SWOT Analysis

This analysis will help you and your company undercover any issues when dealing with both internal and external strategies and ideas. Making sure you have a clear understanding of what a SWOT analysis is important. Please note “SWOT” is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Let us break this down a little more for you.

 

— Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power —

 

SWOT banner

Strengths:

These are the first key indicators you want to look out for, so grab a piece of paper and a pen. Write down everything that helps your company, inside and out. Any expertise on the topic you are providing clients with or maybe your website is designed at a higher degree making competitors appear obsolete. Maybe you have the lowest prices!. In addition, if you have a strong and productive work environment that could be considered a strength as well. Anything you feel makes your company better should be listed in this category. Focus on building trust.

 

Weaknesses:

Now it is time to make a list of the negatives or the opposing sides to your strengths list. As many hey experience a lack of resources and knowledge and this can be detrimental to the overall success or online reputation of your company. Having a poor customer experience is never the goal to make sure your employees go above and behind to ensure a client is happy, poor communication can be the end of you. Pay attention to what could possibly hurt you and start devising plans on how you can rectify this, otherwise known as “opportunities”.Weakness Banner

Opportunities:

Once you have sat down and compiled a list of strengths and weaknesses it is now time to look at your opportunities. This is more of an external focus as you will come to learn. Creating a powerful networking system can assist in many ways. The generation of ads will increase your sites visitor volume and that shows Google and others that people are interested in the content you write about and/or what you provide. Other ways to look at opportunities include:

  • Creating a new niches
  • Leveraging a new product or service

Threats:

Lastly, it is now time to evaluate your potential threats (internal/external). Examples would be a competitor is outranking your website online or clients are starting to take interest in other sites over yours. Make sure you keep your information up-to-date, nobody wants to read outdated information. If you do this correctly, you can turn this into a strength quickly. Your threats should consist of all things that can and will harm your company.

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Why should I use a SWOT Analysis?

As a business owner or blogger, you need to know what is affecting your website and how. A SWOT analysis is designed to better help you identify and understand key issues or benefits. This should not offer solutions but simply a list of influencing factors.

After you have completed your SWOT analysis you will have a better grasp of how you can better utilize your resources. Vice versa, you can also pinpoint useless issues you are currently spending time with and reallocate that effort to a more important threat or opportunity. You will start to see operations work smoother as you will be dealing with lesser risk once you have a generalized idea of where you stand amongst your competitors.

 

 

 

What to do After Performing an Analysis.

Once you have listed all of your components within your SWOT analysis it is time to sit down with your team and discuss solution possibilities. Begin by pointing out your strengths and how much power you actually have on the internet. Now take those positives and see what threat you can better improve upon. Going over your options on a monthly basis is a great start. During your performance meetings just go around the room asking everybody what they like or dislike. Taking care of your internal efforts has positive repercussions.

Call us today to see what options you have. One of our very knowledgeable advisors can design a plan perfect for you. Now it is time you know more about your company. Be in the know and act quickly.

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How Online Reputation Management Works in 2021


Online Reputation Management Process Explained

Are you interested in learning how online reputation management works? In this article, we will define what online reputation management (ORM) is and share some of the most influential approaches and methods we use every day here at GuaranteedRemoval to resolve issues for our clients.

 

There are a lot of delusions regarding online reputation management. Some individuals think it’s simply monitoring your online presence, while others assume it has something to do with public relationships, yet some literally have no clue about how it can affect businesses and their bottom line.

 

In this guide, We are going to clarify the purpose of online reputation management in today’s market and business world.

 

Businesses of all sizes can profit from obtaining a precise framework of its core theories.

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Why Online Reputation Matters

Not only do individuals see the internet as their primary expert of data, however, they also believe what sites such as Google shows them. 

 

Moreso, individuals make choices based on what they discover online. How scary is that?

  • 66% of people view the internet as the most credible reference for information about a person or a company
  • 70% of business directors have denied an applicant due to something they saw online.
  • When scanning online for a nearby business, 97% of individuals religiously read online reviews 
  • More than 80% of reputation damages arise from confusion or misinterpretation amidst the buzz and what is the truth, or reality

 

After viewing those statistics, it’s obvious that what happens online influences your life, before, now and in the future.

 

How Online Reputation Management Works
How Online Reputation Management Works

 

Mixing On/Offline

In this digital age, the online world is shifting into more of a necessity as they need it to deal with the rest of our activities. 

 

Even if you need to touch a computer, you are using technology every single day. This may be driving your car, adjusting your smart thermostat or even cruising around in your new Tesla. 

 

99% of United States citizen-consumers some form of technology or “smart device” on a daily basis.

 

This suggests that there are an infinite amount of ways for you to create your digital footprint. Whether it be positive or negative.

 

Furthermore, you may not believe that individuals are searching for you online, however, there is a great chance people are.

 

With over 7 Billion people on Earth, it would be crazy to think that not one of them is not looking you up.

 

Typical causes involve:

  • Companies doing pre-interview analysis
  • Landowners researching potential renters
  • Children seeking to find details of their parents
  • Inquisitive significant others, both past, and present
  • Previous co-workers hoping to bestow professional opportunities
  • University admission committees assessing soon-to-be students
  • Insurance firms performing risk evaluations

 

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How Online Reputation Management Works

Help like this utilizes a combo of public relations techniques coupled with high-level SEO methods in order to build positive online content. These tactic works to push anything negative off of the first page on each search engines’ results.

 

May entail:

  • Designing and optimizing domains
  • Generating high-quality backlinks
  • Thoughtful management posts
  • Social media control
  • Managing online reviews
  • Content curation

 

 

Why Online Reputation?

It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a large corporation, a sales director, business executive, a diplomat or even a small business proprietor, your online reputation is your most important asset. 

 

Perversely, whether your search results display positive or negative results, these listings will define the overall online reputation of yourself or your business.

 

So when is it important to have a positive reputation online?

  • Driving an IPO
  • Obtaining funding for a business adventure
  • Drawing in new potential customers
  • Forming a strategic business alliance
  • Competing for public office
  • Improving your career path

 

What Are the Benefits of Online Reputation Management

  • Make sure your online reputation matches your business or personal brand. 
  • Lessen brand uncertainty within Google, Bing, and Yahoo’s search results
  • Recognize and combat detrimental reputation brand crises
  • Defend your reputation and your future with a decisive, accurate web appearance
  • Create a network of online connections in order to create more trust and credibility amongst your customers
  • Respond to negative and untruthful reviews, posts, and/or news articles.
  • Elaborate on preexisting online marketing campaigns that showed success
  • Ascertain yourself as a trusted expert online as well as across all social media platforms

 

You have presumably recognized by now that reputation management does not come with a step-by-step how-to or should you see fast results. 

 

ORM is a long-term plan to preserve and strengthen your online reputation for what happened in the past, what’s happening today, and what you expect to happen in the future. 

