Think about the last time you bought something online. How did you decide what to buy? You probably searched for whatever you wanted and read a few reviews. Maybe you found a negative review and that was your cue to move on to the next option.

Every additional 1-star improvement can increase business 9%. Think about that. 

Whether you own a coffee shop or an auto body repair, chances are one of your main sources of business is from your Yelp page. By this point, you’ve surely put the time and effort into making your profile stand out from the rest of the crowd. However, the work doesn’t end there. You must continue to manage your Yelp reviews to make sure the right people are leaving reviews, the positive reviews outnumber the negative, and that any issues are being addressed.

Reputation capital is the value of the intangible assets of a business. Anything from reviews to brand identity can build reputation capital, and it can essentially be summarized in one word: trust. How much do people trust your business? The more trust there is in your business, the greater its reputation capital.

If you're here, you probably know exactly why reputation's such a big deal in 2019. You want you or your company to have access to the best opportunities, and a bad reputation can hinder that. A great reputation will open doors to fantastic opportunities and (if you're a business) unhindered access to your ideal client base. Here are just a few other benefits of a good reputation:

• 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.

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. Spammy, low-quality SEO can have a quick effect, but it tends to rapidly off again and will more often than not make things worse.

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.

Reputation management and public relations (PR) are often confused. Although the two share similarities and may be used in conjunction with one another, PR is more forward facing and visible to members of the public. Online reputation management (ORM) services often occur behind the scenes and are not as obvious to casual observers. Think of reputation agencies as the "man behind the curtain."

Sometime negative search results take the form of images. Most often negative images cannot be removed from the internet. When they can be removed it is usually from the blog post, mugshot site, or article on which they reside and they must be removed by the publisher. Google will remove some images from search results under certain circumstances, but it is rare. Here's what to do when an image cannot be removed from the source or from search results.

Reputation management strategy is part of brand building, and it's so much more than making sure your company has great reviews. This guide will help you navigate the world of reputation strategy in the online environment. Online reputation — that intangible asset, that electronic chimera — is hard to assess let alone fix. And when it comes right down to the exact techniques to repair a reputation, many CMOs, publicists, or executives are downright nonplussed.

Up to 90% of business leads research a brand online prior to a buying decision.

Research indicates that salespeople lose about 22% of prospective customers when only one negative article is seen when researching whether to buy a product or service. When there are two negatives in search results, the losses can double. When three negative things are seen in search results the losses can mount to almost 60%. 

President Trump thinks Google is rigged against him. It's not, but it's not necessarily "fair" either. Google's portrayal of Trump is a reflection of people's desires - all the people, not a group or an individual. While Donald Trump has mastered the art of publicity, it's a genie let out of its a bottle. Once escaped it can have unforeseen consequences. 

For example, earlier today President Trump wrote that "Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED..."