Poor recommendations online can be damaging to businesses and can end up costing companies thousands of dollars in lost sales each year. One thing you need to realize as a business owner or as a marketer is that it is impossible to go onto other websites and “delete” negative reviews.

Although you cannot delete feedback left by others, you can manage the content that you put out to the public while also managing the positive reviews that your company has across the Internet. You can minimize the negative reviews by increasing positive reviews on more authoritative and trusted websites.

Finding and keeping up with reviews of your company can seem slightly overwhelming. The first thing you will need to do if you have not already is set up Google Alerts for your company’s name. By setting up Google Alerts, you will be notified immediately every time someone mentions you or your company’s name on the Internet. This keeps you ahead of the curve when dealing with brand management and reputation on the Internet from this day forward.

In addition, to view what people have said about you from yesterday and beyond, perform a quick Google search for “your company’s name reviews.” For example, when we searched “USAA reviews” one of the first reviews for USAA reviews. (more…)