Tony McChrystal is the Director of ReputationDefender EMEA, the forerunning company in the field of online privacy and reputation management. This article will look at why it is so important for people and businesses to protect their online reputations. The attached PDF contains more information about the history of ReputationDefender, exploring the various different services offered by the company today.
Everyone has an online reputation. Online reputation management enables people and businesses to take control of the online conversation, implementing innovative techniques and strategies to ensure the right materials are displayed online when someone searches for them on the internet.
Online reputation management provides a vital opportunity to create balance online, allowing clients to put their best foot forward and counteract misleading trends. The embedded infographic contains some interesting online reputation management statistics.
Online reputation essentially consists of two cycles. The first is the vicious cycle, where people neglect and ignore their online reputation, leaving them at risk of falling victim to a vicious cycle of rumours and misinformation. Conversely, the virtuous cycle requires a proactive approach, with people taking care of their online reputation by creating a virtuous cycle of positive, high-quality content that reflects well on them.
In an increasingly digitised age, the internet is most people’s first port of call for everything. Consumers, prospective investors and employers alike regard the internet as a trusted first source of information, often making important decisions based on content they view online.
According to research from Edelman Insights, two out of three people regard the internet as the most reliable source of information about a business or person. Data from Cross-Tab suggests that 70% of hiring managers have declined a candidate based on information they found online. Meanwhile, 97% of people read online reviews when looking for a local business, according to BIA Kelsey. Alarmingly, research from Digimind suggests that more than 80% of reputation damage stems from a mismatch between the hype and the reality.
Some contend that given how sophisticated information technologies have become, online reputation mismatches should eventually go away on their own. Unfortunately, this is not likely to happen in reality, as online reputation mismatches are not caused by technology; instead, they are a human problem.
Google’s algorithms are incredibly sophisticated, but they can only return what humans ask for. If people ask for negative reviews, conspiracy stories and juicy gossip, that’s what will become associated with the search terms.
The embedded video contains more information about actions businesses can take to protect their online reputation.
