PR or personal branding was a concept unknown to most people. It was restricted to celebrities and big businesses. Nowadays, you can’t ignore your online search results as they can cost you a job or lifestyle. Executives are the ones who need a solid reputation management strategy and without a good online appearance, they find themselves in a difficult spot when socializing. 

Everything you do online today is going to have an impact on your life. It is extremely important to be very cautious when updating your social media profiles or posting a picture of yourself at a private party. Slight damage to your online reputation can cost you a lot. 

For brands, there was a time when customers’ feedback didn’t mean a lot to the businesses. The customers certainly had an impact on the product or services offered. However, the brands and businesses were not entirely dependent on it. In this era, you simply can’t ignore the voice of customers. A few bad reviews can tear you apart and you will start losing grip in a matter of days. 

More than 70% of purchases are done after a thorough Google search. We have been emphasizing search results because Google’s first page acts as a business card for every executive and brand. There’s no choice left for the brands these days except to create a solid reputation management strategy. 

However, not all brands and individuals find it easy to improve their online reputation. Luckily, you are going to find every single detail that you need to focus on when improving your online reputation. We are going to explain how reputation management works and what’s the right online reputation management strategy. 

How does Reputation Management work? 

Online reputation management is nothing more than managing your reputation across the web. Any online information that concerns you acts as your online image. Whether it is bad or good, you will have to deal with it. Whether the information is true or false, you will have to deal with it. 

Online reputation management works separately for individuals and brands. Brands have a bit complex system of managing their online reputation because of the involvement of consumers. It also depends on the quality of service or products. It depends on everything that your product or service is related to. 

On the other hand, if you are an individual, an executive, a celebrity, you will have to deal with a lot of news publications. You will have to deal with the events. You will have to deal with social media. To manage your online reputation, you will have to deal with the following at one stage: 

  • Media relations
  • Blogger community
  • Influencer relations
  • Sponsored FB posts
  • Sponsored Tweets
  • Reviews
  • User-generated content
  • Journalists

Everything that is posted online about you is going to have an impact on your online reputation. To improve your online reputation, you need to focus on a lot of things including: 

  • Creating good content
  • Sharing positive stories
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Content Optimization
  • Complete Social Media Management
  • Engaging and sharable content
  • Advertising
  • Building good media relations

If you are ignorant of the things that we have mentioned, then your online reputation is hanging with a thread. If you have been facing a problem and your online reputation is damaged somehow, then you will have to craft a perfect online reputation management strategy. Here’s what you are going to do to improve or manage your online reputation when it’s damaged. 

How to Create an Online Reputation Management Strategy 

As we have discussed earlier your online reputation management strategy depends on your current online reputation. You will have to assess the current search results and then you will plan your strategy. You may want to ask a few questions about yourself. 

  • How damaged is my online reputation? 
  • Have I done a complete check on my online reputation?
  • Is there any defamatory content?
  • How many news articles are damaging my current reputation?
  • Are there negative reviews that require attention?

Once you are clear about your current search results and you know what keywords you are going to target, creating an online reputation management strategy will become a lot easier for you. We are now going to share a reputation management strategy that works for every individual who is trying to improve online reputation. 

  • It always starts with monitoring

The monitoring phase is extremely important. We have mentioned earlier that you have to work on extracting all the information that will tell you where you currently stand. You simply have to enter your keyword (Your name) and start your research. It will fetch different search results. You can put Google alerts for the keyword and get every information published online about you. 

When you are monitoring your current search results, it becomes easy for you to know what you can do to take full control. If there are negatives, then you need to take note and start targeting them. If there’s unwanted information out there that you can control, then you need to delete it. If there is a false allegation, then you need to report it or take necessary action against that post. 

You need to notice each and every link that has appeared on the first page of the search engine. You will then devise a strategy to change or alter the search results. Similarly, you will move to the images tab and check the images. If there are images that you can control and don’t want them to appear in the search results, then delete them. 

After a careful audit of your current online reputation, you will move to your future online reputation management strategy. 

  • Defining your branded keywords

Now that you have carefully audited your online reputation, you must have extracted the branded keywords. These are the keywords that you are ranking with or wish to rank with. In the case of individuals, these keywords are variations of your name. 

You can use your professional name and treat it as a branded keyword. This is the name that you wish to rank with online. If there is a damaged online reputation, then you need to target the keyword that is ranking with the negative links. 

This way, you will be able to counter the negative links by creating your own positive links and information about yourself. You will have to use these keywords in every content that you are creating about yourself. 

