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Online Reputation Management: What You Should Know

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Reputation Management|Online Reputation Management: What You Should KnowHave you ever wondered how celebrities or big brands manage their presence on the internet? With the increase in people using online resources, social media, and reviews, one bad review can have a huge impact on a business’s success or reputation. Online reputation management helps those with larger public profiles to maintain a good online presence and representation in an age where everyone and anyone can use the internet to give their opinions. Here are some basic facts about online reputation management to help you understand what it is and how it works.

What is ORM?

ORM, or online reputation management, is the practice of using various strategies to help influence the public perception of an individual, brand, or business online. Obviously, if you, an individual, brand, or business, have genuinely done something wrong, then reputations should be damaged, and appropriate action should be taken, as covering things up can get you in a lot of trouble. However, if a person or business is under attack when they have done nothing wrong, for example, a competitor or jealous individual, this can have hugely negative consequences. This is where online reputation management can be used to push negative online content off of the first page of search engine results. It is hard to completely remove something from the internet, so managing your online appearances and presence can help to reduce the number of people who interact with negative content.

Who is it for?

Online reputation management is typically used by big brands, businesses, celebrities, or entities whose success can depend on what is online. One of the most common types is celebrity reputation management, which helps to put positive content onto the internet in order to make sure these are what comes up in search engine results when the name is searched.

Technically, anyone can use online reputation management to monitor and manage their online presence, and there are different levels and specialisms depending on how influential you or your brand is.

You can work towards managing your reputation yourself or enlist the services of a professional company. Typically, the average person will manage their online reputation much more simply than a large brand or celebrity by responding to reviews and comments, both positive and negative, and managing feedback. Many people trust reviews that are left online and will make decisions about individuals, companies, or services based on the reviews and ratings they see when they search the name in a search engine. Knowing when and how to respond to comments and reviews is just one of the many skills and methods involved in online reputation management. It becomes harder to manage your online reputation when you are more well-known or influential, or the challenges you are facing are increasing. You may then require assistance. There will be different factors to consider for this and various questions to ask yourself. These include:

  • Do you have time to generate and publish the content that is needed to push negative articles or search results to the bottom of result lists? Positive content that is high in keywords and other SEO techniques need to be created and published frequently. One great way to do this is by writing a blog, but you yourself may not have the time or skills to do this.
  • Can you write to a high level to create effective and engaging content that does the job it is meant to do? Including important keywords in your content will help it pop up higher on search engine results, and it is obviously important to make sure it is grammatically correct and well-written, as is it associated with you.
  • Are you technologically savvy, with a good understanding of techniques such as SEO? As well as SEO, you will need to manage a multitude of sites and social media platforms. Understanding how to build a good website is vital, and you may need some assistance with this task.
  • How large is the reputational problem you are dealing with? It is some small comments, reviews, or a few unwanted images, or is it something much bigger?

When considering managing your online reputation, find out what your current online presence looks like to an outsider. Searching various spellings of your name, or the name of your company or brand will bring up the currently most popular search results. Look through them and see if they present you in the way you wish. It is also a good idea to set up Google Alerts with various phrases so that you are constantly aware of any new material that is being created. This can help you save time, as you need to monitor the internet and be aware of what is appearing. Furthermore, you will need to learn when it is best to respond to comments or reviews, and when it should be left alone, as sometimes replying can push the comment further up search results, which is the opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

How does it work?

There are several methods and techniques involved in online reputation management. Generally, the aim is to push down negative content and get it off the first page of search engine results so that fewer people see it. Research has shown that around 95% of people only look at the first page of results when they Google something. The techniques used will vary depending on the client. For example, managing the online reputation of a celebrity is a big challenge because there is so much content being generated about them from different sources. These include news organizations and publications, social media, websites, and fan forums. If a publication is well known, then any information they publish will appear high up on SERPs, resulting in more people clicking on them.

There are different ORM methods that are utilized depending on the client and the situation, but some general methods include:

  • Generating new content frequently. The more positive content you create, the more likely it is to be engaged with and land higher up in search results. The whole idea is to flood results with content that is positive in order to push negative articles further down. This is where using an agency to manage your online reputation can be helpful, as you may not have the time, means or ability to create the volume and frequency of online content that is required.
  • Maintaining a positive online presence. Having a good website is one way of doing this and is especially useful if you, your brand, or business relies on a website over other platforms such as social media. A high-quality website will help it to appear higher up in search results, will be informative, grammatically, and technologically correct, with links and an easy to navigate layout. Writing a blog that you regularly update, interacting with reviews and comments, and encouraging people to leave reviews will help build your site. Furthermore, having your or your brand or business’s name in the website URL is important as it can help the site rank high for keyword content.
  • Claiming online properties. This involves making accounts and profiles on the various forms of social media, as well as a Wikipedia page and domain name for your website. These are popular and established platforms and websites to have accounts on, and are therefore more likely to appear on the first page of a search engine result. Furthermore, by having accounts on these platforms and sites, it is harder for people to create fake accounts and pretend to be the individual or brand.
  • Creating links. Links on your website or other accounts need to be functioning and up to date. Linking to other webpages that you want readers to see can help the flow of internet traffic between the two sites, as well as giving credibility to the receiving website. Links to your socials should be on your website and vice versa.

