7 Step by Step Guide to Choose the Best Online Reputation Management Company

by ​Sujain Thomas, Guest Contributor

Businesses survive and develop based on a good reputation. Earlier a person, product or brand's reputation was spread with the help of traditional media such as newspapers and TV or word of mouth. Post-commencement of the internet, the reputation of one's business has come down to social media and search engine results. When a customer types the name of one's company, what comes in Google's first few pages? Does it lead them to the website of their company or exposed to the sites that highlight on the company's negative reviews and legal woes of the past?
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Pick the right Online Reputation Management firm.

Online Reputation Management Defined
ORM or Online Reputation Management is a practice to implement online techniques which influence the public perception concerning an organization/individual. ORM firms execute online campaigns to boost up the brand visibility and simultaneously to make all the negative publicity less visible within the outcomes of social media/search engines. Social media and search engine results in the last decade have changed in the manner in which people receive and also share information.

To increase the positive visibility when it comes to one's brand on Google or the top social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest is a challenge indeed. To wade through sites of search engines as well as social media is a job that is time-consuming and also at the same time complicated. It has resulted in the majority of the firms to offer ORM services.
Step by Step Guide to Follow

When you type in Google about the best ORM firms, you will discover endless results leaving you confused and in a fix as to which will be the right choice and will be worth the investment. Relax below is a step by step guide that will keep all your worries at bay and help you make an informed decision. These are as follows namely,

• Research the Company- First and foremost performing research on the ORM company is a must. Customers and audiences research while hunting for information regarding your company or brand. So the job of selecting the right ORM firm for your brand too needs the same and that is online search and research. It is essential to check what the result is after typing the name of the ORM firm. Keep away from firms that have negative mentions. When they cannot help themselves how can they assist their client in building a positive reputation online? At the same time keep away from a firm that has glowing reviews because they have invested enough money and time yet giving less attention to genuinely helping clients in building a good online reputation. Visit Vision Smash to learn more about what is VisionSmash SEO. 
• Know the Company People In and Out- To know about every person associated with the company is essential. Learn about the founder of the firm and also the management team. Do through online searches concerning those behind the firm will help a great deal. Contacting them directly is crucial after all they will work on giving one's brand the right online exposure.  
• Inquire About their Strategy- Speak to the firm's management team about the strategy that they will adopt for better brand visibility. Know about their distinctive SEO strategies. There are countless ways of doing legitimate SEO known as White Hat SEO for brand optimization for search engines. These days some ORM firms are using deceptive techniques known as Black Hat SEO for trying and tricking users and search engines. Distinguishing amid black and white hat SEO is vital because the former will damage the reputation and site rather than augmenting its ranking within the organic search results as stated by Google.

Google came up with its guidelines for finding, indexing and ranking one’s brand. The social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook also issued their guidelines. Therefore it is vital to keep away from firms that use black hat SEO as well as check how the management team will work for one’s online reputation and whether they will adhere to both Google as well as the social media channel’s guidelines.

• Look for Case Studies- Another effective means of seeing that if the ORM team is fit for one's brand is by checking their clients both past and present. Search for the clients to check their current and past reputation in social media websites along with search engines.  
• Check the Time-Frame- For every client the time frame to improve an online reputation will differ. Consider it to be a red flag the moment an ORM firm promises to offer quick suppression when it comes to negative search results and promises to work for the brand till the negative results get suppressed.  
• Check the Cost- Just as the time-frame, the price to augment an online reputation rests on the basis of a case by case. You must consider it a red flag if the firm does not provide the project cost estimate. When there is no agreed price, the expenditure of the online reputation budget is likely to skyrocket. You will not even realize this and it will result in further misunderstanding. Post collecting all the details concerning one's online issues, and the ORM firm must be capable of giving them a somewhat estimate of the price in its totality.  
• Learn About the Contract- Before dedicating to a specific ORM firm, inquire whether the contract has to be signed between the client and the firm? The agreement must stipulate that the firm must comply with the set guidelines of social media companies and search engine organizations. Most importantly the contract must also comprise of the project's time frame, the total cost as well as the non-disclosure clause. It must also include the provision of having full access as well as ownership of every social media page and site that the ORM firm will create. That is the client's intellectual property after all.

Consider these tips to choose the best ORM firm.
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Author Bio: 

​Sujain Thomas is a data expert. She has been working with complex database architecture and big data analytics for almost eight years now. She has been helping many leading corporations optimize their customer service and product introductions as per big data analysis and predictive analysis.

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