How Much Can Your Business Lose to a Bad Reputation?

Sticks and stones can break your bones. But when it comes to what’s being said about you on the Internet, words (and pictures) can really hurt you.

Words and pictures can ruin a business, or sorely impact your bottom line. Just consider some of the following cases:

• Best Choice Software lost $1.5 million in one year thanks to stories posted on The Ripoff Report. (Source: Forbes).

• Harvard Business School reports that even a one star increase on Yelp can result in a 9% increase in sales…which means there is a corresponding decrease in sales for a one star loss. (Source: USA Today).

• The Chowderheads Restaurant in Florida was nearly put out of business by fake reviews on Yelp. (Source: Business Insider).

• A physiologist lost nearly all of his clients after someone linked his name and credentials to a dodgy distance learning school that was shut down. (Source: The New York Times).

• Dietz Development lost $750,000 to negative reviews online. (Source: Entrepreneur.com).

• Sarah Van Assche Interiors was run out of business by one bad customer. The customer decided to defame her character online rather than pay her bill. (Source: Forbes).

These are just a few examples of the costs and consequences associated with having a bad reputation online. And many of the harmful posts impacting small business owners are not even real. They come from competitors, malicious ex-employees, deadbeat customers and even the review sites themselves. Anyone with an axe to grind can target any company or any person at any time. Nobody at these sites checks to see whether or not these negative stories are true. In fact, there is a prevailing assumption that the business is always the villain, out to rob innocent customers. 

It makes sense to monitor your reputation, and to fight back when a malicious post threatens your business. Many business owners have tried and failed to handle these problems on their own. It takes a deep knowledge of how Google works and an understanding of what it takes to get malicious content removed. It also requires thousands of pages of positive content, which is a full-time, long-term endeavor.

There are companies out there who can help. For example, InternetReputation.com, a company that's been featured on MSNBC, Fox News and The New York Times, has been successful at burying problematic content in as little as 30 days and may be an option if you are currently struggling.