ReputationChanger.com Protects Brands from Disparaging Online Reviews

NEW YORK, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- User-generated online reviews can bring with them a mixture of pros and cons—not just for the users themselves, but also for the companies being reviewed. A recent article from SEOptimise highlights the divisive nature of user-generated reviews. According to the article, many marketers and business owners welcome online reviews from users, noting that these reviews are typically keyword-rich, and also offer a heightened sense of transparency. Other business owners disagree, noting that online reviews can be disastrous when they are anything less than positive, and also observing that censoring these online reviews can be difficult. According to the industry-leading reputation management firm ReputationChanger.com, however, business owners ultimately do not have a say in the matter; online reviews can happen at any time, thanks to sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp.com, whether the business owner approves of them or not.

In a new press statement, ReputationChanger.com CEO Cliff Stein responds to the SEOptimise article. "The article highlights the pros and cons of allowing users to submit reviews to your company's website, but sadly, that's not really the issue for most business owners," Stein says. "You may decide not to allow user-submitted reviews on your company website, but there's nothing you can do about reviews on Angie's List, on Yelp, or on other, similar review sites."

Indeed, Stein notes that these reviews are virtually impossible to stop—and what makes matters worse, they are also very difficult to control. "Of course, every business owner would like to think that he or she will only receive positive reviews, or, at the very least, constructive feedback," says Stein. "There is simply no guarantee for that. People can post whatever they want to post on the Internet, even if it's defamatory content about your business. Negative reviews can come from former employees, or even from your business rivals. They can be completely unreasonable and not at all based in fact, and there is really nothing that can be done to prevent them from happening."

Stein continues by noting that negative reviews can do grave damage to a brand's reputation—something that should concern business owners in any field.

"The consequences of a single negative review, published to a site like Yelp, are tremendous," affirms the ReputationChanger.com CEO. "The fact of the matter is that a negative review can lead to lost sales and decreased conversions. It can generate further bad reviews, and even BBB complaints. A negative review can encourage customers to request chargebacks and refunds. The long and short of it is that a negative review can devastate a brand's reputation, and ultimately hurt the bottom line in some very real ways."

For business owners seeking to avoid the consequences of negative reviews, however, there is hope. According to Stein, bad reviews cannot be fully prevented, but they can be guarded against, thanks to the efforts of a reputation management firm like ReputationChanger.com.

"A reputation management firm cannot prevent people from posting bad reviews, but we can work, around the clock, to ensure that those reviews don't show up on the first Google search page," explains Stein. "We try to safeguard that, when a customer conducts a search for your brand, negative reviews are not the first thing he or she sees."

It is a strategy that Stein refers to as "review suppression." Says the ReputationChanger.com executive, "Any bad review that's on page one of Google is bad news, but if we can push it to page four, it becomes a non-issue." Stein concludes by saying that ReputationChanger.com has offered these review suppression services to Fortune 500 brands, small business startups, and everything in between. "We work tirelessly to establish the client's brand as one of immense esteem," says Stein.

ABOUT:

Established in 2009 by a team of top online marketing, search engine optimization, and sales experts, ReputationChanger.com is a pioneering company, known for its innovation in the field of online reputation management. The company's services include review suppression, brand enhancement, and basic privacy protection services, all designed to provide clients with control over how they are portrayed on the Internet. The company labors around the clock to provide extensive reputation repair strategies to its clients, which have included elected political leaders, Fortune 500 brands, small business start-ups, and more.

SOURCE Reputation Changer LLC