Today, the primary focus of reputation management is the online component. Here are some tips for starting proactive online reputation management efforts at your association.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Look at your association\u2019s search results.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>No matter how deep your knowledge of your organization\u2019s operations may be, you simply can\u2019t know everything\u2014especially the way others perceive you. After all, that\u2019s one of the first things a potential candidate will do when he finds out about your job opening. If he sees an outdated website or incorrect contact information, he\u2019ll likely get the impression that your organization is dated, tech-averse, and perhaps even sloppy. If you find any incorrect information in the search results, work to amend it immediately. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Step 2: Go where the candidates are.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Aside from your organization\u2019s web properties, your LinkedIn page will be one of the first search results listed. \u201cLinkedIn is the number one place job seekers are spending their time,\u201d So you want to be sure your page has a strong presence.<\/p>\n

If your association doesn\u2019t have an established LinkedIn page, make creating one a priority. It takes less than 10 minutes to create a basic profile page for an organization.<\/p>\n

Using LinkedIn profile as a true reflection of your organization as a workplace is a good idea, rather than a bland listing. \u201cUse custom images, show what your organization is all about, post some status updates\u2014even if you\u2019re replicating material that\u2019s being used on your other social networks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Candidates are also likely to look at the profiles of your chief executive and the relevant hiring manager, \u00a0so those employees should make sure their profiles are up to date and polished.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Target sites that rank high in the search results.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>A good strategy for building some online clout, especially if your association is small or newly established, is to piggyback on the strength of other websites by getting your site listed with them.<\/p>\n

Glassdoor, a popular site that allows former and current employees to rate their organizations on salaries, interview experiences, and overall environment and opportunity is again source of reputation management. Employees can also make recommendations to employers they\u2019ve rated. \u201ca lot of businesses are surprised to find that their ratings on Glassdoor aren\u2019t very good,\u201d or that they don\u2019t have any ratings at all.<\/p>\n

The reality is that reviews on sites like Glassdoor are often negative because employees who have positive experiences generally don\u2019t think to post a review. \u201cIn sports, they say the best defense is a good offense. That\u2019s also true of your online reputation,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you want to have a positive reputation online, don\u2019t wait for someone to write a bad review and then stumble upon it by accident. Encourage happy employees to leave positive reviews, so you\u2019re taking ownership of what\u2019s being said about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step 4: Don\u2019t sweat the bad reviews.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>If your association does end up with a few negative opinions online, it\u2019s OK: Bad reviews happen. \u201cNot everyone\u2019s going to have a great experience [working with your organization]. It\u2019s not always going to be the best fit,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Also note that one or two unflattering reviews might even be a good thing. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting, actually: Studies show that people trust less-than-perfect reviews more than perfect reviews,\u201d she says. A page of mixed but mostly positive reviews communicates authenticity and balance.<\/p>\n

As tempting as it may be, responding to a former employee\u2019s negative review is typically not in your organization\u2019s best interest. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult for an organization to leave a comment and not sound defensive\u201d. \u201cAnd people generally have good sense [about negative reviews]. A person who leaves a really, really negative review actually looks less credible. [Candidates] will see that the review isn\u2019t balanced, and the reviewer was likely upset while writing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Generally, organizations should only respond to reviews to correct inaccurate statements.<\/p>\n

Step 5: Build a designated place to showcase your association\u2019s professional opportunities.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Aside from asking happy employees to review your organization, encourages building a designated space to highlight your association\u2019s workplace benefits. A simple solution: Create a careers section on your website (or just add a tab to your LinkedIn page). Use it to introduce candidates to your team members, for example, or outline some of the professional development opportunities you provide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t control everything that\u2019s being said about your organization. But you can take control of your story and show candidates what makes your association a great place to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the primary focus of reputation management is the online component. Here are some tips for starting proactive online reputation management efforts at your association. Step 1: Look at your association\u2019s search results.\u00a0No matter how deep your knowledge of your organization\u2019s operations may be, you simply can\u2019t know everything\u2014especially the way others perceive you. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,21,28,27,20],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webigg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}