Jobs

If you would like to work in online reputation management, it is generally seen as a type of digital marketing. There are plenty of digital marketing agencies all over the world, and many offer online reputation management services. Other services they may offer include content creation, SEO, and website design. You need to have a good level of understanding of digital techniques such as SEO and have a great eye for detail. There are many skills you need to succeed in digital marketing, and online reputation management is a great way to combine many of them, such as SEO and content creation.

Managing your own reputation is a good way to save money, but it can be time-consuming, and you may not have the skills required to complete the job effectively. As previously mentioned, there are many factors to take into consideration that will affect whether you choose to do it yourself or work with an agency that can manage it for you. If you or your brand or business have been negatively impacted when you have genuinely done nothing wrong, ORM can help to rebuild your reputation online.

How to Expand Your Business with Smart TV App Opportunities

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | How to Expand Your Business with Smart TV App OpportunitiesThe advent of the internet and better devices has impacted the way people interact and how businesses operate. Smartphones, smart TVs and watches have become the in-thing and trend among the young and the old. Smart TV technology is more than the usual television you will find at any house.

Many households worldwide own a smart TV, and the number of smart TV sales is projected to hit as high as more than 266 million units globally by 2025. The capabilities of smart TVs have become a standard feature that is also impacting the business world tremendously. It’s easy to browse the internet, play games, interact on social media, or video call using this smart technology. A smart TV can perform the same functions as your favorite smartphone but on a bigger screen. There are a lot of companies investing in smart app TV development these days. This is an impeccable digital marketing strategy that has worked miracles for many businesses.

As an established business owner, don’t have any uncertainties about investing in a smart TV application. And if you don’t know where to start, a smart TV app development company is your choice.

Using Smart TV for Your Business Purposes

Television sets have been turned into multimedia gadgets, and you can comfortably use them for many applications. Many television manufacturers have opted for smart TV, which has expanded the functionality of the available models. Today, if you own a smart TV, you have more than a device that just broadcasts videos, but a complete entertainment unit.

You can easily use your smart TV to undertake different purposes, from surfing the internet to interactive services. Users can search for digital content on the internet, local cable TV channels, or data stored in your storage device. This technology has opened business opportunities by giving businesses a better user experience on their television screens.

Smart TV apps should be in your plans if you want to grow your business and increase revenue. Here is how this application can help.

E-commerce to Attract More Clients

If your business offers its products and services online, you can use your smart TV as one of the best sales channels. You will allow more customers to visit your website and sell all the products and services you offer. You will let more clients come to you, and you don’t have to find them.

Your e-commerce customers will appreciate an engaging and useful smart TV app from your business. This app will help them save time, and your existing clients will not hesitate to refer new customers. Such an opportunity will translate to more income and a surge in your clientele base.

Video Calling- Effective Communication

Communication is essential in every business. Using your smart TV app, you can undertake digital marketing opportunities such as video calling and reach out to your suppliers and customers.

Smart TVs provide a better user interface and effective presence, which will enhance effective communication. You can easily share vital information with your target audience and more about your business’s progress and what new to expect.

Screen Mirroring for Easy Information Exchange

You can easily transfer an image from your smartphone or laptop to a large smart TV screen through screen mirroring. This wireless transmission makes it easy for business owners to exchange information.

When a screen mirroring app is integrated into your TV, you will easily share presentations and other visuals. This is from the comfort of your home or office via a single tap on the screen.

Better User Experience

Customers can see what they are looking for on a bigger screen than when using their smartphones or laptops. And this is from the comfort of their homes or work premises.

Great Marketing Tool

Your smart TV app is more than just an application you can rely on to grow your business. It will double up as the best marketing tool you can wish for in your business endeavors.

Using your smart TV, you can access streaming services such as YouTube, Amazon Instant Video. Your apps can also provide you access to social media networks where you can market your business.

Incorporate Smart TV App Technology into Your Business Today

Smart TV app development will help you promote your business brand and increase its presence online. You will also reach out to your potential customers via connected entertainment such as videos or live streaming.


About the Author

Liza Bradbery is an experienced writer who has handled a variety of topics, including tech and business articles for Oxagile, a company that provides custom software development services across different industries and verticals.

