To navigate and implement the best online reputation management strategy in 2019 requires more than simply offering a process to follow. We need to understand the landscape, the history, the impact, challenges and psychology behind the concept in order to make logical conclusions on where it is heading. Only then can we discuss the methods available to tackle one of the most impactful elements on our lives and livelihoods; digital influence. Reputation has always been and will always be a subjective concept and as such is fraught with challenges. The digital era has increasingly and exponentially amplified these challenges as brands, both personal and organizational, have broader horizons to reach but where the footprints of their endeavors are now cast in wet cement rather than sand. We believe that the future of reputation online must take a different shape. One where it can continue to be a positive differentiator for businesses and a reliable source of truthful information for consumers in the pre purchase or consideration stage of the buying funnel.
In this article we look at the various influencers and trends in the wider community that will likely result in a shift of attention in the online reputation management strategies that marketers are implementing across their organization. Finally we offer our recommendations on how to place your best foot forward in a minefield full of risk and reward depending on where you tread.
The Influence of Reputation On Business Health
We can do our best to influence online reviews but we cannot control them. The impact that reputation can have on the wellbeing of a person or by extension, a business is and has always been inherently tied to what other people think (and express) about them. Why the opinions of often complete strangers can have such incredible influence over us as individuals is a multi-layered and incredibly complex question that we’ll leave to the psychologists. Here we look at it more broadly from the digital perspective and its impact on businesses.The reality is that there are few things that impact a business’s ability to be successful more than their reputation. A customers experience and familiarity with the complete process of a businesses treatment of their clientele is invaluable to potential future customers and therefore it is right that they should be part of the conversation. The problem is that they are one sided, subjective in nature and the reader of the reviews has no insight into the nuance that led to the commentary to determine its validation, sincerity or relevance to them personally.
So as we look forward to 2019, how should businesses approach their digital reputation? If they believe their reviews are genuine but their competition numbers are greatly inflated above reality what is the best course of action to stay in the game and not be crowded out?
Should they fight fire with fire and risk compromising their own integrity just to compete? Should they pivot their attention to capturing honest feedback of their offering in a format that is more believable to their audience in an increasingly cynical world? If so, what format, and through which channel? How much faith should businesses have in technology emerging to expose the fradulent whilst elevating the sincere and how accountable are the tech giants and their various channels in helping their members with an increasingly scary problem
Why Opinions Matter?
A businesses digital reputation represents a methodology to differentiate their offering from their competition and is especially important on platforms where multiple providers are displayed side by side as an offering before any opportunity for personal engagement has occurred. Moreover, those platforms generally consider reputation signals as something important enough to include in their algorithm. That algorithm then determines the stack rank of a company’s peers in order of presumed relevance.
With great power, comes great responsibility and, of course like most things in life, so too comes the temptation to corrupt. With the importance of reputation being hopefully clear to all, it’s worth pointing out that increasingly, so too is the ease in which businesses can manipulate those same signals through dishonest or fabricated comments that may have no baring in reality. Those fabrications can shape the future prospects of the businesses who construct them, their competition, the customers who consider them and indeed the industries in which they are related to.
“A good reputation is more valuable than money” – Publilius Syrus
How Influential is Reputation For Local Businesses?
As you can see by the statistics above from The Next Scoop, consumers do lean on reviews pre-purchase, not enough businesses realize this (or at least don’t see the need to ask for them from their customer base) and that they clearly have an influential role in the final decision of the purchaser.
These statistics may show the importance and impact of reviews in general, however they do not consider the intent of the reviewer when providing them; whether they are necessarily fair, accurate or even real.
What Are The Current Challenges With Online Reputation?
You can see these two topics as separate concerns for businesses who have as yet not succeeded in winning at either or both of these concepts, however it would be prudent for businesses to see them as two sides of the same coin that represents relevance.
You can see these two topics as separate concerns for businesses who have as yet not succeeded in winning at either or both of these concepts, however it would be prudent for businesses to see them as two sides of the same coin that represents relevance.
Consumers Are Growing Suspicious of Overly Positive Reviews
More than 90 percent of Americans rely on reviews when making purchasing decisions — but the same number of people are suspicious that reviews are fraudulent or not trustworthy. A global study by Cone Communications confirms consumers are more suspicious than ever, with 52 percent assuming companies are behaving badly.
It turns out their concerns are valid. One study found a third of all online reviews and user-generated content discussing a product were fake. The Harvard Business Review found 16 percent of restaurant reviews on one popular review site weren’t real, and Gartner reported up to 15 percent of all online reviews are fraudulent.
There will need to be a resolution to the growing dilemma of reputational fabrication.