 

What type of difficulties can a well constructed online reputation management strategy fix?

 

Negative Online Reviews

Negative reviews on Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Ripoff Report will cost businesses hundreds of billions of dollars each year. These are sites where customers can leave an unbiased opinion, it is essentially a place where disgruntled customers come to slander and defame businesses. (Click here to learn how to remove negative online reviews)

 

This is because consumers overwhelmingly believe online reviews when trying to learn about particular products and services prior to visiting their store or website to make a purchase.

 

Even worse, customers infrequently distinguish the truth amongst genuine customer complaints and fraudulent lower star ratings. 

 

However, don’t panic. GuaranteedRemoval.com can assist you with review management. This way you know what consumers are saying about you at all times. The best part is now you can act fast before the situation worsens.

 

Negative Online Reviews

 

 

Unfair Competition

Customers do a lot of investigation online prior to making that final purchase. Moreover, corresponding posts have a notable influence on their ultimate decision.

 

Wistfully, hundreds of product connection sites are associated with one of the products they are relating to. So that means that many of those sites are in fact controlled by the same company

 

Unwanted News Articles & Posts

Negative articles are a tremendous online reputation problem for most of our clients. Distressed press pulls down a company’s reputation, and quickly. 

 

This can affect a company’s total revenue, hiring, and employee retention as well as funding. So, financial firms succumb to a massive loss in clients. As investors unload stocks, and customers stop buying or talking about you.

 

However, negative Google results are not the only thing that affects businesses. False knowledge and public scandals help potential customers determine whether or not a particular company has a positive or negative online reputation.

 

Unfortunately, when reporters get ahold of a fascinating narrative, they oftentimes distribute it while it’s hot, this means before the truth is released. Even if the story is ultimately disproved, it may stay on the internet indefinitely. 

 

Damage is further increased as false stories are distributed out to hundreds or thousands of readers.

 

Brand Crises & Attacks on Your Reputation

Online slander is possibly one of the worst obstacles you can have when operating a business. It’s not enjoyable, as a business owner, when negative content is referencing your business online. Furthermore, nothing is more damaging than malicious, opprobrious attacks.

 

Whether the cause is a dissatisfied past worker, a hostile ex, or a sneaky unethical competitor. You must combat this negativity at all costs. Nevertheless, be prepared as these situations can be remarkably fragile.

 

Consequently enough, it is sufficient to solicit advice from online reputation management experts such as GuaranteedRemoval before you end up making matters worse.

 

Brand Crises

 

 

Uncertainty About Your Brand

Not all companies have uncommon names. If your business name is also a popular word then you may struggle to find decent online exposure.

 

This does not only limits your online marketing efforts, but it also deters potential customers from discovering your site. If you are interested in learning more about Online Reputation Management visit NetReputation.com

 

 

Lack of Brand Clarity

You may have an immaculate online reputation, nevertheless, others who talk about you online (your customers) may not be as careful. 

 

Unfortunately, online personality disorder could cause someone else’s social media profiles, ellicit images, and mug shots to show within your own search results. 

 

You may know which results are yours, however, others might not be able to distinguish between what is about you and someone else that has the same name as you.

 

Brands are in more danger online than ever before. Fictitious profiles are emerging and they have the power to severely undermine a business’ reputation only if customers think they’re your real accounts.

 

Misleading Online Profiles

GuaranteedRemoval clients consist of global business directors and contributors who have worked to help change the world. 

 

Although, their personal search results did not explicitly reflect their lifetime achievements. 

 

GuaranteedRemoval will help ensure that your online reputation management is both positive and authentic.

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SEO and ORM

You are a growing business, but your site is not ranking highly online when users are searching for a product you sell. You decide to implement a strategy in which you utilize keywords and phrases that will boost your views and ultimately bring more consumers to your site. This strategy is called search engine optimization (SEO) and is utilized by users that want to establish a presence online.

As your site begins to receive more hits, your product sales go up as well. You decide to check out a review site in which your product is rated and reviewed. This is where you see a list of unhappy customers that are very displeased with your product. You would like to hide this page from the public, so you decide to utilize a strategy in which you can manage negative reviews. This strategy is called online reputation management (ORM) and is beneficial to users that want to protect their online reputation.

 

Differences Among SEO and ORM

ORM uses SEO as a part of its strategy to take control of the online conversation, but it is not SEO. The two concepts separately are very different and have diverse goals. Here are a few of the differences between SEO and ORM:

  • ORM focuses solely on online conversation control. Removing any negative content, boosting positive pages, and allowing users to maintain a positive image
  • SEO focuses on generating traffic. This is how ORM uses it to boost pages, but only to generate traffic to positive pages that help it rank highly
  • Both generate traffic and rank higher with Google, Bing, or Yahoo!

Although using these strategies separately is common, using them together can help your business grow immensely throwing proper management of your online reputation.

balloons SEO and ORM

 

ORM and SEO – The Buying Process

Here are the are key steps in which SEO and ORM can play a role.

  • Awareness: This stage is where the consumer develops a need. This could be anything from buying a new coat for winter or needing a new laptop for your job.
  • Consideration: The user then goes online and looks for potential products.
  • Purchase: The cycle then comes to an end after the user then purchases the product they favor the most.

 

Now, SEO mainly plays a role in the awareness stage. Where users looked up an article on what are the best attributes of a certain product. ORM plays a role in the consideration stage by hiding the negative reviews of the product and permitting the product to have a favorable online image. This is how ORM and SEO can play a role in improving the number of customers your business may receive.

 

SEO and ORM customer journey

 

Why SEO and ORM are Important

SEO and ORM are extremely advantageous to any business that wishes to expand its consumer base. ORM can also benefit individuals that wish to protect their online reputation. ORM helps to eliminate any negative information that may be available about them online. Most can handle ORM on their own. However, if you believe your situation is rather complex, contacting online reputation management may be a viable option and can successfully aid in protecting your online reputation.

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Business Reputation Management – Why You Need It

When you’re running a business, your reputation in the market is only as good as what your stakeholders (employees, customers, strategic partners, and suppliers) have to say about you. You could be spending a good chunk of your company budget on turning your business into a recognized brand, but one angry customer or employee can make all your efforts dissipate within minutes.

 

Information Spreads Quickly Online | Act Now

It takes virtually no time to damage your business’s reputation. Things, however, can be different if you have someone working on monitoring the reputation of your business online – someone that takes business reputation management seriously. Most companies use professional reputation management agencies instead of having an expensive in-house team.

 

The main job of these reputation management teams is to help you reduce any negative attention your brand attracts even if a single “bad” response goes viral.