How to Save Money on Image Resizer

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Image Resizer|How to Save Money on Image ResizerPeople’s eyes gravitate toward beautiful things. That’s a fact of life! Hence, whether you’re a businessman looking to promote products online, a student making slideshows, or a mom looking to share vacation photos, you need to ensure your images look amazing so your intended audience looks at your work. No matter how great your composition is, it won’t translate well in your chosen medium if the image is not sized proportionately to the given space. Thankfully, you can count on an image and photo resizer to help you scale down your photos without compromising the quality.

If you think this digital solution will cost you an arm and a leg, put off that thought. Gone are the days when you needed a professional designer to help you edit, crop, or compress your photos. With the help of an image resizer, you can now do everything on your own without breaking the bank. Should you still feel reluctant to use this digital solution for content marketing, now is the time to quash that myth. Take a look at how you can save loads of money by using an image resizer:

Save Time, Conserve Money

Time equates to money because you spend on things using your life hours to earn your paycheck. Thus, when you save time, you save money. An image resizer assures seamless photo editing with its easy user interface. Unlike the coast’s complex software, today’s photo editors come with a seamless dashboard where everything you need can be accessed in one go. For example, it comes with sizing suggestions for various social media posts or web pages. Simultaneously, you can also customize any photo by putting in the specific size you want.

Today’s digital image resizers come with seamless tools that make it easy for you to compress your photo files without breaking into a sweat. Just drag and drop your chosen image, and it will convert it to the size you need with a few clicks of your mouse. Take a look at the following features of an image resizer:

  • Offers suggested size templates.
  • Allows batch resizing to save time.
  • Assures well-proportioned images.
  • Permits use of images from other URLs.
  • Proffers easy download or sharing directly on social media.

Use FREE Digital Tools

In today’s modern world, you can optimize technological advancements to make your life easy. Luckily, you can save money because you can use many free image resizers online. This means you can edit your images to your heart’s content without breaking the bank. Take a look at the top 3 free image resizer companies online:

1. Promo.com

This company does as its name says by assuring you can promote your best work no matter your purpose. Whether you are a businessman looking to share news on social media or a student making a PowerPoint presentation, you can use this resizer to edit any photo. Most importantly, it allows bulk resizing for social media posts, web pages, emails, or other documents.

Hence, you can readily pick what photo dimensions you want, saving you the trouble of doing it one by one. It comes with so many suggestions, such as Facebook cover, IG square post, Twitter header, LinkedIn background, and more. Undoubtedly, with its easy user interface, you can enjoy the following:

  • Drag and drop capabilities
  • Personalize resizing to suit your requirements
  • Template suggestions for social media, web pages, and other documents
  • Select photos from any URL
  • Allow direct download for saving or instant sharing.

2. BIRME

This acronym means Batch Image Resizing Made Easy, and it does exactly as it says. You can efficiently and effectively resize images without any hassle. Moreover, you can resize multiple photos simultaneously, assuring you can finish your task swiftly. With this tool, you can do the following:

  • Include photo borders
  • Select pixel size
  • Look at previews

3. Free Image and Photo Optimizer

The producer of this editor is no other than Shopify. Thus, you can rest easy knowing your pictures will look amazing. However, it only allows you to load a maximum of six images you can upload from your device or any webpage. You can also only edit the photos into three possible sizes:

  • Large (4472 x 4472)
  • Medium (2048 x 2048 pixels)
  • Compact (1024 x 1024 pixels)

No Need to Buy Expensive Gadgets

With a free online image resizer, you don’t need to buy any fancy computer to accommodate the software. This works on your laptop, desktop, or any mobile device. In addition, you don’t have to purchase more memory because you’re not downloading the software but using it virtually. Best of all, with an image resizer, you can compress the photos without compromising quality. This means when you make presentations, you will not consume so much memory on your hard drive or flash disk as the files have become smaller.

Save on Professional Fees

Back in the day, only professional designers can edit photos. Today, if you feel like cropping or sprucing up your images, you can do it from any gadget, no matter where you are. Moreover, you don’t need technical skills to get things done. The image resizer tools of this modern world come with an effortless learning curve. Furthermore, you don’t need any special training to use it. Best of all, if you encounter any problems, just contact the company for help.

Make Projects That Convert

Every penny saved is a penny earned. When you compress your photos with an image resizer, you create more engaging images. Firstly, you can assure that the images you showcase on your site will not take a long time to load. Unfortunately, “netizens” possess reduced attention spans, so if your pics take too long to load, they will leave your page. Secondly, an image resizer helps you edit your photos for any project. Whether you’re making a brochure, printing a newsletter, or printing photos, you can use this tool to make sure your pictures fit in the space.