This is achievable through demonstration the authenticity of reviews either through the device delivery identification or through elavting the ability to demonstrate sincerity in the customer.
The Balance of Power is in the Hands of the Consumer
It’s not as if only businesses are capable of using the power of influence (legitimate or otherwise) to their own benefit. Consumers, increasingly are aware of a shift in the old paradigm of power between businesses and their customers. Long gone are the days that rogue traders could take advantage of people’s ignorance to manifest problems that don’t exist into exorbitant costs that shouldn’t
Data Scandals Affecting Big Tech’s Own Reputation
It’s not as if big tech are not aware of the problem. They are still dealing with an uncertain future and still face potential penal consequences relating to the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that hit Facebook at the start of 2018 which you could easily put into a problem bucket with “trust” or “reputation” as it’s named category.
Fake Reviews Hurt Everyone
As an ethical SEO specialist, throughout my career I have had to navigate the impact of bad actors who have tarnished the reputation of the concept of SEO by misleading their clients in their capabilities, or performance outcomes. To most business owners SEO is an ambiguous and complex topic and a large percentage of those who I speak to have been the victim of disappointing results from those agencies prepared to mislead. Their actions make my job far header to accomplish as I have to start my client journey by discovering if they even believe success is possible. Beyond that, I have to trust in the system and abilities of search engines to identify the disingenuous tactics of my competitors who try to short cut the system so that we can all be recognized and ranked on merit. To me, reputation is heading in the same direction.
40% of Reviews on Amazon are Fake!
Wesley Young, Vice President of Public Affairs at the Local Search Association wrote a great piece on Search Engine Land that discusses fake reviews that you can read here.
Ooi Ming, co-founder of Fakespot.com, a site that analyzes Amazon products for reviewer authenticity, said:
“As we ranked the products, it became pretty obvious that there are a lot of inauthentic and fake reviews online. This is probably an epidemic that hasn’t been talked about. I would say 40 percent of the reviews on Amazon are fake.”
And from Yelp’s Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Communications Vince Sollitto:
“This means about 25 percent of the reviews *submitted* to Yelp are not published on a business’s listing or recommended to consumers … [because they are ] likely to be fakes submitted by businesses themselves.
25% of Reviews Submitted to Yelp Remain Unpublished
The TripAdvisor Exposé on Reputation Monitoring in Hospitality
Late last year this incredible vice article shocked readers by highlighting the ease in which a disgruntled former employee of Trip Advisor went about exposing the nugacity of the company’s algorithm that ranks restaurants based on their popularity.
The author tells a tale about his creation of a restaurant named “The Shed” that he listed on the member-driven, travel advice site. It explains how through a carefully and constructed strategy including fabrication of reviews and an aura of the scarcity of available reservations the restaurant ascended in rank. Starting at the lowest ranked restaurant in the city it rose to the number 1 ranked restaurant in London. All this without a single person having eaten there. By the end of the story, he allowed people in and served them frozen meals from Iceland (a local supermarket chain).
After it’s release, TripAdvisor’s explanation was that it was a unique scenario as the author knew the workings of their system. It was therefore incredibly unlikely to be repeated without that factor.
Whilst it’s true, the author did have a familiarity with the system that most people wouldn’t there was another insight int he story that was not addressed. It was arguable equally as concerning for a platform that is still to this day one of if not the most pivotal in determining the fortunes of hospitality based businesses on a global scale:
– He admits he was paid £10 to post reviews by restaurants as they understood the added influence that he, as a trusted member of the TripAdvisor community would have above those of the general public which suggests that the unique knowledge alluded to in TripAdvisors defense is not so unique after all.
The common denominator here is authenticity. How can we ensure that the impact that reviews and reputation has on a business is at least based on authentic and truthful experiences no matter the issue of subjectivity
Can Emerging Trends Solve The Authenticity Issue?
Reputation with Voice Search
Increasingly, there are differing ways that people search for information on the web. They engage with different content formats from different device types depending on their personal preferences and lifestyle requirements.
Whilst the information they are seeking may ultimately be the same there is a butterfly effect of the combination of variables thats has a huge impact on SEO and the long list of elements that affect it; reputation being a major part of that list.
The shape and structure of content can look very different when typed, text or spoken. Video and audio uses natural dialogue, which is far more compatible with how audiences speak into voice search tools. This congruency means significant advantages for video seo but how does it affect reputation?.
