Internet Marketing Optimist

Recently a small dental practice in Northern New Jersey that I work with has discovered that it doesn’t rank first for the doctor’s name on Google. Instead, a listing from a large directory of doctors takes up the coveted first spot. As if that wasn’t enough, that page also contains reviews from a few patients. Although all the reviews were in fact positive, the owners were shocked and disturbed. Their first knee-jerk reaction was to try to control the comments and they complained bitterly about the loss of control over their reputation online. If this scenario sounds painfully familiar, here are a few lessons on online reputation management to keep in the back of your mind.

Lesson 1: You Cannot Control Your Reputation, Only Manage It

Businesses from big to small seem to think that they somehow have control over their reputation, or at least they used to have it before the Internet came along. The truth of the matter is, reputation has always been controlled by the customer. Thus, it is important to view the Internet as an opportunity rather than a threat. Do you think people haven’t been talking about your products and/or services before the era of online reviews? Of course, they have. Granted, the comments were more isolated then but the only real different now is that you can monitor much of that conversation. That brings us to our next point.