Try Googling Yourself
Every so often a company name enters the English lexicon and becomes a verb (I’m thinking of you Xerox). Now that it’s so commonplace to hear someone say ‘did you google that’ it’s time for you to ask yourself, ‘what if someone googles me’. That happens to be a very good question. What do people find when they search for you or your brand? Here’s some good tips about seeing what the internet has to say about you:
Google your business name first and foremost to gauge the general sentiment and see what people think about your business. Chances are, in addition to what you’ve created, you’ll also see content from others, like reviews, blog posts, articles on third-party sites, and even social media mentions. People are often quick to post when they have a negative experience with a business as a way to vent or seek a resolution, so you’ll probably see more of that than you do of positive content.
And you’ll see even more of this content when you search for specific reputation terms in addition to your business name keywords. Adding terms like “reviews” and “complaints” to your business name searches can uncover a wealth of content about your business you may not have ever known about but that your prospective customers are seeing about you online.
What can you do about any negative content you see about your business? If you see it on sites you’ve claimed, like your listings or social media pages, you can respond professionally to any recent negative reviews or comments. This can improve your online reputation while also improving customer satisfaction with your business. It’s also a good idea to ask happy customers to post positive reviews about your business, especially when they’ve had a great experience with you.
(via DM News)