What are people saying about your brand online? What do your reviews on Yelp, Facebook and Google look like? What does you social media presence tell potential clients about your brand?

All of these considerations determine your business’s online reputation, the status of which can make or break your professional credibility. Are you currently doing enough to protect your brand’s online presence?

Why Reputation Management Matters

Why exactly is it important to protect your brand online? On the surface, this may seem quite obvious—you want consumers to look favorably upon your company, right? But imagine you were looking to hire a top notch new employee or to partner with a powerful online influencer. Negative opinions about your business can scare off potential hires, influencer partnerships and, of course, customers.

84% of people trust online reviews as much as they would trust the recommendation of a friend, so you can’t afford to let bad publicity slide. According to the Harvard Business School, every one-star increase in your Yelp score can net you an extra 5-9% in revenue. That’s a lot of money down the drain if you aren’t proactively managing your online reputation.