6 Effective Tips to Redeem Your Online Reputation

An online reputation crisis can happen unexpectedly, resulting in loss of face and sales. Here are 6 effective tips to repair the damage and get back on track.  

1. Identify the Cause

The first step is to identify the cause of the damage. For instance, the damage can be caused by negative reviews going viral. Conversely, your competitors might be spreading unfair messages about your dealership.

Depending on the cause, you need to think of a repair strategy to make things right.

2. Apologize If Necessary, to Repair Your Online Reputation

Knowingly or unknowingly, your dealership may be the reason for the negative online remarks. In that case, the best thing to do is to apologize and outline a course of action to undo the damage.

3. Try to Repair Negative Content at the Source

Many online platforms like Google and Facebook may not agree to remove content from their platforms or search results. This doesn’t mean you cannot repair the damage. Try to solve the issue at the source.

For instance, if a blogger has published negative opinion about your business, then you can politely request the blogger to delete the content. However, remember not to threaten anyone. That can make things even worse.  

4. Remove Negative Content from Google

If the reviewer obliges and removes the negative content, try and get it removed from Google’s index as well. You need to submit a content removal request form to Google for removing the search result.

Remember, Google will remove the content only if it doesn’t exist at the source.

5. Request New Online Customer Reviews

Assuming that negative reviews are harming your online reputation, another way of repairing the damage is to publish new positive online reviews. When new reviews are indexed by Google, the old negative reviews are likely to be pushed out of sight.

6. Improve Your Online Presence

Another important way of repairing your online reputation is by strengthening your online presence.

• Publish useful content that your customers enjoy and engage with
• Promote and highlight positive review pages that showcase your customer loyalty  
• Get authoritative backlinks that  improve the online ranking, visibility, and credibility of your car dealer website.