Reputation in a Personalized World
If I’m looking for a restaurant in a city Im unfamiliar with, then any decision I make will likely be based on a combination of considerations that are driven by my intent. I may ask on Facebook for recommendations, reach out to people I know from the city for there own perspective or I may turn to various platforms that aggregate the opinions of strangers who have been there before. For the last group we can assume that the intent signals I refer to may use keywords in search engines like Google and reflect establishments that are “near me” or “open now” the results to which will likely be filtered eventually by the cuisines that I enjoy. I will also take note of the opinions of previous diners and on some level be influenced by either individual comments or the aggregate rating that these spots have accrued.
The problem is, that I don’t know these people, I don’t know if they are more or less tolerant of the same things that I am, and even if they are, how do I know if the opinions they shared were shaped purely the restaurant or if other life pressures were in control that day. I’m sure we’ve all been there.
Reputation Management with Influencer Marketing
In various ways. Among the more common was opinion, advice, education, entertainment or insight and over time the more successful would develop communities of people that were loyal, engaged and trusted these influencers and their various messages./vc_column]
Rich Snippets and Schema Markup Reputation
Schematic markup is not a new concept for SEO’s but to be entirely honest, it has been overlooked by too many local businesses (or the SEO agencies they employ) for too long. For a more detailed look at the value of schematics markup don’t forget to review our article on the various uses of schema markup for local businesses, that all businesses should be implementing across their website where relevant in order to compete going forward. It’s crucial to at least enable the machine learning based algorithm to better understand your website semantics but it’s also a fantastic way to stand out on the search results page and improve your click though rate that is a core ranking factor that can elevate you past those results above you that don’t have the comparative metrics on display.
What Solutions Can Restore Integrity To Reputation Management?
Inauthenticity Penalties
SEOs that participate in “black hat” tactics and get caught know all too well the consequences of penalties. Whilst FTC guidelines clearly state that no company can deliberately post fake reviews and there are similarly legal consequences for defamation if customers negatively impact a businesses future by obfuscating opinion and fact.Increased value weighting towards video
As Google has increasingly recognized the shift towards video as the content format of choice for more and more people they have introduced its visibility in more places that audiences congregate across the web. Video carousels are often displayed as the first non paid feature on a search engine results page, they have added the ability to upload video into the Google My Business profiles for local search visibility and have developed their technology to have greater abilities to understand the content within video outside of simply transcripts that were previously their only mechanism to decipher the narrative.
Video testimonials offer more insight through both visual and audio emotion that is attached to the experience being discussed. Recognizing the additional efforts that customers have to go to in order to represent that company’s offering as a result of their experiences (good or bad) should surely combine to justify a higher weighting of relevance and trust in video format above traditional text based reviews. As of yet, Google has not articulated a stance on how much, if any, a companies review count, length, frequency or format has as a weighting on their organic visibility.
Schematic Markup – Interconnectivity
If a new business was to have a sudden influx of Google My Business local reviews very early in the life of the business then it would not need a cynic to acknowledge that these may come from associates of the business owner who have not actually experienced the business service themselves however are simply helping their friends out in the early stages of their venture. As the Internet of Things (IOT) develops and increasingly all data is connected through schematic markup integration, there are possibilities to foresee an increase in the detection of potentially inauthentic reviews left by friends or associates of business owners or content authors through the interconnectivity of the networks they have on various social channels.
Best Strategies for Reputation Management 2019
Convincing Consumers They Can Trust You
Consumer suspicion is a prominent trend — one you must meet head-on. Here are some ways to inspire consumer trust:[/ultimate_heading][vc_column_text]To me, the best way to play any SEO strategy is not to be overly reactive or sensitive to where the algorithm is, but rather prepare for where it is going. Reputation by it’s nature is subjective and in a personalized world will offer opportunities for the sincere and insincere alike. We can’t change the world and there will always be a bogus testimonials from bogus people trying to shortcut the system. Testimonials have aways been important and `I believe that always be important. There will be a continuing pendulum swing back and forth from businesses to consumers in who can benefit from the system that is built to represent it and we have to hope that the platforms we use are doing everything they can to fine tune their process of identifying the real from the fake. After all, as the gatekeepers to information that seeks to promote on relevance, quality and experience, their own credibility depends on it.
I think we can take lessons from each of the scenarios above as we move into the tail end of 2018 and into 2019 and that best practices would suggest the following.
User Generated Reviews
Continue to leverage user-generated content: Customers who view user-generated content show a 133 percent higher conversion rate. As you build trust with your audience, user-generated content will continue to carry the most weight and can help solidify your credibility.
“Consumer suspicion is a prominent trend — one you must meet head-on.”
– Keep asking for testimonials of all forms
– Video testimonials from mobile phones that are unpaid, sincere, and ideally posted by customers on their own Youtube or other video channels that discuss overall experience but specific elements that were appreciated.
