Reputation is important because you or your company want to have access to the best opportunities, and more.

• More business opportunities
• A better selection of prospective employees
• Higher company value
• Lower marketing costs

People want to make the best choice, and they base their selection on the person or company that seems to be superior. Whether applying for a job or attracting business opportunities, a good reputation affects your bottom line.

An online reputation management (ORM) firm isn't a public relations firm. PR firms tend to be more relationship-based, whereas ORM firms tend to be more technical and content-oriented - the best online reputation agencies use PR firms as a go-between with publishers while they work their magic behind the scenes. ORM firms also tend to operate in stealth mode, often quietly supporting PR campaigns in the background.

What is Reputation? Reputation is the subjective qualitative belief a person has regarding a brand, person, company, product, or service. To put it mildly, it is the key to success.

Reputation is third-party perception of your, or your brands, character. It is a malleable thing. Malleable by others, or by you. This is because today, people depend on Google to make decisions for them. So, by changing how Google portrays a brand one can change reputation. 

In today’s digital environment, reputation is more important, more pervasive, more unforgettable, and more meaningful than ever before. It's really difficult to build, enhance, sustain, and protect a reputation that'll last, and it’s easy to neglect, abuse, reject, or shred a reputation in just a short amount of time. A disaster can happen in minutes, and circle the globe within hours. Let's unpack what reputation really is.

A person or company’s reputation is based on information (of some kind or another). And every reputation is perceived by people (of some kind or another). Put information and perception together, and you have reputation. 

Have you ever bought anything online without looking for customer reviews first? If you’re like most adults in the U.S, your answer should be a straight “No!”. Studies suggest that 72% of online consumers read between two and 10 customer reviews and testimonials before actually making a purchase.Having no online reviews about your company is not a choice either. Because, according to research, even if you get one negative review from a dissatisfied client (or a shrewd competitor who hires fake reviewers to defame you), you’ll need about 12 positive reviews to counter its effects.

Why does it take six months for a website to rank? We get asked this quite a bit. For the most part, it's because there is a lag time of between 10 and 20 weeks before listings start to improve in search results. The exception to the rule is viral content—if users signal content is of superior value, and they do so quickly, search listings can improve in hours. Unfortunately, not every piece of content is going to go viral.

One of the first questions we get from most of our reputation management clients is “How long will reputation management take?”. (The next question is of course "how much does ORM cost".) Their anxiety is understandable considering that more than 80% of consumers now search Google before doing business with a company. What Google’s first page says about your business practically determines how potential clients and partners see you. And this is why determining just how long it will take to conquer that first page and secure your brands online reputation is not as simple as you might think.

Bad things online can kill a brand. It can't all be removed, but some of it can and should be. This guide tells you how to delete negative online content. 

Here are a few of the ways online content can be removed - either from the site itself, or from search results - both are avenues to the same outcome - lower, or no, visibility of the negative content online. 

Why did the organic for your branded search traffic just drop off? Was it a search algorithm change or was it the content of your results that changed? It's a nightmare situation when suddenly you find that you're ranking for negative search phrases appended to your brand name, like "fraud" or "scam." Prospects are fleeing.

Online reputation statistics change regularly. This guide was last updated December 2018.

If you’re like many Chief Marketing Officers you might lie awake at night wondering when the next emergency will upset your well laid plans. We understand. The online reputation management world smolders with tales of tragedy, falls from grace, and salacious rumors that can destroy careers and entire businesses. As with any threat, a little knowledge can go a long way.