What is Reputation Management?
Reputation management is the monitoring and refinement of your company’s standing among target consumers. In the world of SEO and digital marketing, reputation management refers primarily to channels like Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, and other 3rd party platforms with which prospects consult before forming a definitive opinion about your roofing business.
How Roofing Webmasters Manages Reputation
Roofing Webmasters uses reputation management software for roofers called DataPins. This tool allows roofers to generate reviews from satisfied customers while verifying their work through job site check-ins. Both check-ins and reviews populate onto your roofing company website based on the type of service performed and the job’s location.
These variables dictate which web page the check-in and review are displayed on, which could be anything from a local city page to a specific service page. Placing relevant and user-generated content on the appropriate pages helps those pages rank on Google search as a funnel for lead generation for roofers.
Why Reputation Matters for Roofers
Research suggests 92% of consumers read online reviews when considering a local business. Online reviews can make or break your roofing business in today’s highly competitive digital landscape. Reviews on websites like Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook combine with other factors to form your roofing company’s online reputation.
In a matter of minutes, a distressed customer can eviscerate your company online and publish their opinion to the public at large. Reviews impact the following aspects of your company:
- Authority: Positive reviews establish authority in your local community, and negative ones do the opposite
- Credibility: The presence of good reviews adds legitimacy to your company
- Trust: Consumers trust online reviews when choosing local businesses
- Visibility: Reviews, positive or negative, provide a PR opportunity for companies
Twenty years ago, the process of impacting a company’s image was strenuous and time-consuming. Even after completing the process, it took a while for word to get out. Ten years ago, the process got more straightforward and quicker, as upset customers could go home, log on to their computer and post a negative review.
Fast-forward to 2023, and the process happens in mere seconds. With mobile devices and Wi-Fi, anyone can post a review at any time.
Why Roofers Need Online Review Management
Attempting to run your roofing business’s day-to-day operations while handling internet marketing and online reputation is impossible. For your company to reach its full potential, you must invest in reputation management services.
At Roofing Webmasters, our team of SEO experts continually monitors your reviews on Facebook, Google My Business (now Google Business Profile), Yelp, and various other review platforms. Not only that, but we also help you generate more reviews by linking the corresponding profiles on your website.
Review management provides the following benefits:
- Content Creation: Search engines consider online reviews of new content
- Search Engine Optimization: Online reviews are considered a local search ranking factor
- Social Media Activity: Many social media platforms, Facebook, in particular, integrate reviews
- Traffic Generation: Most review platforms allow companies to publish a link to their website
Two primary components impact online reviews. The first component is the presence of reviews. Having zero reviews is almost as bad as having several bad reviews. There is no way to establish credibility if you don’t create a platform for customers to provide feedback. For this reason, investing in review management from Roofing Webmasters is an essential step to establishing an online presence.
The second level of online reviews is the rating aspect. If you accumulate too many negative reviews, you will have to do some serious PR work to rebuild your company’s reputation. In contrast, an abundance of positive feedback can have a significantly beneficial impact on your business.
Online Review Platforms
At Roofing Webmasters, everything we do contributes to your bottom line. Our objectives are to generate, monitor, and respond to online reviews with our understanding of online reputation. To generate reviews, we place links to your profiles in your website’s footer to encourage customers to provide feedback.
To monitor reviews, we enable notifications to alert us whenever a new review is published. Finally, we consult directly with you to respond to reviews and formulate a professional and solution-oriented response. Our goal is to generate reviews on the following platforms:
- Better Business Bureau
- Google My Business
- Yelp
Occasionally roofing contractors will inquire about whether customers can publish a single review on multiple platforms. Not in the way you’d hoped. Review platforms require customers to create an account and log in at the time of review publication. The only way to leave identical reviews across multiple platforms is to copy and paste them. Most customers aren’t going to take the extra time.
A better strategy is to diversify your review solicitations by encouraging some customers to leave Google reviews, some to leave Facebook reviews, and so forth. Always remember, however, that you can never provide financial incentives in exchange for a customer review. Google has cracked down on unethical review generation and can penalize your company.
