| As reputation management has grown in demand | | | | In the article McGee said, "Consider the case of a local |
| many larger companies have obvious reasons for | | | | car dealership in my hometown, one of a couple Ford |
| hiring out to help with their search engine results. Many | | | | dealers I could choose from if I'm buying that make. If I |
| small businesses in small towns or in small areas of | | | | go to Google and do a search for Ford dealers in this |
| publicity wonder if they have the need to manage their | | | | area, I'll get some Google Maps results with a couple |
| online reputations. The answer is yes because | | | | customer reviews featured prominently: 2 stars, 'Great |
| whether a business is large or small most customers | | | | deal on van, but no service after sales' or 1 star, 'Don't |
| these days use the Internet to search out a potential | | | | buy a car from these vultures.' Two bad reviews. And |
| company to buy from. These potential customers tend | | | | what makes it worse for this dealer is that very few |
| to rely on the comments of their peers. | | | | other car dealers in this area have reviews, so just the |
| Potential customers look up information about small | | | | fact that this dealer has reviews--negative or |
| businesses just like they do about large business on | | | | not--means they appear higher in the SERPs. Ouch." |
| the Internet. There is a tendency to look for other | | | | Small businesses do have a need to monitor their |
| customer comments for approval and one bad | | | | online reputation. The important thing to note is though |
| comment can form a negative opinion of any | | | | there is a cost attached to tracking their businesses |
| company. For this reason small business will want to | | | | online presence, in the long run good search results |
| monitor their online results and the comments being | | | | can dramatically increase popularity and sales. |
| made about their work. | | | | McGee mentions a few search engines or websites |
| Many small businesses tend to think that they are too | | | | named Yelp, InsiderPages, or Google Maps that could |
| small for customers to bother leaving comments about | | | | easily have a negative comment available to a variety |
| them on the web. This assumption is often proven | | | | of people. The best way for small businesses to |
| wrong in today's society. In an article by Matt McGee | | | | handle these problems is to pay attention to the |
| entitled "Why Reputation Management Matters for | | | | resources available to them in order to counter |
| Small Businesses," he discusses the changes in the last | | | | negative and sometimes destructive comments. |
| five years and the resent trend for online results. | | | | |