Final Thoughts

Above all else, this digital solution assures you can optimize all your photos on your social media profiles without compromising the quality. With this, you can create a better connection and engagement with your audience. With such beautiful images, you can even monetize your accounts. How cool is that?

Key Things to Remember When Setting Up Your Business Website

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Business Website|Key Things to Remember When Setting Up Your Business WebsiteYou’ve decided it’s time to set up your business website, but what are your next steps? A business website is a big opportunity, but there are plenty of things you need to remember when it comes to planning your online presence.
Here are some important things to remember when setting up your business website.

User Experience

It’s easy to focus internally on your business when creating a website, but you’ve always got to remember the user is one of the most important aspects of this process.

You can make your website do all these fancy things, tracking analytics, helping you create leads, and so on, but if you’ve not got a good user experience, then it’s all going to be for nothing. As a consumer, you know how frustrating websites with a poor UX can be, so don’t let your website be one of them.

Security

Security is a huge priority for any modern business. When it comes to your website, you’ve got to make sure you’re protected, and your users are too.

If your website fails to protect its users from things like cross-site scripting, then it can do huge damage to your brand and seriously affect your business. We see big security incidents on the news all the time, and it can happen to any business if it is not investing in cybersecurity.

Invest in Quality

There’s no point in creating a bare-bones website. If you’re going to have success with it, then you need to build it out properly and invest in your content.

Your website is always evolving and growing, and this reflects your brand. As soon as you stop updating your site, it will lose some relevancy, so it’s best to keep investing and keep growing what you’re doing.

Get Your Site Ranked

No matter how big or small your business is, you have the ability to rank your website in the search engines. This can bring in targeted, sustainable traffic, so it’s well worth focusing on your search engine optimization and following the right steps.

SEO might seem like something very technical, but in reality, it’s not. It’s just about following good practices and making sure your website appeals to the right audience. If you can do this, then you will find you start to have success in the search engines.

Share Your Work

If you’re doing amazing work with your website, then share it with as many people as possible.

Create social media accounts and get your message in front of a large audience. You can build your website and hope people find it, or you can be active and make sure people find it. Sharing your work is easy to do, and it can be a great way to introduce people to your brand.

You have gone to the effort of creating the content, so make sure you get the most value out of each piece by sharing it on multiple platforms.

Everything You Need To Know If You Want To Sell Online

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Selling Online|Everything You Need To Know If You Want To Sell OnlineThanks to technological innovations, selling online has become easier than ever. And because it’s scalable, it’s precisely the type of business that entrepreneurs need to get themselves into. Instead of trading your time for money, you can just increase the number of units you shift over time, generating massive returns.

If you’re currently selling on Shopify or any of the other platforms, this post can help you. Remember, flogging goods is about more than setting up a website. It’s also about putting the systems in place that will allow sales to happen.

Here’s what to do.

Choose Where You’ll Sell

The first thing you’ll need to do is choose where you want to sell. There are lots of platforms out there, each with advantages and disadvantages.

Remember, if you choose one of the larger e-commerce vendors to host your goods, you’ll have to pay them a commission every time you make a sale, so your margins will always remain depressed.

If you go down the hosted route and sell independently, you’ll get bigger margins, but you’ll also have to do more marketing. Thus, it all comes down to where you think your competencies lie.

Choose How People Will Pay

Payment systems are the most complicated aspect of setting up an ecommerce business. Just displaying goods and writing descriptions is easy. But connecting your site to POS and banking is much more challenging.

Fortunately, most platforms now provide tools that do this automatically for you. For instance, the Shopify FFL checkout allows you to sell restricted goods safely. Other services use their own methods.

Where possible, you want to offer a variety of payment methods. Try to include PayPal if you can, as people who haven’t been to your site before are much more likely to trust this method.

Start Marketing Your Online Store

The next step is to start marketing your online store.

This is more challenging than you might expect. You can have a great ecommerce platform. But if you’re failing to reach out to the community, you won’t get anywhere.

Social media is perhaps the best place to start drumming up business. It’s relatively inexpensive and a great place to begin getting people interested in your services.

Work Out How You’re Going To Do Shipping

Shipping is one of the most challenging aspects of e-commerce. Finding a system that allows you to deliver the right goods to the right customers on time is a notoriously challenging process.

The best option here is to simply outsource the task to a fulfillment provider. These services store and then distribute your goods on your behalf when customers order them.

Please note that these solutions aren’t just “cutting into your margins.” For many new companies, they’re a necessity. You simply don’t have the systems to bring distribution in-house, unless you’re selling just a couple of dozen items a day (and even then, it can be a hassle).

In summary, selling online has never been easier, but it requires a degree of patience and strategy.