product based on online comments or recommendation and an overwhelming majority of customers trust the reviews and feedbacks of other users. 87% of people believe that the reputation of the company plays a decisive role while availing services or buying products. Should the customers find negative content while searching, it could have a disastrous effect no matter whether the complaint is genuine or not . Considering the ease of posting such defamatory content and the viral nature of its propagation it has become critical for companies of all sizes to implement reputation management tactics protect their brands.

Most of the customers seldom go beyond the first two pages of the search engines while searching for information/ products or services and if bad report come popping up in these pages chances are that the customers will never bother to come back t you again. It is estimated that On RipOff Report there are more than 300,000 complaints filed and these get a preference on search engines and enjoy priority listing, which makes it all the more important for companies to resort to fool proof reputation management techniques to ensure that their brand is not vandalized.

Malicious attacks on reputation – a disaster waiting to happen

All you need is a business entity online and what follows however big or small regardless of whatever area you are planning to work in is that as soon as you create a buzz online you are prime target for attacks on your reputation. Before you know it your name or your business name being followed by words like “scam” , “rip-off” or “sucks”.

Even reputation management companies are subjected to such attacks and most often from malicious elements who scour the Internet in search of up-coming companies. Quite like the hacker who scuttles a whole website the reputation attackers hit where it hurts the most. Usually on domain names the very words that prospective clients and customers use to read up about you.

These attacks are purposeful and done to hurt you and their effects can be damaging till Internet users are able to identify from reviews and comments whether the horrible words posted are malicious or not. After reading up so much on reputation management let's hope in the future people will stop depending on comments and forum remarks before giving your company their business.

However, this kind of discerning knowledge is probably years away but with companies and celebrities all investing companies like reputationmangementfor.com for effective reputation management the word is indeed getting around and soon people are going to be sceptical of review sites and forums.