What is Online Reputation Management (ORM)?
Online reputation management is all about shaping how you or your business show up online – whether that’s on Google, review sites, or social media. Put simply, it means you need to keep an eye on what’s being said, responding thoughtfully, sharing positive content, and building trust over time.

• For brands: business reputation management/brand reputation management blends PR, SEO, content, and customer service to shape what people see and believe.
• For individuals and executives: Personal or executive reputation management helps make sure your professional presence for example on LinkedIn, in articles, and interviews genuinely reflects your values and expertise.
• For search results: Search engine reputation management focuses on creating and optimising positive, higher-authority content that outranks negative/low-quality pages.

How Your Online Reputation Can Affect Your Revenue
When your prospects Google your business, they don’t just find your website, they are able to see your reviews, news, social posts, and forum threads. That combined view is your “digital first impression.”

Your business’s reviews and trust signals can materially affect your buyer’s behaviour and conversion rates and this is particularly relevant for higher-consideration purchases. (Ref: Medill Spiegel Research Center). It can also be noted in Ofcom’s latest reports explain how important central online sources and social platforms are in relation to how people in the UK discover information and make decisions (www.ofcom.org.uk).

Online Reputation Management For Small Businesses
Building trust online is important for your company’s success. Here are four simple strategies to enhance your credibility and help your customers feel confident doing business with you.

1. Showcase Awards and Recognitions
   Display your awards from respected organisations, industry leaders, or trusted publications on your website. Recognitions like these may set you apart from your competition and assure potential customers that your company is reliable.
2. Display Trust Seals
   Trust seals from well-known security or certification companies are an easy way to make new visitors to your website feel safer. Since many consumers look for these seals, having one can increase confidence in your company.
3. Provide Customer Reviews
   Customer reviews are key to helping new customers feel confident in their purchase. These days many buyers read reviews before buying, therefore displaying them on your website can increase transparency and trust straight away. Positive reviews show prospective buyers that others have had good experiences with your company.
4. Build a Positive Online Reputation
   Your personal online presence is important for your company’s image, particularly if you’re a small business owner. Regularly sharing valuable content, insights, or expertise can help create a strong, trustworthy identity for both you and your business.

The Online Reputational Management (ORM) Pillars
The Online Reputation Management (ORM) pillars relate to monitoring, influencing, protecting, and repairing your digital presence to ensure a positive online perception.

1. Monitor (Protect)
   Keep an eye on your brand – its important that you know what’s being said about you in real time:
   • Track mentions online about your company, products and execs.
   • Keep an eye on Google search results for queries or comments about your brand and products / services.
2. Respond (Protect & Restore)
   This can either make or break your reputation online:
   • On social media make sure you reply quickly, be genuine, and aim to move delicate conversations to private channels if needed.
   • For reviews, thank your happy customers and make sure you address any problems with empathy. If you follow up to show detractors that their concerns are heard, this can lead to them updating their ratings.
   • In the press or forums, politely correct inaccuracies with facts and avoid escalating situations unnecessarily.
3. Publish Positive Assets (Build)
   Take control of your narrative by creating valuable, expert and accurate content:
   • Publish helpful content on your website and extend this to reputable third-party sites where relevant.
   • Use SEO and reputation strategies to target search result with guides, FAQs, case studies, and thought leadership as this can push down outdated or negative content.
   • Encourage your customers to give honest reviews on your website and on third-party platforms like Google or Trustpilot.
4. System & Measurement (Sustain)
   To keep your reputation strong, you need to put in place structure and measurement for brand reputation monitoring:
   • Monitor your reputation on a regular basis
   • You might consider using a reputation management dashboard to monitor sentiment, reviews, search visibility, and response times—particularly useful for larger businesses and those operating online stores.

FAQs About Boosting Your Online Presence

1. Why is online reputation management important?
   Because purchase decisions and hiring choices are shaped by what appears online: reviews, SERPs, and social proof. UK audiences rely heavily on online sources; trust and review presence influence whether people try or switch brands. (Ref: www.ofcom.org.uk).
2. How can you check your digital reputation?
   Google yourself/your brand, review the first three search engine results [link to SEO page] pages, check your Google Business Profile, Trustpilot and social media comments.
3. How to improve online reputation management?
   Follow the four pillars for reputational management: monitor → respond → publish positive assets → measure.
4. Online reputation management for individuals Vs brands?
   We recommend that if you are an individual, you should focus on your personal online reputation (such as LinkedIn, personal website, thought leadership, accurate bios in directories etc.). If you are a brand, focus on increasing your visibility on review engines, showcase awards and recognition, and release regular relevant content on your website.
5. Your social media and reputation
   To help manage your social media reputation, consistently share positive, genuine content, respond thoughtfully to feedback, and make sure you monitor online mentions to address issues promptly.
6. How to improve your online reputation?
   Tackle what you can fix or remove, set the record straight with credible sources, respond thoughtfully to reviews, and share better content that outshines the old or negative pages. Then keep at it as building a good reputation is a steady flywheel, rather than an overnight switch.
7. How to address small business reputation management?
   Make sure you actively monitor your online reviews, engage with your customers transparently and genuinely, and consistently promote positive brand experiences.
8. PR and reputation management?
   We recommend engaging a professional PR agency to proactively support your brand in managing and safeguarding its reputation, especially if you operate at a large scale.