With the imminent relaunch of People, an app that lets its users rate people like Yelp rates restaurants, today is a great day to think about your online presence. What people see and think of you is a major factor in everyday life in our modern world. Potential employers will look into people’s social media accounts. Poor reviews of professionals can have direct and serious consequences for their business moving forward. There are a number of ways in which what people say about us online can impact our real world activities, and selling homes is such an activity. If you are thinking of selling your home, it’s time to not only think of your online presence, but your online reputation. Here’s some tips on how.
1. Know That Quantity is Not Always Quality
The first thing to think about is the key differences between online presence and reputation. Your online presence refers to where you show up in Google searches, your social media accounts, and the overall ability for people to access what you want them to access. This can include your online home listings, an Instagram account, almost anything. But an online reputation is entirely different. Unlike presence, reputation is how your are perceived by the public. This can include things like reviews on your Google listing and how people engage with your social media posts. Perhaps the best way to think about it is through Twitter. Your online presence on Twitter would be how many followers you have. Your online reputation would be how many people favourite or retweet your tweets. One measures how many people see you, the other how many people actually pay attention.
2. A Few Bad Eggs
The internet, unfortunately, makes giving people and businesses poor reviews all too easy. That is coupled with another reality: any rating of three or below has a detrimental effect on your business. That’s why a few bad reviews can ruin your online presence and reputation, and send people packing when they research your home online. But the flip side can work too, where multiple positive reviews can drown out the negative. The key is to encourage people with positive experiences to discuss it online, and often direct engagement is your best bet. If someone has a positive experience, ask them directly to write a review in a cheerful and fun way. They may not do it, but if done right, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
3. Garner a Supportive Audience
One of the best ways to keep your online reputation in good condition is to connect with people you know will encourage and support you. This can be through the use of friends and family at the outset, and later through connections that you know will pay off. Avoid connecting with any businesses or people that may jeopardize your hard work and, in the event of really negative attention, consider if any actions should be taken to have the reviews or content removed.
Posted by Gurpreet Ghatehora on
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