Explore six vital key brand reputation metrics for small business online reputation: review volume, sentiment, response rate, star rating, social mentions, and traffic.
In today’s digital age, online reputation management is critical for small businesses.
A company’s online reputation can directly impact their ability to attract new customers, build credibility, and shape their overall brand image.
Neglecting online reputation can be detrimental, with studies showing that online reviews and comments significantly influence public perception.
In this article, we will discuss key metrics small business owners can track to monitor and improve their online reputation.
We’ll cover total review volume, review sentiment, response rates, average star ratings, social media mentions, and website traffic.
By regularly analyzing these metrics, small businesses can take proactive steps to manage their reputation and earn customer trust.
Understanding Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management (ORM) is the process of monitoring, maintaining, and improving a brand’s online presence and reputation.
It involves tracking and responding to online reviews, social media conversations, and other digital content that affects a business’s reputation.
Effective ORM helps businesses build trust, credibility, and loyalty with their customers, ultimately driving sales and revenue growth.
In today’s digital age, online reputation management is crucial for businesses of all sizes.
A single negative review or social media post can harm a brand’s reputation and deter potential customers.
On the other hand, a well-managed online reputation can attract new customers, increase brand awareness, and drive business growth.
By actively managing your online reputation, you can ensure that your brand is perceived positively and remains competitive in the market.
Online Review Volume
One of the most critical metrics to track for online reputation management is your total review volume across platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
Review volume is a main factor that affects the online reputation of your business.
Having a high number of reviews signals to customers that your business is established and trustworthy.
According to recent research, businesses with more than 30 reviews average 10% more revenue per month than those with fewer reviews.
Monitoring review volume is a crucial step to effectively manage your online reputation.
To monitor review volume, set up a spreadsheet to track your total review count across platforms week-over-week or month-over-month. Set reasonable goals for increasing your review volume over time, such as getting 5–10 new reviews per month. Online reputation management tools can automate this process for you.
There are several ways to get more customer reviews, such as asking happy customers to leave a review after a purchase, offering incentives for reviews, or putting up signs requesting reviews.
Again, reputation management software can be a game changer here, significantly easing the burden of manual reputation management for local businesses.
Consistently providing excellent customer service and asking for feedback is key to getting more positive reviews over time.
Review Sentiment
Review sentiment is one of the essential online reputation management metrics that businesses should track to gauge public perception.
Analyzing the percentage of your reviews that are positive, negative, or neutral is crucial for monitoring your online reputation over time.
88% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. With reviews playing such a vital role in your business’ reputation, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your review sentiment.
A good goal is to have at least 70-80% positive reviews.
You can check your review sentiment percentages on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
Pick one main location to monitor for changes over time. For example, you may see your positive review percentage drop from 80% to 75% over a few months. This indicates something is affecting sentiment and requires further attention.
When you do receive negative reviews, craft thoughtful and constructive review responses.
Never get defensive or argumentative. Thank the customer for their feedback, apologize for their poor experience, and outline any steps you’ll take to improve.
Monitoring negative review spikes and responding properly can help limit reputation damage. Again, reputation management software can handle this for you automatically.
Review Response Rate
The review response rate is the percentage of reviews a business responds to.
To calculate it, divide the number of reviews responded to by the total number of reviews. For example, if a business has responded to 80 out of 100 reviews, their response rate is 80%.
Industry experts recommend trying to maintain a response rate above 80-90%.
Responding to reviews shows customers you value their feedback and are committed to improving. It also gives you a chance to resolve issues and thank happy customers.
And an added bonus? Replying to Google reviews helps SEO. You’ll rank better in search results for local businesses when you respond to your reviews.
Maintaining a high review response rate should be a key component of your online reputation management strategy.
Here are some tips to improve your response rate:
Set up alerts to notify you when new reviews come in.
Designate staff members responsible for monitoring and responding.
Respond quickly – ideally within 24 hours.
Craft thoughtful, personalized responses.
Follow up on any issues privately if needed.
With focus and commitment, most businesses can achieve a high review response rate. This reflects well on your brand and improves the customer experience.
Average Star Rating and Customer Satisfaction
Your overall average star rating is one of the most critical metrics to track for online reputation.
This rating is typically calculated by averaging all of your review scores from sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp. A higher star rating significantly enhances a brand’s reputation and attracts more customers.
Going from a 3-star rating to a 5-star rating results in 25% more clicks from Google’s local pack.
Your average rating can also directly impact your search engine rankings.
Google often displays businesses with higher ratings above competitors in local pack results. Improving your star rating should be a top priority.
Here are some ways to boost your average star rating over time:
Actively encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews.