– Do not direct all offers of testimonials to Google My Business (or any specific channel over another). Variety is the spice of life and through correct Schema markup implementation you can represent and highlight all reviews from various sources through “aggregated rating” techniques.
Never incentivize reviews
Never incentivize reviews: Doing so violates FTC guidelines, and you can face steep fines. Any incentive — discount, coupon or cash — distorts the review process, calling the accuracy of ratings, as well as your ethics, into question.
Searcher Intent Based Review Formats
Wherever possible, businesses need to move from a “tell me” approach of customer experience to a “show me” format.
Video & Audio format testimonials present an opportunity to demonstrate their authenticity in a subtle yet distinct way. They further demonstrate the experience that was felt by the user via facial expressions and vocal emotion. It’s not easy to capture more complex testimonials nor has there been the technology available to measure or read any of the information unless it was also provided in transcripts or tagging techniques that helped the crawlers decipher its meaning. There have been dramatic improvements in that department over the last 2 years with Google Lens now being available directly through phone and includes all of their knowledge on data language programming.
It would certainly be more challenging to acquire these reviews. Users may be less willing to go further out of their way for a non required, non-incentivized task just to help the business especially if the type of exchange is non repeatable. It may require more effort to capture and upload to the web from the user presuming they have the technology to fo so and it certainly comes with an increased exposure of their experiences to the world that a far smaller percentage of people would be comfortable with providing. It is therefore only reasonable to presume that customers with a WIIFM mindset likely won’t go to these next levels and that the business must ensure they have gone above and beyond in every way with their own offering to expect any additional customer effort.
Whilst more difficult to acquire, efforts should still be made to capture testimonials in these varying format representations as they will likely offer clearer authenticity to the audience that consumes it, and going forward crawlers will be increasingly competent at detecting the signals that demonstrate it’s authenticity or otherwise.
If you are in an aesthetic industry such as plastic surgery, before and after photos are currently the baseline expectation format for demonstrations of excellence yet any business can simply photoshop the images to worsen the before and enhance the after quite easily. In these sorts of industries video testimonials would be the method to avoid the accusation of digital enhancements in a world where fabrication is detectable and again act as a logical method to differentiate further from your competition.
Sincerity in Length?
Any SEO or content marketer would agree that successful content in any field and on any topic must be of high quality. To rank well means to impress Googles crawlers and over the years the quality bar has been raised. Outside of backlinks and structure, content length has been a clearly identifiable determinant of where a page ranks. A Backlinko study has the current average length for a page 1 result at about 2000 words.
Can reputation go the same way? As the tech companies will be focusing on ways to solve the fabrication problem, perhaps, as with organic content in general, longer length reviews would at least offer more detail of the experience which may be seen as a demonstration of “quality”. Quality is a hard concept to solve for in opinion based content but there are platforms that captured and displayed the reviews that offer voting system for other profiles to demonstrate the helpfulness of the review. While this can be manipulated easily by quickly generating multiple profiles, the additional effort of reminiscing their experiences in a more detailed and personalized manner could be combined with this community popularity method to double down on the idea of review quality.
Don’t Surpress Bad Reviews
Don’t suppress bad reviews: As much as 95 percent of consumers doubt the validity of reviews when they don’t see any bad scores. Bad reviews make the good ones more compelling, helping to eliminate suspicion.
Do not be tempted to have gatekeeper modes on comments or reviews published or your channels and similarly do not suppress anything other than a 5 star review. You’re not perfect, the world won’t expect you to be
– Engage with all communications. Understand that not everyone will appreciate your offering as much as you appreciate your own. Text message review platforms can authenticate the review through a customer data alignment if audited.
The role of SMS marketing or chatbot messenger solutions have an abundance of value for many businesses in an increasing number of industries. From higher open rates, to better conversion metrics, the value proposition is compelling from an ROI perspective alone, yet it also offers many opportunities for review generation that . is viable both today and in any potential future state where reputation management authenticity is scrutinized in more complex and effectives ways than it currently is. As discussed above, the ease in which someone can signup multiple email addresses or Google accounts enables scenarios where businesses or freelancers on gig economy sites can fabricate numerous reviews from seemingly sincere and real profiles. This is far more challenging to do with SMS based reviews as they are tied to phone numbers that cost money to access individually and culturally far fewer people have multiple phone numbers or associated phones to achieve a similar fabrication intent as they do with email accounts.
If you’re interested in elevating your reputation play to bring it in line with where we believe the next generation of reputation signals will be drawn from in 2019 and going forward then feel free to check out our services page that focuses on our offering or for a more detailed conversation where we can understand the specific circumstances you find yourself in and create some options for you then please get in touch wit us and we’ll be very happy to work it through with you.
We rise together.