Your pen name, biographies, blog posts, and images should be targeted with the brand keyword that you have selected. After extracting your branded keyword, you will move to create content. 

  • Creating a professional website

Individuals that end up with a damaged online reputation should always focus on creating a professional website. It’s an easy step and you simply have to register a domain in your name. 

You will have to use your branded keyword when registering the domain. It should be [your branded keyword.com]. This way, you will be able to have a professional website in your name. 

After registering the domain name, you will have to choose the right design for a professional website. Make sure to select an SEO-friendly web design for your website. It is important to have a lightweight design and website so you can easily optimize it. 

Once you are done with the website development, you will start creating content and publish a few blog posts. Make sure to update your blog posts regularly. You must have a dedicated ‘About Page’ where you can write your biography. It is important for you to target your branded keyword when writing a biography. Moreover, keep updating your website at least on a monthly basis. 

  • Creating professional social media profiles

Now is the time to explore every social media platform where you can represent yourself professionally. You need to separate your personal and professional life online. Make sure to have a separate personal lifestyle online. 

There are many social media platforms where you can create your professional profile and optimize it with your branded keyword. One of the most important profiles is going to be your LinkedIn profile. 

It is important for you to optimize all of your social media using the keywords that you have selected. You will perform activities on a regular basis on all of them. Social media platforms are going to help you a lot when you are trying to repair your damaged online reputation. 

  • Generate engaging content

When it comes to creating content, you must focus on creating engaging content. Make sure to establish profiles on different blogging platforms. You will have to update your biography on all those platforms and publish blogs on a regular basis. 

You can use your website and update it on a regular basis with fresh content. If you are not creating engaging content, then it will be difficult for you to rank better in the search engine. Make sure you are not only feeding search engines with the keywords. Your focus should be attracting readers. It is important to share information that’s worth reading. 

One important thing that most people ignore is the length of content. If there is a negative ranking high and it has lengthy content, then you will have to create lengthy content to counter it. Your content strategy will revolve around your negatives. 

It is important for you to optimize your branded keyword when you are generating content. It’s the only way you can suppress negatives and it’s the only long-term reputation management strategy that actually works. 

  • Work on biographies

Most people find it difficult to write biographies the way they are meant to be written. If you are trying to suppress a negative, your strategy should be aligned. 

Assuming that you have already known the keywords that you will target. You will have to write a biography while embedding those keywords. You simply can’t write biographies in a first-person narrative. Especially if you are trying to suppress negative links. 

Make sure to write in a third-person narrative and keep optimizing and using your branded keywords multiple times in your biography. Here’s a small guide on how to rank your bio high in search engines

  • Work with influencers

Well, influencers have been playing an important role and it is important for you not to ignore them at all. If you want to come up higher in rankings, then influencers can help you. This is the strategy that has been working for brands. It can surely work for high-end individuals, YouTubers, celebrities, and executives. 

You can always sit with them and talk about the issues in your industries on a podcast. Appearing on different YouTube channels and Live streams can help you boost your brand image. 

If you have decided to work with influencers, you can draft a strategy and point out the issues that you are going to talk about. It will certainly help you build a positive image. 

  • Become an Author

There is another great thing that has worked for various individuals and it can surely work for you. Becoming an author is a great way to market yourself. If you are a high-end individual, then you can surely write a book about the problems that you have been facing throughout your life. 

There’s always room for improvement in every industry. You can give it a try by writing a book and becoming an author. You can help your community to share the solution to the problems that you have been facing while working in a specific industry. 

The book can be about anything but make sure that it is good. Being an author, you can surely improve your online reputation and get multiple links that will work in your favor. 

  • Help community 

There’s one more thing that you can do that will also help you improve your online reputation. You will have to start helping your community in every way possible. As a professional and high-end individual, you can always start scholarship programs that will help students. 

You can create scholarships for needy students and post them on different educational websites. You can contact universities and create scholarships for the students who are struggling paying fees. 

Apart from it, you can do community services and participate in different charity events. It is not only going to improve your social life but it will also help you improve your online reputation. 

Find Professional Help If Required

After working on this specific reputation management strategy, you probably won’t need anything else. This specific online reputation management strategy works for every individual and professional. 

However, if you are unable to implement it properly and you still need help from the professionals, then we are just a call away. You can get in touch with our reputation management consultant and you can get all the information and help you need. At CrunchPress, we are helping people who are struggling with their online reputation and our team is going to make things better for you. 

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