Experts in business reiterate the importance of having an online presence if you want to survive. Even if you have a brick and mortar store, using the internet to be visible to your target audience and promote your products and services can increase your profits. However, there are many other businesses fighting for the market’s attention online.
How do you make yourself stand out? For potential new customers to trust you, you have to improve your online reputation. To do that, follow these tips.
SEO
You probably have heard of the term search engine optimization or SEO. It is a strategy that can help anyone, from big corporations to news publications, to be on top of the search results and boost their visibility. As a result, their online traffic increases which can be converted to sales.
Hire a digital marketing agency to help you with SEO. They will optimize your website so that it can easily be read by search engines such as Google and Bing. When a person goes online and uses a search engine, your business will pop up. Even for medical and dental clinics, SEO services can help increase foot traffic and, therefore, profit.
Ask Your Customers to Post Reviews
People rely on the recommendation of others when deciding which business to patronize. For example, a person is likely to visit a restaurant that is popular among her peers and age group. After all, word of mouth is the most effective and inexpensive way to market your business.
Similarly, the only way to encourage customers to try out your products and services is if they can read feedback from other people. If you are lucky enough to gain the trust of a few clients, ask them to post their reviews online. They can write their reviews on your business’ official page on Facebook or you can post their positive words on your website. You can even offer an incentive if they leave you a good comment to motivate them.
However, make sure that these customers only had a smooth and pleasant transaction with your business. A bad review can ruin your online reputation and turn away potential buyers.
Make the Most of Online Tools
Sometimes, one bad interaction with a customer can have lasting negative effects on your business. In such cases, there tools available to you to scrub your reputation clean and allow you to start over.
On social media, respond to the review and explain your side without antagonizing the customer. Do not, under any circumstances, reply angrily. Be civil at all times. Apologize if you made a mistake and promise to improve your operations to serve them better. You may need to scour the internet to have an idea of what people are saying about your business so that you can intervene before it becomes a bigger problem. Check not just reviews, but comments made on various on social media platforms.
Normally, when a post goes viral online, it is usually because other people had the same experience. If you are vigilant over what is being said about your business, you can mitigate the problem by directly going to the source.
The most important tip is to serve your customers better. If you do your best to provide everyone a pleasant experience, your reputation will naturally improve.
