One’s online reputation has the power to make or break their business, which is why reputation management is essential for any business, large or small. Reputation management is the practice of shaping public perception of a person or organization by influencing online information about that entity. But how does one go about this?

The NALA, for instance, offers Reputation & Directory Management services that can help increase the number of positive reviews for any type of business. This makes it easy to find one’s business on the most relevant search engines and directories, such as Google and Facebook, and to stand out among one’s competitors with consistent listings.

Keep in mind that many businesses have a spotless reputation in their community offline, but a bad reputation online because of, in some cases, one negative review. Numerous small businesses with negative reviews are not actually bad businesses; they just get maligned by unhappy customers. Fortunately for them there are ways to combat negative reviews, such as creating and distributing content via social media, websites and blogs, and interacting on industry forums under one’s business name. In  addition, don’t forget to respond to both negative and positive reviews.

Businesses can also generate third-party validation with earned media via press releases. Commissioning a professionally written, newsworthy press release about your business can create positive exposure, attract more traffic to your website, boost your reputation and lead generation, as well as potentially push down any negative content. They are also branding tools used to control the public’s image of your business and are an essential building block for ongoing management of your reputation.