Your Guide to Online Reputation Management Pricing: What does online reputation management cost? In this guide, we will explore what reputation management is and what factors influence pricing.
In the digital environment, your online reputation is the consensus public perception of you or your business. This reputation has the potential to influence the behavior of others. A positive online reputation opens new doors of opportunity, allowing you to reach your personal and professional goals. A poor online reputation, by contrast, can stand between you and achieving your goals.
Online reputation management (ORM) provides a digital lifeline, giving you control over the online conversation and helping to shape that critical perception of you, your business, and your brand. There are many factors involved when discussing reputation management costs. In this guide, we’ll show why online reputation management works, what factors go into online reputation management pricing, and how your online image can benefit from a robust ORM strategy.
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Your Online Reputation: Essential Information for Individuals and Business Owners
Your online reputation is often the first aspect people evaluate when using search engines to learn about you or your company. Think of your online reputation as your online image, your digital brand, or your company’s image.
For business owners, a favorable online reputation can:
- Increase brand awareness
- Build trust between you and your customers
- Attract new customers
- Boost revenue
For individuals, a good reputation helps to tell others who you are, what you stand for, and the values you represent. By establishing and maintaining a great reputation online, you are more likely to achieve your goals. Remember that people are likely to be searching for your name using Google or another popular search engine. The quality of search engine results can have dramatic effects on your ability to go where you want in life. With a good reputation, you are able to:
- Be accepted into the school of your choice
- Get that dream job you’ve always wanted
- Gain recruiting interest from employers
- Secure home and vehicle loans
- Start a relationship with someone new
If people conduct a background check for you, will negative search results impact your ability to achieve your goals? The answer is yes — Google search results have a profound influence on the behavior of others. Can you afford a negative reputation? If the answer to that question is no, online reputation management services can help you establish, grow, and repair your online presence.
How is Online Reputation Calculated?
Online, your reputation score is dependent on the quality and quantity of search results. When someone searches for your name, they are presented with a wide range of search results, including:
- Social media posts
- News items
- Online reviews
- Mentions in blogs or on social media accounts
- Images
- Videos
- Business listings
People use these search results to form an opinion of you. Positive results and reviews improve your online reputation and build trust, while negative search results — the negative content and bad reviews — can erode confidence in you or your company. Potential customers that find negative information in Google results are more likely to turn to your competitors for their business needs.
Benefits of a Positive Online Presence
It can be argued that a stellar reputation is one of the most valuable assets you can cultivate in the digital environment. When a positive reputation is built on favorable personal search results or positive information coming from review websites, web pages, and social media, you gain significant advantages. These advantages include:
- Being able to capitalize on emerging opportunities
- Boosting brand awareness
- Improving sales and revenue streams
- Establishing and supporting trust between you and others
- Improving visibility in search results
Keep in mind that as many as 97% of potential customers research products and services online before making purchasing decisions. Even if you do not own a business, people like employers, potential dates, friends, and family members are still using Google search results to learn about you.
In simple terms, your internet reputation matters. Online reputation management is an effective solution to build personal or professional awareness of your attributes and to foster trust between you and others in the digital environment.
Risks Associated with Negative Search Results
People are talking about you online. What they say can have a powerful impact on your individual and business prospects.
If a glowing digital reputation is so valuable, what can happen if negative results or negative online reviews damage your reputation? Can a bad reputation interfere with your online presence?
To answer that question, consider the following statistics associated with negative search results:
- Businesses with one negative review risk as much as a 22% loss in customers.
- Three or more negative reviews boost that loss to a staggering 59%.
- 94% of customers indicate that negative reviews have convinced them to avoid a given business.
- Unfavorable search results, including negative links, poor ratings on review sites, and unflattering images or news articles, can result in as much as 9% decrease in revenue for small businesses.
- Even large companies are not immune to the effects of a negative reputation. Only 13% of consumers would consider doing business with someone that has a 1- or 2-star review on the popular review platforms.
Just as a great reputation can open new doors, a bad reputation can keep you from growing your business, attracting new clientele, or expanding your operations. For individuals, that very same bad reputation can stand between you and your goals.
What is Online Reputation Management?
Now that we have illustrated why your internet reputation matters, it’s time to dive deep into online reputation management. In a nutshell, reputation management is a series of strategies and techniques to influence the perception others have of you and your business online. ORM is a form of digital marketing, helping you to stand out in the online environment, shape the conversation to suit your goals, and create powerful brand awareness.
What Does Online Reputation Management Include?
An online reputation management company typically provides a broad range of services, including:
- Review management
- Content development
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Digital marketing
- Social media management
- Public relations
- Negative content management (web page removal and suppressing negative content)
- Branding
- Crisis management
- Local search optimization for small businesses
As you might imagine, these services influence reputation management pricing. Every person or business is different, and each will need specific services to achieve their goals. Reputation management firms base their costs on the services included as well as the length of time needed to improve your online presence.
Why is Reputation Management So Important?
Reputation management has become an essential component of any business. Online reputation management services can establish a company’s digital footprint, supplement digital marketing strategies, and shape public perceptions.
Think about the damage that can be caused by poor online reviews alone. Even false positive reviews can hurt your business prospects. Do you or your employees have the skill needed to overcome the challenges presented by bad ratings and unfavorable customer reviews? If not, reputation management companies like NetReputation are ready to help.
