Talking to small business owners, I’ve found that most don’t do any reputation or word of mouth research for their business. They may invest in a website or create a Facebook page and then they assume that they have control of their image and their message by creating this presence on the Web.
Unfortunately, it’s not so. I recently did some reputation research for a small manufacturing company in California. When I searched Google for the company’s name, I found its website as the top result, but I also found a news release from a law firm at #3, which described winning a major settlement from that company in a breach of contract action. I’m sure that the company wasn’t even aware of the news release and its prominent position in relevant search results. If you run a small business, you should make sure that you’re never in the same situation — make it a weekly practice to do reputation or word of mouth research.
Once you’re aware of your online reputation, you’re in a position to build the effectiveness of your Web word of mouth marketing program. If you remain ignorant of your business reputation online, you’ll miss opportunities to grow your business.
I’m always happy to offer a free online reputation review and a free search engine ranking analysis for potential clients. Just give me a call at 979-531-8300 or send me an email using the Contact form.
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