What Makes a Good Online Reputation Management Company?

Deciding to hire an online reputation management, or ORM, company is a huge step toward fixing your image. A team of seasoned professionals who devote every hour of their workdays to reputation management is more qualified than a single person, even if you do spend weeks researching the task. The next step is analyzing your options and selecting the best company for you.

The importance of online reputation in 2018 is no joke, and numerous businesses are trying to capitalize on the demand for reputation management. While this is a positive thing, it also means that there’s a lot to wade through to find a firm you can really trust.

Online reputation management is difficult, and you really do get what you pay for. If a company offers a deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is. When a bad reputation online can haunt you for years to come, and destroy your business, you want your reputation management in the best hands.

At InternetReputation.com, our team has decades of combined experience in the field, and we’re glad to help you select the best firm for your needs. The following questions will help you analyze each company you’re considering and select the services you need so you’re not paying for the ones you don’t:

• What Services Does the Company Offer?

Many online reputation management companies offer vague descriptions of the services you’ll have access to. If you can’t define what the company is doing for the money you’re paying them, they might not be doing much at all…

At Internet Reputation, we offer specific services for businesses and individuals. For small businesses, for example, we provide review management, search engine optimization and comprehensive business reputation management packages. For individuals, our most popular services include privacy protection, negative content removal, and complete personal reputation management packages.
Our website features complete descriptions of each service, so you know what you’re getting before you even set up a consultation.

If you’re considering a company that seems reluctant to define the services you’ll receive, you’re at risk of getting taken for a ride. These companies often use obfuscation and illusion to make you feel like they offer several different services when they really do just one thing.

• Has the Company Received Recognition?

We’re proud to say that InternetReputation.com is an award-winning online reputation management company that regularly ranks on best ORM company lists – such as this 2018 article – every year. Unfortunately, the market is flooded with companies that have never received recognition, lie about awards they’ve won, and otherwise trick you into thinking they’re the “best.”

ColoradoBIZ has recognized our team, the Inc. 5000 list, Yahoo! Finance, Fox Business, and more, and we have the links to prove it.

If you’re looking at an online reputation management company that doesn’t offer links to their recognitions, though, why would you believe their claims?

There aren’t any internet police that patrol webpages to make sure that companies don’t fool you with unfounded claims. It’s up to you to analyze each firm and select one that offers links to prove their status among the best.
Failing to fact-check the company you’re paying is like giving money to a complete stranger and hoping for the best, but selecting a company that’s received recognition is selecting the best with your eyes open. What do you want to do?

• Does the Company Offer a Guarantee?

At Internet Reputation, we know that online reputation management takes time, money, and, often, months of grueling effort to achieve and that every case is different. We don’t offer a 24-hour promise that we’ll instantly fix your reputation – because that’s impossible – but we do offer a satisfaction guarantee for customer campaigns.

That means we’ll keep working on your campaign until we’ve done what we promised to do, no matter how many 30-day rounds it takes. Every month, we compare results, send you our progress report, refine our approach, and use the information gained to keep working toward the goal.

Not all companies are like InternetReputation.com, though. Many companies conveniently never offer a guarantee for satisfaction or promise things that aren’t possible in ways that sound guaranteed when they really aren’t.
When you pay these companies, and they fail on your campaign, you’re more likely to get ignored than get any responses concerning the guarantee they never offered.

Analyze online reputation management companies with this in mind. If there’s no guarantee, your money isn’t protected, and your results are not a sure thing, and if something like a 24-hour promise sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

• Will You Have Access to Proprietary Technologies?

Internet Reputation employs proprietary technologies that allow business owners to manage reviews on an easy-to-use platform and anyone to address things like Google Autosuggest terms before they do more damage. Unfortunately, though, not all companies offer such services.

Before you offer your money to a company, take a closer look at what they offer you. Call their hotline, ask questions about the technologies they use and make sure that their “services” aren’t just run by a few people with zero training.
Good reputation management companies don’t rely on human effort alone – we live in the digital age, and to ignore digital aid is just bad business.

To put it differently, would you rather trust a comprehensive virus protection technology to keep your computer free from viruses or a team of people who have room for human error? Ideally, you’d have a virus protection software and a team of experts watching your back.

This brings us back to the question of what services the company offers. If it doesn’t offer technology-backed reputation protection and a team of highly trained professionals, you’re not getting your money’s worth.

• Is the Service Customized?

We put the custom in customer, and we pride ourselves in doing so here at Internet Reputation. Unfortunately, many reputation management companies do not offer customized services.

Everyone’s reputation management situation is different, and each one requires a different approach to meet that individual’s goals. Contrary to what some companies might have you believe, a one-size-fits-all approach is not the answer you’re looking for.

Even if the website claims the service is customized, it isn’t always so. Some companies throw around the term “custom” as though it means nothing, and this makes it tough to analyze different firms to find the right one. The only way to be sure you’re getting something made just for you and not the same thing as everyone else is to speak with someone in person to discuss your different options, leading to the last question you should be asking yourself…

• Do You Get to Talk to Real People?

You can call the InternetReputation.com team right now at 941-259-4554 to set up a free consultation. You’ll speak with real people who care about your situation, and you’ll get to create a custom plan for your specific reputation situation. The same can’t be said for a lot of reputation firms out there.
If you’re considering a firm that never lets you talk to a person, or doesn’t offer a phone number, question your choices carefully.

Without discussing your reputation situation with you, we can’t design a campaign that will remove negative results from Google, fix autosuggestions, generate business reviews and otherwise fix your online image. This is why the best firms rely on direct communication – it’s the best way to make a campaign that works.

Firms without the option for a phone call aren’t popular for a reason. Don’t risk trusting your name to someone who won’t even pick up the phone for you. Your reputation deserves better than that.
Ready to get started? Call 941-259-4554 for your free consultation, or click here for additional information.