3 Essential Tips for Keeping Your Online Reputation Positive

A Positive Online Presence is Important to Real Estate Success

In real estate, reputation is everything. You work to build your brand, guided by a mission and a set of ethics. You want to keep your reputation positive so that you continue to get referrals that lead to new business. When you sell a house, you want your name to bring a smile to the faces of buyers and brokers alike. However, we live in a world where you now need an online presence in order to grow your brand, and to make sure that this growth benefits you in the long run, you want to keep everything online positive. Here are some tips for doing just that.

Plan Your Strategy

As the saying goes, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Nowhere is this truer than on the Internet. According to Facebook, there were 936 million daily active users on average for March 2015. This means that people are using social media, so if you plan right, you can capture the attention of the people who are looking to buy and sell houses. In order to do this, you have to have a plan. Consider what your social media accounts will physically look like. Plan to keep the look consistent, and also figure out what kind of content you will share and how you will share it. Think about the frequency at which you will interact with your social media audience. Remember: content is king! Seek out useful information that people will want to read and share. This increases your presence, makes you look like a leader in the industry, and shines a spotlight on your brand. Do not simply join and hope that people will find you. Curate your content thoughtfully, with a focus on your target audience. This will go a long way in keeping your online reputation positive.

Online Reviews are Customer Exchanges About Your Brand

Reviews Count

Each and every online review about your company is social currency, because reviews are equivalent to a person talking to another person about your brand. Therefore, you want online reviews to be positive, keeping the running discussion of your brand positive. You can cultivate online reviews by asking satisfied customers to talk about you on the social networks. If someone had an outstanding experience with your service, they will be more than likely to share it in writing. If for some reason you get a negative review, respond politely and with a sincerely concerned tone. How you respond says a lot about your character as a company. Make the most of reviews: they carry a lot of weight when people are deciding whether to use your business to buy and sell houses. In fact, according to ISocial Reviews, 87% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and a one-star increase in your Yelp rating can lead to a 5-9% increase in revenue. Trust is everything in real estate, this industry where deals are made with a wink and a handshake.

Get Help

If you are not sure what to do or if you do not think you have the time to do what you want to do well, get help. It is okay to seek out assistance. With freelance websites and small business consulting agencies growing every day, you can vet some potential companies or virtual assistants to help you come up with a plan, manage it, and make suggestions. By doing this, you will free you up to focus on buying and selling houses.