With a solid reputation management plan, you can create a favorable and robust digital footprint. With ORM and a team of reputation management professionals at your side, you can control the digital conversation and protect your reputation from current and emerging threats.
The benefits of a great reputation cannot be overstated; in today’s highly connected world, your reputation is perhaps the most valuable personal or business asset you have.
5 Steps in Developing a Reputation Management Plan
If you’ve ever asked yourself “what does reputation management cost?”, it can be valuable to learn about the factors that go into ORM service packages. The leading ORM service provider, NetReputation, uses a 5 step approach to developing reputation management packages for its clients around the world. The cost of online reputation services can vary, depending on the service provider’s own processes and internal strategies.
The 5 step approach includes:
Analysis
Analyzing your current reputation is the first step in the process. ORM teams scour the web for mentions of your name and your company’s name using automated tools that explore tens of thousands of websites. If negative reviews or content are discovered, an ORM team uses every available strategy to remove content and links that are harming your reputation.
Data analysis and keyword research are vital pieces of the puzzle, forming the foundation onto which a custom reputation management plan is built. Armed with the information collected in the analysis phase, the next steps in the process can proceed smoothly.
Web Property Creation
If you’re a small business owner just starting out or an individual with little or no online presence, web property creation is designed to put you in front of the people who matter most: the people who are searching for you online. Web properties created for your reputation management campaign can include:
- Video profiles
- Social media profiles on at least three major sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Blogs
- Professional websites
- Business directory listings
- Wikipedia pages
- Image sharing profiles
- Charity websites
Reputation management services typically include management of these new web properties, allowing you to focus on what you do best: growing your business.
Positive Content Creation
Search engine optimized content is the heart of a strong ORM campaign. By publishing positive content, you control the narrative while giving others the information they need to make purchasing decisions. Content creation applies SEO tactics and link building strategies to ensure great visibility in search results.
Content created for your reputation management campaign may include:
- Videos
- Executive biographies (for executive reputation management services)
- Press releases
- Blog posts
- Posts on social platforms
- Thought leadership articles
- Interviews
High-quality, web-ready content is, from an SEO perspective, the most effective way to tell your story with others. Improve your visibility in search results and help others learn about your values, your mission, and your contributions with custom-crafted digital content.
Content Publishing
Now that content has been created, content marketing takes over. By publishing your fresh content on a consistent basis, we keep your reputation management campaign on track. This publishing schedule has two powerful benefits:
- New content is quickly indexed and categorized by Google, making it stand out in search results.
- Fresh content has the effect of suppressing negative items in searches, effectively pushing those negative news articles and mentions off the first page of search results.
From social posts to blogs, tweets, press releases, and more, publication is the key to sharing your message with others in the digital environment.
Content Promotion
Content promotion continues the process of putting you front and center on the web. There are three promotion channels that can be leveraged:
- Owned promotion, such as email lists, SEO, and in-house publications
- Paid promotion, including guest posts, paid discovery tools, sponsored content, and more
- Earned promotion, particularly on social channels
What Does Online Reputation Management Cost?
Reputation management pricing is dependent on myriad factors. To gain a better understanding of what reputation management services cost, consider these factors:
- What is the reputation and authority of your direct competitors in your market?
- How many services are included in your ORM package?
- What specific services are included?
- Do you need negative content removal solutions?
- How many bad reviews do you or your business have online?
- How large is your company and your industry?
Unfortunately, there is no single answer to “how much does online reputation services cost?”
Custom pricing is based on the above factors as well as other components. For example, if you own a large corporation with dozens or hundreds of negative reviews, management pricing may reflect the need to conduct extensive review management. Some individuals may need basic campaigns, while others will need ongoing services like reputation monitoring, reputation repair, and web content development. Reputation management cost reflects the complexity, length of time, and continued service required to meet your specific needs and goals.
How Can a Reputation Management Company Help Me with My Online Image?
Reputation management service providers offer a wide range of powerful tools and services to help you take charge of the digital conversation surrounding your name. With their help, you can gain the advantages illustrated above.
ORM is a proven strategy to establish your personal or professional brand, grow your digital footprint, and protect your reputation from current and potential threats. By taking advantage of this solution, you also gain competitive advantages in your industry or market.
Selecting Reputation Management Services to Fit Your Needs
At NetReputation, we know that there is not a “one size fits all” solution for ORM. Every client is different, and each will have his or her own unique needs and goals.
To get a better grip on reputation management cost, consider the specific ORM services a provider offers. Will you need a single campaign, or will you need ongoing support to rebuild a damaged reputation?
Beware of companies that use tactics like posting fake positive reviews, black-hat SEO strategies, or long-term contracts. Each of these is a red flag that suggests the company you’re working with does not have your best interests in mind. Quality ORM service providers use proven strategies and share their results with their clients.
Contact NetReputation Today
Since 2014, NetReputation has helped thousands of business and individual clients manage their digital reputations. We are a leader in our field and have won recognition from some of the largest business publications on the planet.
Ready to get started building a robust reputation in the digital world? Call NetReputation today by dialing 844-461-3632 or fill out the form below to set up a free consultation with one of our representatives.
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by Net Reputation