 

business reputation
business reputation

 

In most cases, reputation management involves the following two courses of action:

  • Removal of the remark in case it is abusive, rude, or constitutes for a legal problem
  • Helping businesses coordinate a professional response to such claims and remarks

 

The idea is to solve the underlying issues, if any, in an attempt to make up for an unfortunate experience a stakeholder has with the company. Most of these efforts are focused on establishing and improving the relationship between a business and its customers.

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Now the question is: why business reputation management is so important for you and your business? Let’s explore the reasons for that:

 

Trust and Credibility Matters

People love sharing their experiences with certain products and services with their friends and family. They even post reviews on the internet. If these people are your customers, it is important for your business that they trust you and what you offer.

 

You want people talking about you, but in a positive context. Obviously, anything negative is bad for your business.

 

Because Your Future Sales Depend On It

Damage control is real. You have a couple of customers badmouthing about your business and the next thing you notice is that you start losing customers and experience an abrupt decline in sales.

 

However, if you can manage to do what’s necessary to change the opinions of unhappy customers saying all the wrong things about your business, it’s highly likely that the same people will change the negative picture they painted about you online.

 

Because You’ve Got to Maintain the Company Image

When a third party considers your business for any professional purpose, i.e., joint partnerships or mergers, your business reputation is one factor that prevents them from moving forward.

 

If a candidate is evaluating your business, either a possible employee or a bank, they will check your reputation. A simple search of your business’s name on Google will tell them a lot about you. If it’s positive, they will consider you a good choice. If not, you could lose many business opportunities.

 

For these basic reasons and more, it is imperative for modern-day businesses to pay attention to reputation management. It could be a decisive factor that helps you beat your competitors!

 

If your business is ready for reputation management, contact us today.

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What is a Reputation Gap Analysis 

The benefits of working with our team are that we have the ability to always remove negative and defamatory content. We stand out from our competitors because we always perform a gap analysis whenever we take on a new project. 

In regards to the reputation management industry, a gap analysis is what allows us to access potential threats and opportunities.

We’re going to give you an inside look into how our gap analysis works and why we perform one.

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The Gap Analysis Let’s Us Know If We Can Help You 

A gap analysis takes place during the research part of our process. We use it to compare your results with the results of companies or individuals that are similar to you or your company.

The idea is to investigate websites with offending content and compare their entries to our list of strong domains that can be used to suppress problematic content.

 

Why We Perform a Gap Analysis

The gap analysis is so important because it influences the entire strategy from start to finish. Basically, it allows us to develop a concrete plan to get you the results you deserve.

For example, once we have the results of the gap analysis, we are able to create a list of controllable web properties that will allow us to display you in a positive light. This newly created content will then bring in organic traffic for your business, provide positive social mentions of your business, and most importantly get you inbound links.

 

Gap Analysis 1

 

The Art of Content Suppression

Only by performing a gap analysis is it possible to know how to suppress a piece of content. The entire concept of online reputation management is to have a piece of content suppressed so it no longer appears on the first page of Google for a specific search term.

When defamatory content doesn’t make the first page of Google it’s practically invisible since the average visitor doesn’t go past the first five listings. Therefore, it won’t have a significant impact on your online reputation any longer. 

 

Why Not Ask the Website to Remove a Piece of Content?

he first thing our reputation management team will try is to contact the website to have the negative content removed. However, the websites aren’t required to remove negative content in most cases.
It is true that you could attempt to take legal action. However, this is expensive and time-consuming. Plus, there’s a good chance that it won’t result in removal so content suppression is a guaranteed option to fix your online reputation.

That’s why a gap analysis becomes so important.

 

Gap Analysis 2

 

Last Word – A Gap Analysis is the Start to Getting Your Reputation Back on Track

A gap analysis requires a team of reputation management experts to gather and interpret the results. This is why we recommend that you contact us for your free consultation today to see if we can help you get your reputation back on track.

You’ll get better results and have a guarantee that defamatory content will be removed from the public eye.

Do you need help protecting your online reputation?

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7 Branding Mistakes to Avoid When Building an Online Brand

Are your branding mistakes costing your business? Learn the top branding mistakes and how to avoid them. 

 

You’re building an online brand, which means you’re trying to dominate your target market and rise above your competitors. You believe you have all of the right tools, but for some reason, your online presence is not as large as you wish for it to be.

 

This means you are making some of the common branding mistakes that businesses around the globe have made when they first began building their online brand. These mistakes are prevalent amongst newcomers to building their online brand and can hurt their credibility and authority online, which is why it is so crucial to avoid these branding mistakes. Without further adieu, here are seven mistakes to avoid when building an online brand.

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The most common branding mistakes to avoid when building and monitoring your online brand include the following:

 

1. Not Standing Out

 

Why do you think that companies like Apple, Facebook, or Twitter stand out among the crowd? This is because they were some of the first companies to do what they were doing. Instead of modeling other businesses and competitors, they took their own approach and did their best at becoming different from everyone else. Instead of attempting to blend in with the crowd, try to stand out and become something unique.

 

Internet users love to boast about finding the newest application, product or service online. By differentiating yourself from industry standards you can put your company on the map quickly.

 

Many business owners examine what their competitors do, and simply mimic those strategies. They think, “Well if this company is succeeding while using this method, I will simply emulate what they’re doing and succeed as well!”, sadly this is often a direction for mixing into the group, instead of standing out.

 

 

red balloon standing out

 

 

2. Inconsistency

 

Consumers do not like to feel like they are confused about what you have to offer. Confusion can usually lead to consumers being distrustful and ultimately steer them away from your brand. For example, if one day you are posting updates on Twitter about how you are empathetic about a certain situation, and then the next day completely changes your tone to something more angry and harsh, then your followers will be extremely confused on what you are really feeling. This is why making sure that what you post is consistent and reliable and easy for your consumers to understand will steer them toward you instead of away.

 

In addition, remain consistent by always posting at the same time throughout the day. This creates further engagement as after awhile individuals will go onto Facebook at 5 pm because they know you will be posting new content. They want to see what is new with you and what new products/services you may have to offer.

 

Learn how on how to effectively grow your brand and combat negativity by learning how to remove articles from the internet.

 

 

3. Branding Elements & Value Don’t Match

 

You want to make sure that your colors, fonts, voice, etc. are all consistent with your values and overall what your business stands for. It is important to make sure that your branding elements and values match up to make sure that your consumers do not get confused about what you have to offer.

 

Believe it or not, if your branding colors do not match up with what you have to offer, this can deter individuals from purchasing from you due to the uncertainty of what your product really may be. Matching branding elements and values are key for building your online brand.

 

 

4. Losing Your Cool on Social Media

 

This happens quite frequently today and can cost companies tons of business. If the owner (you) of a company is seen online tweeting or posting racial slurs, arguing with consumers, or dishing out insults to competitors, it may cause customers to avoid doing business with you in the future.

