CanuckSEO » Social Online Reputation

Online Reputation Management: 10 Fighting Tips!

Jim — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:26:35 +0000

Okay, what am I talking about here? Basically, what I am going to try to point out, is that if you wish to run a successful online reputation for your SMB and you think that you or your site has been negatively reviewed, then you need to tred carefully, eh!

What I mean by that, is that at first look your online reputation can be managed best by you or a social media/SEO firm that has some experience in the basic techniques that allow you to “make the best” of a bad situation if you find that your online reputation has been sullied. A great definition by the way for your “managing your online reputation” is here from Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing one of Boston’s best marketing firms…and I follow with 10 top spots to go to learn more too!

We’ve all had the kind of spam/scam/hack/blog idiot attack, I’m pretty sure, that attempts to gain traction over top of you and your SMB site, by bad-mouthing either you or your product or your services….and that hurts, I know! Why is the first question you’d ask…did this commenter leave such a scathing, illogical, incorrect comment after one of your own on a forum or message board or another blog article in the comment section? Why on say Yelp or on Google Places have your own reviews been slammed or worse, by someone you can easily see has nothing at heart other than to mock or hurt you or your busiess? Why on Twitter or Facebook do even more idiots make stupid slams against the restaurant or the shoe repair place that you commented positively on….when all can see that such comments are obviously false, obviously biased against that SMB without question and even easier you can see that they’re phony reviews/slams/scams! Why is the question of course, that no 0ne can answer….

Well, maybe they do if for money. Maybe your competitor or that new locksmith has hired someone to go to a review channel and wallpaper it with phony reviews and phony comments that are all false…all to make money. Maybe you mean like what we’ve found here at Yelp for locksmiths and here at a car dealership on Google Maps here locally too!

Or maybe they just have it “in” for that person or business like this poor Dentist as reported over at Mike’s Blog….and as the follow-up points out, there is an answer to this kind of online attack, eh! This kind of an attack is yes, personal and yes, based generally on subjective items that can almost defy interpretation as anything factual and concrete….but nevertheless, can hurt just the same. Sidebar here: I love the answer that the Dentist came up with and you should read that update link just above to see what I mean….

Or, maybe it’s a competitor who is trying to lower your own SMB’s online reputation to gain some traction for their own firm…and yes, I think that this factor is bigger than both of the above two previous examples, eh! Here’s one from the Apple iStore area, another here from TripAdvisor, still another here from Google Places Help area, and finally how they handled same in Wisconsin for locksmiths!

Okay, that’s a lot of reading, I know. And that’s a lot to ponder on and consider if you find that you’ve been unfairly reviewed or attacked online…but it’s a start. Read…learn….and then plan a course of action! Remember, that your online reputation will change and that only you can direct it’s overall course….which is a good thing, eh!

Social Media FollowThrus: 38% say Yes Please!

Jim — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:13:16 +0000

The research folks over at Empathica, have released this week their Q2 Report on Consumer Insights graphic summary, and the numbers are really interesting, eh! The one that grabbed my attention right away, was that 38% or more than 1 in every 3 of us, reads via social media a recommendation or referral from a friend — and then follow thru on same! Did you catch that? If a friend or a relative or anyone really, that you follow online says that such-and-such pizza is great, or this cab company is quick to pick-you-up or the picture quality on this brand of LCD TV is the best, one in three of us will use or try that service!

Social media then it can be said, triumphs over all the marketing and advertising IMHO that’s out there….and when read by a friend or peer or relative, it works!

Now that’s nice to know…and if you’re like me, and you’re shopping for that new LCD TV, seeing which brand gets the nod from friends/peers is an all important way to filter thru the hundreds of brands out there, eh!