Respond professionally to any negative feedback.
Train your staff to deliver amazing customer service.
Social Media and Sentiment Analysis
Social media plays a significant role in shaping a brand’s online reputation.
Social media platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram provide customers with a platform to share their experiences, opinions, and feedback about a brand.
In addition to being applicable to reviews, sentiment analysis is a technique that can also be used to analyze social media conversations and determine the sentiment behind them, whether it’s positive, negative, or neutral.
By monitoring social media conversations and conducting sentiment analysis, businesses can identify areas for improvement, respond to customer concerns, and build a positive online reputation.
Social media listening tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Brandwatch can help businesses track social media conversations and analyze sentiment.
These tools enable you to stay on top of what customers are saying about your brand and take proactive steps to manage your online reputation effectively.
Website Traffic
Your online reputation has a direct impact on the amount of organic website traffic you attract.
A strong, positive reputation will increase the likelihood that your business appears higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This leads to more clicks and visitors from organic searches.
An effective online reputation management campaign can significantly boost your website traffic by improving your brand’s online presence.
Use website traffic analytics tools like Google Analytics to track trends in your organic traffic volume over time. Look for correlations between changes in review volume/sentiment and organic traffic.
The more positive mentions and reviews your business has online, the higher you should rank for relevant keyword searches.
It’s also important to monitor traffic referred from review sites like Yelp and Facebook. Set up campaign tracking to analyze how many visitors click through to your site from reviews.
Getting more positive reviews can boost these referrals.
Encourage customers to link to your website from reviews to help drive more traffic.
You can use free tools like SimilarWeb to analyze competitor traffic for comparison. The more you improve your online reputation, the better you can compete for more organic and referral visitors.
Online Reputation Management Tools and Models
There are various reputation management tools and models available to help businesses manage their online reputation. Some popular tools include:
Review management software like ReputationStacker
Social media listening tools like Hootsuite
Sentiment analysis tools like Brandwatch
Reputation management models like the Reputation Quotient (RQ) and the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) provide a framework for evaluating a brand’s reputation and identifying areas for improvement.
These tools and models can help you systematically manage your online reputation, ensuring that you address any issues promptly and maintain a positive brand image.
Benefits of Effective Online Reputation
Effective online reputation management offers numerous benefits for businesses, including:
Increased trust and credibility with customers
Improved brand awareness and loyalty
Increased website traffic and conversion rates
Better customer satisfaction and retention
Competitive advantage in the market
Improved online reviews and ratings
By investing in online reputation management, businesses can build a strong online presence, attract new customers, and drive business growth.
A positive online reputation not only enhances customer trust but also sets your brand apart from competitors, leading to long-term success and sustainability.
Key Metrics Summary
The most important online reputation metrics for small businesses to focus on are:
Review volume—total number of online reviews across sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp
Review sentiment—percentage of positive, negative and neutral reviews
Review response rate—percentage of online reviews responded to
Average star rating—overall average rating across review sites
These key metrics can be tracked in a dashboard using a tool like ReputationStacker for regular monitoring and analysis.
Setting goals for improvement and analyzing trends over time for these metrics will give you the key insights you need to boost your online reputation.
Improving Reputation
There are several key tactics you can use to start improving your online reputation.
First, focus on review response best practices.
Respond professionally to all reviews, especially negative ones. Thank the customer for feedback, apologize for any issues, and explain how you plan to address their concerns. Aim for a review response rate over 80%.
Next, work on a review generation strategy to increase your overall volume of positive reviews.
Make it easy for happy customers to leave reviews by sending follow-up emails and review requests. Getting more positive reviews helps counteract any negative feedback.
Finally, keep monitoring review sentiment over time. As you improve service quality and fix issues brought up in negative reviews, you should start to see your percentage of positive reviews increase.
This will gradually lift your average star rating as well. With consistent effort, you can turn around negative sentiment and build a strong online reputation.
Conclusion
There are several key metrics that small business owners should focus on to monitor and improve their online reputation.
The most important metrics to track regularly include review volume, review sentiment, response rate, average star rating, social media mentions, and website traffic from review sites.
To recap, here are some of the key steps you can take to boost your reputation:
Actively encourage more customer reviews on sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp to increase volume.
Aim for a high review response rate by replying professionally to all feedback received.
Monitor your average star rating and work on improving any low ratings.
Set up alerts to track social media brand mentions and sentiment.
Analyze traffic driven from review sites and work on getting more referral visits.
By regularly monitoring your performance across these top reputation metrics and taking steps to improve them, your online reputation management efforts will pay off.