 

I know it sounds like something most people would know not to do, but at the moment it can be hard to reason with yourself why you should avoid this. Overall, interacting with consumers in a negative way (especially online) can just lead to customer loss and hurt you more than anyone else. Therefore, avoid losing your cool on social media!

 

 

Losing Your Cool on Social Media
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5. Not Monitoring Online Views

 

It is essential to monitor your online views when trying to build your brand. When consumers are trying to find a company to do business with or buy a product from, they usually will look to the reviews to see what others have to say.

 

If you are not monitoring your reviews online, you are not only not viewing what positive things customers are saying about you, but also not viewing what customers dislike about your business. Also, you are leaving these customers without a response from you. When you leave a response, it shows consumers that you are working to improve your business and your product.

 

Overall, monitoring your reviews online will aid your business by developing more consumer insight and locate the aspects of your business that customers can do without.

 

 

6. Customers Can Not Find You Online

 

If customers can not find you online, of course, you are not going to be able to improve your personal brand. If your social media platforms and website is not properly optimized for your customers to be able to find you easily, then you are missing out on significant opportunities, followers, traffic, and leads for your business.

 

You need to ensure that when someone Google’s your business name that you are on the front page (preferably the first result) and that you are able to easily be found. Read more about Google reputation management!

 

Customers Can Not Find You Online

 

 

7. Not Monitoring Mentions of Your Brand

 

If you are unaware of what people are saying about your business online, then how can you address any feedback or potential concerns? Staying on top of what people are saying about you online will ensure that you are immediately available to people that have any questions.

 

You can make sure and always be aware of what people are saying about you online through utilizing tools such as Social Mention, Hootsuite, and Google Alerts.

 

Another way to manage and control your online presence is through the utilization of online reputation management. Online reputation management has become a key component within businesses that wish to improve their overall online presence and further build their brand online.

 

Online reputation management can also remove personal information from Google that comes up about you or your company online and ensures you to have a positive online image to your future employers and consumers.

 

 

Guaranteed Removal – Contact Us

 

Guaranteed Removal (GR) is an online reputation management company that works around the clock to effectively eliminate any negative information about you online. Online reputation management is key for businesses that wish to take control of their online presence.

 

GR can adequately enable you to do the following:

 

  • Establish a positive online reputation

 

  • Remove or Suppress any negative content related to your business

 

  • Learn how to generate more positive online reviews

 

Take your online reputation into your hands and make sure that you are presenting the most positive image of yourself online. Click for more information on online reputation management mistakes!

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Leveraging Online Business Reviews

Reviews and declarations from your current customers are exceptionally vital for your business, and especially it’s online reputation. 

 

People can compose online reviews (good or bad) for you whether you are marketing goods or services. 

 

Any online recommendations and reviews act as substantial proof that you are effective and valuable and worth working with or purchasing from. 

 

Furthermore, it is necessary that you realize that you are the only individual who can’t leave/post an online review or a testimony for your business. 

 

This would most likely damage the trust built between your business and the potential audience that you’ve worked so hard to build thus far.

 

Leveraging Online Business Reviews
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Monitor Search Engines For Social Mentions

If you are anything like most people who have the plan to purchase something from someone else.

 

You will need to understand what others have said and how they think that their experience went prior to even considering your business. Did their expectations match reality?

 

If a large percentage of online reviews or client testimonials are negative, consumers will most likely buy elsewhere online. 

 

Think about it, if you saw two businesses with the same good/service but one had favorable reviews… which one would you choose?

 

If that other business has a higher level of positive online reviews and testimonials, your customers will most likely want to order from the latter.

 

Depending on the industry of specific business vertical you operate within, depending on how saturated your business market is, obtain a single bad review has the capability to ruin a local business for good.

 

There are essentially two popular misconceptions that a person can make when he or she is about to purchase something. Especially when it is online since it is easy and convenient. 

 

Companies Need Reviews & Consumer Testimonials

Furthermore, when we talk about reviews and testimonials whether positive or negative, as a business owner you should be working 24/7 to curate new business reviews. 

 

New potential customers will appreciate these resources compared to a company with no reviews.

 

Sometimes the only way to prove yourself to an indecisive customer is to provide them with positive reviews showcasing your business’ abilities. 

 

It is that simple. 

 

One simple way to advertise and showcase your online business reviews for leverage is by creating posts on your social media featuring your positive reviews.

 

Most business owners do not realize how influential online business reviews are for growth. 

 

So if you are a business owner with no reviews, we suggest you pick up the phone and contact some of your previous customers.

 

Leveraging Online Business Reviews 2

 

After you work to generate reviews across a plethora of review sites, make sure you give your team access as well. The more hands-on-deck the better on a situation such as this.

 

So what do you go about this?… The answer is organization.

 

Sustaining High-Levels of Organization 

In order to keep generating an increase in new business from online business reviews you must stay current. It is important that you do not get too complacent or comfortable. 

 

A lapse in online business reviews generated could leave potential customers wondering what happened. Why hasn’t this company received any new reviews in months?

 

Leveraging Online Business Reviews 3

 

Leverage Online Business Reviews by Responding Quickly

Let’s be real, if you provide a quality solution you will presumably receive an influx of positive star rating reviews.

 

However, mixed in with the positive reviews are probably a small number of negative ones as well. 

 

When dealing with negative online business reviews, it is imperative that you act quickly. 

 

For example, if you receive a bad Google review you can respond to rectify the situation in a timely manner.

 

At the end of the day, as business owners, you hate negative reviews

 

However, a negative review online can teach you more about what people really think about your company, employees, or even you as an individual.

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Optimize Marketing Efforts Based on Custom Metrics, KPIs & Analytics 

Learning how to analyze your own data online can benefit you in uncountable ways. By reviewing your online analytics, you can learn who your target audience really. 

 

This allows you to create buyer personas on a more detailed scale to improve your marketing efforts. 

 

You can target people you know are interested instead of individuals who may leave negative remarks

 

There are a variety of online tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, and MOZ that allow you to do a deeper dive into what your insights truly mean. 

 

Your data analytics will showcase where you should make improvements. 

 

For example, you could add follow up emails to your marketing mix in efforts to generate new reviews for recent customers. 

 

It is crucial that you hold your finger to the pulse of your business, never get comfortable.

 

Leveraging Online Business Reviews 4

 

Increase Leveraging Capacity By Boosting Total Online Business Reviews

If you go the traditional route, as most businesses do, you have probably not invested much into getting or leaving reviews online. 

 

Most small businesses just hope that if they perform quality customer service, their good reviews reflect this.

 

However, in this digital age consumers turn in Google for everything. That even include where they want to go for dinner.

 

Having online business reviews will not only increase your visibility but it will also give you added credibility, boost your professional reputation, and provide you with value-added brand exposure.

 

Wrapping Up: Leveraging Online Business Reviews For Growth

Online business reviews and testimonials are important to your brand’s future prosperity. 

