E-Web Marketing, a Sydney SEO agency based in Chatswood, NSW, Australia, that offers online marketing services for various kinds of businesses, wants to stress the value of online reputation management for small businesses. In a 2018 study by TripAdvisor where they asked travel business owners and operators in the US and all over the world about key industry trends, 97 percent stated that online reputation management is essential for their business. It was also found that 98 percent were concerned about online reviews and 92 percent about social presence.
Meanwhile, in a case study on the effect of an online reputation management service for a consumer-facing company with various locations all over the US, it was observed that while the control group experienced a slight decline in sales of around 6 percent during the trial period, the managed group experienced an increase in average star rating of 0.9 stars and this translated into a significant increase in sales of around 14 percent. This was a bit better than the findings of a Harvard Business Review study where an increase in one “star” in the average rating of a company can result into a 5 to 9 percent rise in revenues.
Sam Shetty, CEO for E-Web Marketing, says, “Gone are the days where businesses could get away with shaping their reputation solely through advertising and word of mouth. Consumers are increasingly in a position of power and can provide real-time, public feedback on review sites, social media forums and other channels. They also seek proof from independent sources, such as Facebook and Yelp, before purchasing a product or engaging with a service. At E-Web Marketing, we are aware of the significant importance of online reputation and have developed our own online reputation management suite — a log-in platform that allows you to monitor and improve your online brand.”
The digital marketing agency has invested in a software platform that allows their clients, such as marketers and business owners, to keep track of their online reputation and also do something to improve it. Users can login to a management system where they can take a look at the current state of their online reputation and at the same time, the system provides tools and strategies to improve on that.
The software does its function by crawling the web and a huge number of popular review websites and platforms in order to assess the current sentiment that people have regarding the brand or business. The software aggregates the data collected and presents them using a high level overview. In order for the business owner or marketer to improve the brand’s online reputation, the software allows the drafting of a message that is sent out to the business’ customer base requesting that they review the business. An important benefit is that if the feedback is negative, the business owner or marketer can privately view the review without the negative comments being viewed by the public. They can learn from the feedback and use it to improve on their product or service. On the other hand, if the review is positive, the user is urged to continue and add that review to the publicly accessible online resources, such as the Google Business listings.
Blake Smith, Digital Strategist at E-Web Marketing, says, “It can seem scary as a business knowing that your consumers have so much power to communicate with each other about the services or products that you offer and dramatically change each other’s opinions. However, this also presents a great opportunity for businesses who are willing to learn about online reputation and use it to their advantage; simultaneously improving their offering and the sentiment of customers towards them. We can help through our reputation management services.”
Established in 1998, E-Web Marketing has grown into an award-winning company that has proven to be useful for 3,000 global and national organisations in assisting them in substantially increasing their website traffic, brand awareness, lead conversions. They have set as their goal to assist businesses in enhancing their digital presence through the use of targeted strategies that help them save money in their online marketing efforts.
People who would like to further understand the importance of online reputation management to small-businesses can check out the E-Web Marketing website or contact them on the telephone or through email. They are open from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, from Monday to Friday.