Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an integral part of digital public relations and effective crisis communication campaigns. These techniques are used by PR and digital professionals to boost or repair a brand’s online reputation. Boosting an already healthy online reputation is always easier than reacting to a negative one. That’s why it’s a good idea to implement an ORM strategy before a crisis hits.

Much of a brand’s online reputation is developed by consumers. Online reviews and user-generated content is the most shared and often the most commonly trusted content on the Internet. But a company does have the ability to influence user-generated content by promoting their own media (e.g., website, blog posts, and social media accounts). By continually updating these channels, the company can promote its own content.

Reactive ORM is the process of managing negative content about a company from third-party online channels, such as bad reviews. Much of this content comes from third-party review sites and ranks high in search engines because reviews are very relevant for online searches.

Any URL that shares a negative view of your brand must be found and managed. Some sites will remove content if you can prove it is illegitimate or slander against your brand. In most cases, however, you cannot remove negative content if it’s on a third-party website. The best way to suppress it is to optimize your website and branded content so the negative content isn’t as likely to attract attention. Your primary goal is to create as many positive URLs to appear on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Reactive ORM takes a lot of time and resources. It’s much easier to create a stellar online reputation in the beginning than to repair an average one after damage. You can create a positive online reputation with many different strategies, but the key objectives to remember are:

1. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews online and on social media
2. Produce content on a regular basis that shares a positive brand message
3. Actively monitor mentions of your brand name, and respond to negative content immediately

Ideally, you should create proactive and reactive ORM strategies. Build your brand with a proactive campaign, but be prepared for an online reputation crisis. For more information about reputation management and digital PR, contact Tucker/Hall today.