 

Online customers might do extensive research on the various products and services before even deciding to visit their location or online store. 

 

This is where the implementation of enriched data snippets and customer review listings come into play.

 

So if you feel that you haven’t been capable of collecting enough online business reviews don’t worry this is a long process. 

 

Users are more likely to review a small business online after poor customer experiences moreso than if they had a pleasant experience.

 

How you leverage your online business reviews will depend on how much repeat business you achieve or how much you increase new traffic for your business (both online or in-person, if applicable).

 

Online business reviews are one of the only ways that a person will determine whether or not to they want to buy from you.

 

Users are becoming smarter and smarter each day. You can no longer simply put “Best Company” on your window or on your website without backing it up with proof.

 

So if you are a business owner struggling to leverage online business reviews currently we can help. 

 

Please complete the form below to receive a FREE CONSULTATION on how you can work to generate more positive online business reviews today.

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Brand Crisis Management

Brand crisis management measures can be linked to many diverse processes within strategic reputation management such as procedure formulation, implementation, and evaluation. 

 

The degree to which businesses can change from being crisis-prone to being crisis-prepared may well correlate with the fact that they are ready to disseminate crisis management and strategic management processes at any given time. 

 

Moreover, the strategic assessment does not fully address dilemmas that could be encountered in the long term by administering and supporting a preferred brand crisis management strategy.

 

This, of course, is mostly caused by changes in the business ecosystem

 

Consequently, a well-known facet of strategic and brand crisis management is examining the business’s internal and external environment. Doing so will help indicate that some strategies are more crisis-prone than others.

 

  • 60% of businesses are equipped with a crisis management plan
  • 56% of the businesses with a plan have chosen a crisis management team
  • 50% of the businesses with plans have directed crisis exercises or simulations
  • 38% of the businesses with plans have faculty qualified in crisis management arts
  • 90% of the businesses with plans have formal education once per year

 

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Create Efficient Communication Plans (Internal & External)

Perhaps the most important element in the crisis management process is the intention of the organizational structure that will come into play during the crisis event. 

 

In numerous cases, a brand crisis management model appears to be the most desired and effective structure choice.

 

The second issue which must be addressed is the selection of the crisis team

 

When selecting which individuals are to be assigned to the team, deliberation must be given to the magnitude of the required task. In addition to whether or not it will require a long term as opposed to a short term commitment by its members.

 

Next, the designed crisis team manager is tasked with strengthening the group into an effective working unit. Throughout this method, the manager must continuously be aware of the purpose of the unit. 

 

brand crisis management 2

 

Whereas, in this case, it is to deal with any and all brand crises while still enabling the remainder of the organization to work in line with a regular routine.

 

The evolution of this team is accomplished through the examination of goals and functions as well as each group and individual processes. 

 

Once the team members understand these issues, the change into a useful cohesive unit commences.

 

The fourth step in the process is the conception and implementation of the crisis audit. This embodies the tools that collect information and further categorize them into goals. 

 

Brand Crisis Management Priorities

These priorities are not separate and distinct from the organizational objectives. 

 

The priorities are in reality steps needed to guarantee that organizational goals can be achieved in spite of the crisis factors.

 

Once the team goals and crisis priorities have been established. The next issue to be addressed is the implementation of the crisis plan. 

 

For many organizations, the plan will usually consist of five elements: 

  1. Building a Foundation
  2. Developing Goals
  3. Brainstorm Theories
  4. Identify Trigger Mechanism
  5. Decide of Effective Action Moves

 

brand crisis management 3

 

The foundation gives a summary of the crisis situation. While the goals and objectives are designed to precisely outline the purpose and reduce generalizations and uncertainties. 

 

Your theories will reiterate those circumstances over which we have little control, yet will have a major impact if they transpire.

 

A trigger mechanism is a notification tool that brings the plan into activation. 

 

It must be structured in such a way that it will not be inappropriately executed or limited in any way. 

 

Once implemented by the trigger mechanism, the plan, now fully implemented, moves the team into the action phase. 

 

 

Why You Need a Brand Crisis Management Plan Now

Before we get started, these issues change how we need to address the response. Here are a few structural components that we want to consider:

  • Do we have the right people to address this situation?
  • Who does what?
  • What tools do you have to manage incoming information?
  • Is the visibility of our stakeholders affected?
  • Do we have a means for managing social media and crisis communications?
  • Will our staff/customers/stakeholders have trust that we are in control?

 

The problem of when to have a proactive plan breaks down into two parts.

  1. Why do I need a crisis management plan? 
  2. How does it need to be proactive?

 

To acknowledge the first part, it is worth examining some common interpretations of crisis management and crises. 

 

brand crisis management 4

 

Monitoring Social Mentions

Another perspective of crisis management has also developed over the last years; the constant media coverage through internet news websites and popular social media channels.

 

Companies are constantly defied and beaten with new data resulting in a crisis that evolves hour by hour. Necessitating that the crisis must be managed through rapid response.

 

Long Term Ideas to Combat Brand Crises

Other experts in the field have also identified the common long-term property of the two management fields and how they deal with emergent situations and are concerned with organizational survival in the future. 

 

The strategic plan of an organization or a nation is incomplete unless it includes the integration of crisis management.

 

What Makes a Crisis Plan a Success?

Planning in order to prevent crises requires a strategic approach and mindset. 

 

Managers, when developing corporate strategies, should be aware of potential events that may lead to crises. 

 

brand crisis management 5

 

Crisis Response Plan to Improve Brand Reputation

Although the circumstance has improved over the last few years, traditional crisis management is still observed as a separate planning process and not intertwined with policy. 

 

Notwithstanding the developing interest in the strategic value of crises, our understanding of the area is limited. 

 

One key point is that the precise relationship between a firm’s strategic environment and its crisis management decisions remains to be completely blueprinted. 

 

Furthermore, there are several articles discussing crisis and strategic integration focus mostly on the coordination of activities within two separate management fields.

 

To conclude, the indicative lack of focus on the crisis aspect of strategic management could be a problem in future crisis handling. This should be addressed more thoroughly by business managers.

 

Build your business a safety net now and be proactive. Don’t wait until a brand crisis appears before you decide to take action. To get started today on building an effective brand crisis management plan please complete the form below.

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36 Hotel Industry Statistics in 2019

Here are the hotel industry statistics you need to know in the year ahead. 

 

To persevere in the aggressive hospitality industry, hotel owners and management require a powerful reputation that draws in a steady flow of new clientele. One of the greatest methods to achieve this is to handle your business’ online consumer reviews.

 

The subsequent hotel industry statistics reveal how online reviews and search results can further assist to improve your hotel in 3 primary methods.

 

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Getting Potential Guests to Notice You

According to these 5 hotel industry statistics, most individuals plan out their vacation or travel arrangements online. Therefore a large portion of their research when booking entails reading a lot of online reviews. 

