Proactive Tips to Building a Great Online Reputation

Whether you are a large or small business, your online reputation can be built using a few necessary steps. The internet is a vast and varied field; the exciting opportunities that it offers have unfortunately brought unsavoury characters to the mix. Creating a reputation online will give your site and by transfer your products/services legitimacy and credibility. Your online presence consists of any internet property you hold and control, such as:

• company website
• social media profiles like your Facebook page, Twitter, or LinkedIn
• transferable content that you would have created like images, videos, guidebooks, etc.

Professional designs

First impressions matter. How you present your online presence will speak volumes and influence how seriously users will take you. A business that has uninspiring colour schemes, tacky images, or dull content will not be able to engage users, let alone hold their interest. Hiring a professional to create, strategize, and manage your online presence is highly recommended. Don't think of hiring an expert as an expense but an investment in your reputation. If your budget is low, there are easy to use tools for building an online presence, namely:

Website building platforms that need coding experience to use like Wix, Shopify, and Wordpress
Simple image editing tools to create social media posts and webpage banners like Canva
Stock image sources that will give you high-quality images you can use for free like Pixabay

Quality content

On the internet, content is king. The only way to differentiate yourself from all the other businesses is to create relevant, fresh, and engaging content continuously. This requires both technical and creative skills. Your content must stay true to your industry and brand. Your content can be in the form of:

Blog posts that tell stories about your product/service and business
Whitepapers, guidebooks, and manuals that can help establish your company as an authority in an industry or issue
Social media posts that garner interest and engagement from viewers
Videos that bring your company and its products/services to life




Verify your business

This one is a bit harder to do because it is more of an art than a function. Anybody can create an online profile and make claims about who they are and what they do. So to establish credibility on who you are and what you do, customers will need more than just your word. They require third parties to verify you and if possible for themselves to authenticate you. Here is how you can prove your existence in an online world:

• Verification by a trusted platform. The most straightforward example of this would be Twitter's verification.
• Prominently display verifiable certifications and any official documentation that users can look up with the relevant authority
• Collaborate with other online brands; this lets you share in their established reputation, and they will give credence to your existence and business activities
• Participate in competitions, awards, and any other ceremonies that will bring other businesses together. More important than winning, is having the organizing bodies verify that you exist and are worthy of engaging with the best in the industry.
• Create offline activities and invite customers to attend, for example, grand openings, sponsored sports events, etc.

That human touch

It doesn't matter how technologically advanced humans become – they will always be social animals. Use this to your advantage and create personable images, videos, and written content for users to engage with. Posting pictures of your staff at work, on lunch breaks or company retreats will also make your business more personable and relatable. Although the world is moving towards automation, there is still lots of desire for that human touch.

Building an online reputation is a continuous and evolving strategy. Ensure that your business does not lose steam along the way, and your brand will surely grow.