Photo by hans van rijnberk

What is Online Reputation Management?

Wikipedia defines reputation management this way:

Online reputation management (or monitoring) is the practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business, with the goal of emphasising positive coverage rather than negative reviews or feedback.

Who should be doing it?

Anyone that has a presence online. If people are talking about you, you have a reputation. You can keep it from turning sour or maybe even turn things around.

When?

You should be engaging your critics as soon as they post their feedback. Many tools have configurable email or RSS alerts that notify you once your name has been mentioned.

Where?

With exploding social media, conversations about your brand can take place anywhere. Make sure you’re covering:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• News
• Forums
• Wikis
• Online Reviews
• Q &A Sites

Where should you be practicing reputation management? In short: Everywhere!

Why?

People are becoming much more savvy about researching products and services before they buy. Negative feedback about your brand can be costing you sales. Catching things early before they spiral out of control can save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Bonus non-W: How?

There are a wide variety of tools available to track mentions about you and your company. Find the places online where people are talking about you and engage them positively.