 

Consequently, if your hotel has an inadequate online reputation, with little to no reviews, potential tenants may overlook you and decide to select another hotel with more positive reviews. 

 

Some techniques to get more reviews to involve claiming your profile on review platforms, habitually asking for more consumer reviews, as well as making it as simple as possible for your tenants to post reviews.

  1. Nearly 70% of Americans begin preparing a trip by doing an online search.
  2. 81% of people often or perpetually read online reviews prior to booking a hotel.
  3. 52% of people would rarely book a hotel that has zero reviews.
  4. 96% of tourists believe reviews are an essential part of examining a hotel. 
  5. 79% of people will look through 6 and 12 reviews before booking their stay

 

Online Statistics All Hotels Should Know
Online Statistics All Hotels Should Know

 

 

Hotel Industry Statistics: Gaining Consumers’ Trust

These statistics show that reviews are an influential form of social proof. 

 

People feel they can believe you if you accumulate high star ratings and provide polite answers to previous tenant reviews. Doing so shows that you care about providing your customers with the best possible experience during their stay.

 

This also highlights your hotel’s openness and originality.

  1. When choosing between 2 comparable properties, 79% of consumers are more likely to book a hotel room with a higher star rating.
  2. Customers will appreciate guest ratings over a hotel’s brand  72% of the time.
  3. 88% of tourists won’t even contemplate hotels with a star rating of fewer than three stars. 
  4. 32% of likely guests eliminated they thought of particular hotels with a star rating of fewer than four stars.
  5. 80% of people believe hotels that reply to tenant reviews worry more about their customers.
  6. 85% of individuals say a hotel’s friendly answer to an online review enhances their impression of it.
  7. Consumers who answer online reviews earn 12% more reviews and see an average increase of 0.12 stars.

 

Helping You Earn More From Each Booking

This collection of statistics exposes the connection between your reputation and your bottom line. Unsurprisingly, customers are prepared to spend more for a better quality hotel trip, and the price they are willing to pay undeviatingly resembles the level of star rating that a particular hotel has. 

 

Additionally, you should make sure future tenants and guests can see a plethora of positive online reviews. One way to do this is to attach a URL link to consumer feedback on your website. 

 

You can additionally distribute powerful customer feedback on your social media profiles. So, when other individuals search for your hotel’s name, they can quickly locate lots of actual word-of-mouth recommendations regarding your property.

 

  1. Guests will pay 24% higher fees for a hotel with a 3.9 star-rating over another that’s rated less. 
  2. Guests will pay 35% more for a hotel with a 4.4 star-rating over another hotel with only a 3.9 rating. 
  3. When a hotel increases its online rating from “fair” to “great,” they can potentially see their website CTR (click-through rates) increase up to 4%.
  4. If a mid-scale hotel increases its reputation score by 1%, the profits available per room can increase to roughly 1.42%.
  5. Hotels have the ability to upcharge each room by 11% (standard fee) for every additional 1 star added to their overall star-rating.
  6. 76% of hotel guests are ready to spend higher fees at a hotel with better online review scores. 
  7. In recent years, TripAdvisor’s online reviews and reputation score controlled approximately $546 billion in travel spending.
  8. Over 90% of tourism and accommodation business owners think online reviews are amongst the three most significant determinants influencing the future of their business.

 

Miscellaneous Hotel Industry Statistics

  1. 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business.
  2. 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before making purchases
  3. Online reviews have been shown to impact 67.7% of purchasing decisions.
  4. 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
  5. 74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. 
  6. Every one-star increase in a Yelp rating means a 5 to 9% increase in revenue.
  7. 82% of Yelp users said they typically visit Yelp because they intend to buy a product or service.
  8. 80% of consumers will change their mind about making a purchase due to negative information online.
  9. 85% of tech buyers read up to 10 online reviews before making a purchase.
  10. B2B buyers complete 57% of the purchase process before ever engaging with a vendor
  11. 93% of consumers find user-generated content helpful when making purchase decisions.

 

The Power Of Search Results

  1. 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web.
  2. 65 percent of people see online search as the most trusted source of information about people and companies. That’s a higher level of trust than any other online or offline source.
  3. Nearly 50% of US adults who Google themselves say the results aren’t positive.

 

 

Impact On Business Revenue

  1. Businesses risk losing 22% of business when potential customers find one negative article on the first page of their search results.
    1. Businesses with two negatives on the first page of search results risk losing 44% of its customers.
    2. If three negative articles pop up in a search query, the potential for lost customers increases to 59.2%.
    3. Have four or more negative articles about your company or product appearing in Google search results? You’re likely to lose 70% of potential customers.
  2. Nearly half of U.S. adults said they have Googled someone before doing business with them.
    1. 45% said they have found something in an online search that made them decide not to do business with the person.
    2. 56% have found something that solidified their decision to do business with the person.

 

Additional Information

If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you in cleaning up your search results and restoring your online reputation, please fulfill the contact form below. One of our knowledgeable reputation specialists will present your options and explain every step along the way.

 

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Crisis Management Strategies

Crisis Management Strategies for 2019

What are the best crisis management strategies this year?

 

Have you ever wondered how brands hide scandals and negative press online? What do business owners do if they obtain a dreaded negative Yelp review? What happens if you as an individual get arrested and find your criminal records online?

 

The answer is simple, crisis management.

 

In this article, we will walk you through how to effectively handle a crisis whether it is for an individual or a brand. Working online is a double-edged sword, it is important that you know your options. 

 

We will help to create a pre-crisis plan through traditional media and modern PR methods to ensure your brand (or yourself) has a positive web presence.

 

The bottom line is you must constantly monitor and remain proactive online when it comes to establishing or restoring your reputation. About 90% of internet users turn to Google and related review platforms more than listening to a friend and family member’s recommendation.

 

Please take a few minutes to watch this short video below to get a better sense of how we operate here at GuaranteedRemoval.com. We have been a leader in online reputation management for over a decade with hundreds of reviews and a handful of awards to back us up. 

 

 

If you or someone you know is currently struggling with negative information online please fill out the form below and one of our knowledgable reputation specialists will reach out to you within 24-hours with assistance.

 

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What is Crisis Management?

In short, crisis management is how you as a brand or as an individual cope and combat negative mentions of your name online.

 

Here at GuaranteedRemoval.com we generally see our clients suffer from unfavorable content every 2 to 3 years. 

 

A crisis not only disrupts the internal morale of your brand but you can potentially lose large percentages of revenue from scaring potential customers or clients away with a single negative review.

 

In order to effectively work to restore and maintain a reputation online you must be effective in the following categories:

  • Public Relations (or PR)
  • Reputation Marketing
  • Social Media Management

 

As the internet progresses and users become more aware of the resources they have on hand the tried and true, or traditional marketing methods may not always work. 

