Business Reputation Management Mistakes You Cant Afford to Make

The inattentiveness to reputation management can hurt your business. Trust me when I say that negative remarks found by people conducting a Google search of you or your business is no laughing matter. Not having the answers to this crucial issue years ago literally put me out of business a few years ago. With that as background, what I have learned over the last six years has been incredibly valuable. Here are five key mistakes for you to avoid.

If youre not being attentive of the gravity of the issue - Ignoring the fact that seemingly innocuous negative remarks on your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) will have enormous negative impact , is not an option. A single nasty remark on a company's First Page can and will cost you in terms of customers, reduced revenues, a maligned reputation, and even the loss of your business.

If you dont pay attention to search engine result page on a regular basis - If you are not continually vigilant, damaging statements will slide up your SERP's to the all-important First Page. The longer they are there, the more they will gain rank, Google relevance, and authority. Inspect constantly.

You have to act quickly - Defamatory remarks are like cancer - the sooner you take steps to correct the problem, the more quickly a professional RM firm can annihilate the problem. Allowing the negatives to fester unabated can make the process more prolonged and expensive.

Unfortunately, people Google your name will predictably gravitate toward negative remarks - exactly what you don't want. It is always wise to deal with negative comments appearing anywhere in your first ten SERP's, immediately and decisively.

Make sure you try to handle the reputation management problems internally - Businesses too often think that their Webmaster or IT department is capable of a genuine Reputation Management solution. I can assure you - they are not. A business can lose valuable time and suffer incalculable damages if unqualified personnel are trusted with this complex issue. A company will be much better served hiring a trusted firm who is experienced specifically in business reputation management solutions.

Have a reactive reputation management in place - Most people wait until they are diagnosed with cancer before getting serious about living a healthy lifestyle. Cancer prevention and healthy living should be a proactive concern long before one receives bad news.

Likewise, Reputation Management should be aggressively activated long before potentially nasty remarks 'infest' your first page. A healthy first page is one filled with Google-strong, high-authority, positive sites, pages, and links that are well-ensconced, difficult to dislodge, and in place well BEFORE a problem ever exists. Your first SERP is much less likely to be invaded by a sniper's remarks if it is proactively fortified beforehand.

Be seriously mindful about your Reputation Management. Do not be cavalier or inattentive regarding the content of your Search Engine Results Pages. Take heed of these five important points, and your odds for success will be greatly improved.

According to Walter Halicki, CEO of a well known company and a life-long business owner and entrepreneur with many years of extensive reputation management experience. Businesses should not take the reputation management lightly. His quest to discover the solution to his own attacks, along with collaboration and input from several other top RM experts, has led him to powerful, highly effective reputation management solutions and strategies that work for any business or individual. He is now devoted to consulting companies and individuals who are experiencing similar attacks or would like to reduce the prospect of future Internet reputation damage. Walter has become the top 'Go-To' reputation management consultant and practitioner in this growing field.