Social Seven – Why Monitoring Online Reviews and Presence is Essential

Special Guest: Michelle Grant Hoglan of Top Hat Creative Marketing

Top Hat Creative Marketing is a company that focuses on online reputation management. They start with collecting feedback and turning that into reviews. Michelle spends time discovering client goals and what they want to achieve in order to help them become more successful.  Top Hat then coaches their clients on how to gather feedback and how to filter it and use those reviews to their advantage.

Google is super important in the fact that it is so visible. This strong online presence is essential to being found on the web. When people look up a company on Google they want to see recent reviews, current events and an online presence that inspires trust. They are looking for businesses they can Know, Like and Trust. Top Hat Creative Marketing strives to make companies more visible and trustworthy online.

Google, by far, is the #1 review site online. Yelp is quickly becoming #2 and seems to be more popular in California and the West Coast. However, it is rapidly gaining speed on Google and becoming more of a player in online reviews.

Companies don’t need to be an active player on Yelp right away. If you have your phone, you can instantly log reviews onto the site while out and about and running errands and interacting with other businesses. All you need to do is register for an account. There is a Yelp app that allows you to check in regardless of whether you haven’t posted in years or if it’s your first time. This app makes it easier to do quick reviews while on the go. This site is more regional at the moment, however, and Google is still the best place to go to monitor your online reputation.

Top Hat takes time to coach businesses on how to build a reputation on Google and, once established, then move onto Yelp, Facebook and other options.

If you are going to have a presence online, you want to have in the right places where people are using it. If the audience is there, and talking about you, then it’s important to build a presence there.

It is imperative that business owners get all types of feedback, not just positive. Reviews are important regardless of whether they are good or bad. It gives owners insight into aspects of their business that may need to change. Also, get feedback from employees as well. The audience may not come straight to a business owner with their complaints – but they will share it with their personal circles of influence. This means the company doesn’t always get the opportunity to adjust or correct whatever the issue might be. Take that negative feedback and make it into a positive change for your business!

Learn more about Michelle and her company by visiting: http://tophatcreativemarketing.com