 

Sure, if you are being slandered or defamed by a small business with little to no authority online you may be able to issue a PR blast about something positive happening with your company as that may suffice. 

 

However with larger sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) you need to have additional tricks up your sleeve when traditional methods do not work.

 

When working to establish a crisis management strategy think like Stephen Covey and “keep the end goals in mind”. These are not short term changes, your crisis management plan is an ongoing, well-oiled machine ready to combat any negativity online that you may encounter.

 

Without well-managed crisis management strategies, you may lose stakeholders, customers may view your brand (or yourself) as inadequate and lastly, without a crisis management plan the time it takes you to bounce back into the limelight is greatly delayed.

 

Crisis Management Strategies
Crisis Management Strategies

 

 

What Are Some Crisis Management Techniques?

So what are the best methods to prevent negative content from appearing online? Here are the top 3 ways our crisis management team works to assist our clients. 

  • Press Release Coverage
  • Social Media Management
  • Custom Domain/Website Creation

 

You do not have to be extremely tech-savvy to control your online presence. The most important aspect is knowing when to act.

 

There are 3 major elements you want to cover when creating your crisis management strategy.

 

Image Search

It is important to keep in mind that users will search until the end of the earth when researching a company with little to no online presence or in this case, a negative reputation.

 

To ensure your image results are positive one of the best methods to implement is launching a press release campaign and include as many photos as you can. Since you have published new content through highly authoritative websites the odds are greatly in your favor for those new images to rank on the first page of Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

 

Routinely monitor your online images on all popular search engines. You can also sign up for Google Alerts, this way you will receive an email notification anytime something referencing your brand is published online. This enables you to act fast and deploy your brand crisis management strategy as soon as possible.

 

Online Reviews

The internet as we previously discussed is changing the way consumers interact with brands and businesses. Within seconds individuals are able to pull up your feedback from previous customers or clients. 

 

90% of consumers reportedly read online reviews before visiting a business. This means if a negative review appears in your most recent reviews you are losing tons of revenue. 

 

If you are a new business lacking reviews, that is okay. A reported 74% of online consumers will trust a business after reading one positive review.

 

Online Reviews
Online Reviews

 

Social Media

The emergence of social media networks in the 21st century is at times unfathomable. Starting with sites such as Myspace, consumers now have dozens of highly authoritative platforms to grow their brands and increase their audience.

 

You must proceed with caution when working and promoting your brand (or yourself) on social media. People can be extremely critical and relentless. To ensure that the information you post and publish is not only factual but culturally unbiased. This means stay away from discussing politics and religion.

 

When working to better your online presence through social media efforts it is vital that you remain consistent when publishing your content online. When a crisis hits your brand, turning to social media as a tool if a powerful asset to have for your business.

 

The general rule when working on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is to not only stay consistent but to publish 3-4 pieces of content on a daily basis.

 

How Can Public Relations Be Used to Manage a Crisis?


Reaching out to local news media outlets can be a quick and efficient way to get newsworthy content on the first page on all the major search engines. 

 

Seeing as websites such as DigitalJournal, BostonGlobe, and YahooFinance (just to name a few) hold extremely high authority in the eyes of Google. Articles published on these media outlets tend to rank highly and very quick.

 

Again, it is important to include as many pictures as you can within each publication to increase your efforts of building a solid foundation under the images tab within each search engine. 2-3 pictures should suffice however most PR companies have a limit for how many you can add.

 

A general rule of thumb is to create 1-2 monthly press releases. This way if something negative should appear online it will have to outweigh the content you have previously published. While it is still possible, it is unlike to show on the first page of Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

 

What to Do If You Are Currently Undergoing a Brand Crisis

 

If you are currently undergoing a brand crisis it is important that you never freak out. Remaining calm and acting fast should be your utmost priority.

 

When you undergo a crisis there are two facets that you must consider. First your internal structure. If you own a large brand the word around the office may cripple your team’s performance so remaining transparent and open about the situation will work wonders.

 

Make sure that your team is doing everything in its power to combat the negativity. This can be accomplished by them sharing any new press releases to social media in efforts to again flood out any negative mentions of your brand.

 

Depending on the current status of your brand and the popularity levels you may have to worry about external threats that arise during these unfortunate times. This can be as simple as consumers sharing and commenting on the negative articles about you.

 

As bad as the article maybe you can always voice your opinion and comment within the story itself. Although we advise you to do this as a last-ditch effort. Taking responsibility and the blame works surprisingly well depending on the situation at hand.

 

For the following month, your marketing department or branding manager should be kicking all of your promotional ideas into gear. Sometimes you can turn a negative into a positive by repositioning yourself in your specific niche or industry.

 

Take Johnson & Johnson, for example, decades ago during the Tylenol crisis where traces of cyanide were from in their product that launched a full-scale PR blitz and here we are decades later with nothing negative online about Johnson & Johnson.

 

Crisis Management
Crisis Management

 

Examples of Crisis Management

At the end of the day, anything that causes harm or a loss of business towards your brand can be considered a crisis. For example, negative reviews, unfavorable photographs, bad press articles, poor social media mentions, and much more. 

 

Your job is the establish a way to flood out all the negative connotations tied to your name to ensure no business is lost along the way.

 

There are many elements such as natural disasters that are out of your control however most crises that emerge can be avoided by implementing a few simple techniques that will not only save you time but also money down the road.

 

One of the worse crises that can potentially close down a business is negative online reviews. Over the past several years we have worked with thousands of small business owners that claim Yelp reviews have a tremendous impact on the overall success of their business. Apart from pay-to-play allegations many owners have against Yelp, there are ways to obtain prospects even as you struggle to combat a negative review.

 

Here are some of the most popular negative mentions that we see at our agencies each and every day:

 

Stay Proactive & Create a Pre-Crisis Plan

The best time to implement a crisis management plan is now. Do not wait until a crisis emerges before you decide to take action because you will be late to the party.

 

Our crisis management team works on your behalf to quickly and readily publish new, high-engaging content in efforts to “flood out” the negative search results. This method is accomplished via press release campaigns, custom website creations, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media management.

 

It is imperative that each employee and stakeholder is well versed in the art of combatting negativity on the internet. In a crisis situation, you have only minutes before the situation begins to snowball.

 

Ensure you have adequate means for media coverage at your disposal and ready to deploy when the time arrives. Risk management is a sensitive subject, however, when implemented properly you limit the number of negative impacts onto your brand (or yourself).

 

Whether you believe you need an in-house crisis manager or not it is never a bad idea. If your budget does not allow for it, take the time and train an existing employee to assist you with your crisis management efforts.

 

Ensuring you have a proactive crisis management plan intact, you will be ready to fight off any and all unwanted content related to your brand. 

 

Your crisis management strategies should include how your company can bounce back from the negativity while still getting your mission or key messages out to your audience.