I know, you’d maybe like to know just what kind of research this is, and how big is the sample, right? Well, here’s that info directly from Empathica themselves –

“… Results from Empathica’s Consumer Insights, led by Dr. Gary Edwards and Empathica’s Consumer Insights’ team, are published on a quarterly basis. The results are based on outbound Internet surveys with Empathica’s growing Insights Panel, derived from more than 30 million consumer surveys per year. Results have been weighted to reflect latest Census distributions in the U.S. and in Canada, including Region, Gender, Age and Income…”

Thirty million surveys over all of North America and then weighted results from census info…pretty reliable, I’d say and there’s more to think about here too…

For example (and you should click the link above to go and see all the various charts yourownself too, eh!) think about the reach of such behaviour…what I mean is that if right now, 1 in 3 of us follows up on recommendations and referrals by friends/peers….that means that this kind of behaviour will grow. When we want to know what movie to see, where to buy tires or how to find the best deal on that new iPad….we look to those friend/peer recommendations first! We trust our network, and their likes or dislikes, rants or raves are obviously playing a part in what we buy and where we shop and which service firm we use.

And something else to note too…that the % of US/Canadians who thought that customer service is getting worse — here’s the comment from the Empathica Q1 Report on restaurant foodservice for example –

“…Fifty-five percent of U.S. consumers feel their country’s customer service is getting worse, 13% are unsure, and 32% say they haven’t seen service suffering in this economy. Canadians were slightly less negative about their customer service in comparison, with 45% of consumers indicating customer service has gotten worse, compared to 39% who said it hasn’t gotten worse, and 16% reporting that they are unsure…”

And overall, between Q1 and Q2, the numbers of folks who thought Customer Service was worse, rose from 50% in Q1 to 58% in Q2…consider that as well. More and more of us who shop and buy, have found that to be not only true…but growing as we speak. Sad, really…but that’s what will seperate the best firms from the worst…the ones who can prove themselves to their current and prospective customers are the ones who can provide top notch quality service…and follow through on any issues that arise via ORM (online reputation management)…

Do you? If not…then IMHO, your firms days are numbered, eh….the cream always rises…and that’s the simple truth!

Your Online ID: Are you being Honestly You?

Jim — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:17:48 +0000

It appears to us, that after reading a PEW Internet study on Reputation Management and Social Media that there just might be something to be said for who uses their real ID online — and who doesn’t, eh!

This report was based on the findings of a daily tracking survey of Americans use of the internet, but I’m extrapolating here for us Canucks, eh! In fact, from all I’ve read, we Canadians embrace online Social Media MORE than our south of the border yankee friends….we love being online…and that means to me at least, that our own Canuck numbers and Canadian SEO are skewed even more in line with online reputation management….

Here’s a sampling from that report…

Over time, several major trends have indicated growth in activities related to online reputation management:

Online reputation-monitoring via search engines has increased – 57% of adult internet users now use search engines to find information about themselves online, up from 47% in 2006.

Activities tied to maintaining an online identity have grown as people post information on profiles and other virtual spaces – 46% of online adults have created their own profile on a social networking site, up from just 20% in 2006.

Monitoring the digital footprints of others has also become much more common—46% of internet users search online to find information about people from their past, up from 36% in 2006. Likewise, 38%% have sought information about their friends, up from 26% in 2006.

Okay, so I already had figured that more and more users were searching for their own names online on a regular basis, as they began to find that staying “on-top” of what is said about them as well as by them is a good idea, eh! But looking further into this report I found that when it comes to that personal ID search factor, more and more of us are becoming aware as the report cites that 84% of users use search engines to check up on their digital footprints, compared with just 55% of other employed internet users. Among those who search for themselves, 44% do so at least every once in awhile, compared with 20% of other employed internet users…all very interesting and show a trend too, eh!

So, if you think that your own ID online is suspect…..that others might be “seeing” you in different guises than who and what you are….your first task would be to check. Google yourself. Yahoo yourself. Bing yourself…..and follow the resulting links to see just what has been indexed both “in” your favour, and not so “in” too, eh….

Incidentially, while your own mileage may very — but I check monthly on my own name (Jim Rudnick) I’ve noted lately that my results are almost at one million indexed hits….some of which it’s true aren’t me — but many are….and I can’t as yet determine how I could have such a large results number…’cept I’m always online…hey, maybe that’s it eh?