Is online reputation management worth the money anymore?

[millerkaci]

We have received several negative reviews that appear at the top of Google search results when someone looks for our brand. Since this has been affecting our inbound leads for months, it's not merely a matter of protecting our ego. People are clearly seeing those results before deciding whether to get in touch with us.

I looked into online reputation management (ORM) companies, but the prices have been rather ridiculous. The quotations I've got are mostly in the four-figure-per-month bracket, with six-month contracts and no real assurance that the search results will improve. What bothers me most is the lack of clarity among some of these providers. Although they mention suppressing negative results, publishing positive content, and enhancing our online image, when I ask them precisely what actions they will take, I rarely receive a clear reply.

I know that getting a negative result removed from Google takes some time, and I don't expect it to vanish overnight. But to spend thousands of dollars on a service without knowing exactly what you're actually paying for does seem like a major risk. Has anybody hired an ORM company and noticed a real improvement in their search results, brand image, or lead generation? Have the outcomes been worth the expense, or would it have been better to have looked after the matter yourselves using SEO, content marketing, and authentic customer reviews?

I'm especially interested in your experiences with negative reviews, since they can be rather difficult to beat in search results. It would be helpful to hear what actually proved effective for you.

 

[rowanmc]

Previously, I consulted an agency regarding a similar issue. The main difference was that we had a definite plan rather than having someone promise that negative results would vanish.

They produced useful content, enhanced our current profiles, and focused on securing more positive, genuine mentions of the business online. Although some of the results did move down, it took months rather than weeks.

Would I pay for it a second time? Yes, provided that the company showed me precisely what it was doing and kept an eye on the rankings. I wouldn't enter into another long-term contract based on general promises.

 

[gschuppe]

I would begin raising questions at the phrase "suppress negative results".

You wouldn't be able to remove a genuine review simply because you didn't like what it said. If the content breaks the platform's rules, then it makes sense to report it. In all other cases, you're basically just trying to create better content that can rank higher than it.

The first thing I would do is find out whether the review is actually receiving traffic or merely appearing when you search for the brand name, since those are two different issues.