 

Final Thoughts on Crisis Management Strategies

When all is said and done you must remember to stay in front of the negativity. That starts today. So after you finish reading this article head over to your Google Docs and start devising a brand crisis management strategy.

 

It is not a matter or if you will need one, it is a matter of when and how soon. Still at a loss for what to do or how to get started please fill out the form. We will reach out to you with a detailed crisis management strategies for your brand. 

 

So, what does Google say about you?

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Tips on Fraud Prevention

By definition, fraud means a wrongful or criminal deception intended in financial or personal gain. In other words, you cannot trick somebody into doing business with you under false pretense. Fraud prevention is the efforts made to combat this criminal activity to ensure your personal information is safe. Some of the most popular forms of fraud include; financial statements, asset misappropriation, larceny, healthcare/insurance, and consumer fraud. Many individuals are unaware of fraudsters even when they are right in front of them. Make sure you know your options in case you, unfortunately, become a victim. Do not make the mistake of not caring now.

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Why Does Fraud Prevention Matter?

Fraud prevention is crucial for any business. Security risks or financial crimes may leave many corporations vulnerable to such fraudulent schemes. It is important to have a plan intact that is ready to combat fraud when needed. Constantly monitoring and improving detection features makes this process a lot easier for many businesses. It is imperative that you locate and eliminate these issues from the start. Waiting until it is too late might be your business’ demise. Here are some of the best free online reputation management tools.

 

confused guy in button up

 

 

Tips On Fraud Prevention in 2018

 

Know Thy Enemy

In 2018, the digital world is booming. Having said that, this gives a large opportunity for thieves and hackers to steal your information. It is crucial to learn as much as possible about an individual before you do business with them. Start by reaching out to previous clients they have worked to get a better sense of their credibility. See if there are any news articles about the CEO. Another viable option is to take a look at the reviews for that specific business. Review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor or the BBB are excellent resources when determining if someone is reputable or not.

 

Secure Payment Methods

Nowadays, with various secure payment vendors, it is nearly impossible to see fraud occur here. Merchants such as Authoize.net or Payline Data grant the ability to process payments safely knowing you are protected. Once the payment information is entered and processed, the card information is gone for good. The only three entities that see this information would be you, the customer and the merchant account. Another popular platform for this type of solution is PayPal in my opinion. However, there are several other routes you can take, another popular choice is  SquareUp.com.

SquareUp caters and works for any size company, no matter if you make under $250,000 annually or more. If you operate in the field of food, health, retail, or service and repair we highly recommend you check out this option. Why? Because you can not only process cards online but you can actually swipe their credit card at the time of purchase.

 

Fraud Prevention

 

Safeguard Personal Information

The best example of a business being infiltrated is the impersonation of top management, especially CEOs. Nobody wants to make the CEO wait so when employees receive an email request from “their boss” many will answer without asking a single question. Fraudsters love to prey on administrators or secretaries as they have access to most of the important information. DO NOT provide any financial credentials unless you are paying for something. In addition, be overly cautious if somebody you currently work with is asking questions about the information they should already have. Phishing is another popular tactic in an attempt to retrieve information such as passwords or account numbers.

 

Monitoring

It is important to constantly monitor your accounts to ensure there is no fraudulent activity going on. By reviewing monthly/quarterly statements this will show you right away if anything suspicious is going on internally. There are many types of different software you can download/purchase. LifeLock, partnered with Norton Antivirus handles anything and everything to do with data breaches. Lifelock allows users the ability to freeze accounts at a moment’s notice so you are fully protected. How you appear online, or how popular you are may determine how frequently these attacks occur.

 

Call GuaranteedRemoval.com today if you are struggling with combatting fraudulent activity online. We offer an extensive list of services and solutions such as content removal, monitoring and credit restoration. It is time you finally start focusing on what counts, your business. Let our professionals handle any efforts made to minimize your chance of a cyber attack. If you are not careful you could make matters worst trying to resolve any issues on your own.

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SWOT Analysis

This analysis will help you and your company undercover any issues when dealing with both internal and external strategies and ideas. Making sure you have a clear understanding of what a SWOT analysis is important. Please note “SWOT” is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Let us break this down a little more for you.

 

— Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power —

 

SWOT banner

 

Strengths:

These are the first key indicators you want to look out for, so grab a piece of paper and a pen. Write down everything that helps your company, inside and out. Any expertise on the topic you are providing clients with or maybe your website is designed at a higher degree making competitors appear obsolete. Maybe you have the lowest prices!. In addition, if you have a strong and productive work environment that could be considered a strength as well. Anything you feel makes your company better should be listed in this category. Focus on building trust.

 

Weaknesses:

Now it is time to make a list of the negatives or the opposing sides to your strengths list. As many hey experience a lack of resources and knowledge and this can be detrimental to the overall success or online reputation of your company. Having a poor customer experience is never the goal to make sure your employees go above and behind to ensure a client is happy, poor communication can be the end of you. Pay attention to what could possibly hurt you and start devising plans on how you can rectify this, otherwise known as “opportunities”.Weakness Banner

Opportunities:

Once you have sat down and compiled a list of strengths and weaknesses it is now time to look at your opportunities. This is more of an external focus as you will come to learn. Creating a powerful networking system can assist in many ways. The generation of ads will increase your sites visitor volume and that shows Google and others that people are interested in the content you write about and/or what you provide. Other ways to look at opportunities include:

  • Creating a new niches
  • Leveraging a new product or service

Threats:

Lastly, it is now time to evaluate your potential threats (internal/external). Examples would be a competitor is outranking your website online or clients are starting to take interest in other sites over yours. Make sure you keep your information up-to-date, nobody wants to read outdated information. If you do this correctly, you can turn this into a strength quickly. Your threats should consist of all things that can and will harm your company.

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    Why should I use a SWOT Analysis?

    As a business owner or blogger, you need to know what is affecting your website and how. A SWOT analysis is designed to better help you identify and understand key issues or benefits. This should not offer solutions but simply a list of influencing factors.

    After you have completed your SWOT analysis you will have a better grasp of how you can better utilize your resources. Vice versa, you can also pinpoint useless issues you are currently spending time with and reallocate that effort to a more important threat or opportunity. You will start to see operations work smoother as you will be dealing with lesser risk once you have a generalized idea of where you stand amongst your competitors.

     

     

     

    What to do After Performing an Analysis.

    Once you have listed all of your components within your SWOT analysis it is time to sit down with your team and discuss solution possibilities. Begin by pointing out your strengths and how much power you actually have on the internet. Now take those positives and see what threat you can better improve upon. Going over your options on a monthly basis is a great start. During your performance meetings just go around the room asking everybody what they like or dislike. Taking care of your internal efforts has positive repercussions.

    Call us today to see what options you have. One of our very knowledgeable advisors can design a plan perfect for you. Now it is time you know more about your company. Be in the know and act quickly.

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