Reputation Changer: Restaurants Fight Back Against Negative Reviews

Online, April 30, 2012 (Newswire.com) - It is easier than ever before for diners to find reviews about local restaurants, or to leave their own feedback about recent dining experiences. The Internet makes these restaurant reviews easy and accessible to all, but while this is ultimately a boon to those who like to eat out, it's not always welcome news for restaurant owners. CBS reports on the amazing impact that a review can have on a restaurant's reputation, and ultimately on its profits; a single negative review on a site like Yelp can lead to a decrease in the restaurant's total profits by as much as nine percent, new research says. Restaurant owners know how powerful these reviews can be, and therefore more and more of them are seeking to combat unwanted reviews, often by taking matters into their own hands, but sometimes by reaching out to reputation management companies, like Reputation Changer.

The CBS report cites one incident of a Boston restaurant owner who actually approached a diner directly, asking him to remove an unflattering review that he had posted to the Internet; as the report makes clear, the incident likely did more harm than good to the restaurant's reputation. Meanwhile, other restaurant owners have launched aggressive anti-review campaigns on Facebook and Twitter, but here again, the report offers little proof that these efforts are actually constructive.

In fact, Mark Reffert, a Senior Strategist for Reputation Changer, says that responding directly to reviews can ultimately do more harm than good. "The ultimate goal of the restaurant should be to minimize the visibility of those negative reviews, ensuring that as few people see them as possible," Reffert explains. "Responding to them only draws more attention to them, though." In fact, Reffert says responding to a negative review can maximize the review's strength in an online search. "Responding to a review will likely make it even easier for people to find on Google, Yahoo, or Bing," says Reffert.

That is ultimately why many restaurants are forgoing the DIY reputation management approach, and are instead enlisting the services of professional reputation management firms, like Reffert's. A company like Reputation Changer takes a different approach to the one taken by many independent restaurant owners. Instead of direct response, Reputation Changer practices what Reffert calls suppression.

"The idea that governs the online reputation management industry is that very few people ever click past the first page of Google search results, something that studies and statistics have confirmed for us over and over again," Reffert notes. "So while it is impossible to remove or delete a negative review from the Internet, we can push them off the first page of Google search results, which effectively makes them non-issues."

Indeed, Reffert says that if a diner conducts a Google search for a particular restaurant and the first thing they see is a one-star review from Yelp, that's ultimately devastating news for the restaurant in question. "In our experience with clients, restaurants that get one-star reviews ultimately end up having to charge one-star prices," Reffert says. "Once a restaurant's reputation goes, so do its customers, and its profits."

Pushing that one-star review to the third or fourth page of Google, meanwhile, makes it "virtually non-existent," Reffert claims. Online reputation management companies like his will accomplish this by inundating the search engines with positive content, designed to portray the restaurant in a positive light. This content is coupled with strong SEO principles, as well as strategic implementation of social media.

Ultimately, the goal of a company like Reputation Changer is to project a positive online image for its clients. "We seek to establish the client's restaurant as a restaurant of choice among diners," says Reffert. "We seek to combat bad publicity and portray the restaurant as one people love to eat at."

ABOUT:

Founded in 2009 by a team of online marketing and sales professionals, Reputation Changer is one of the premier providers of online reputation management. The company works 24/7 to provide comprehensive reputation management strategies to its clients, which have included politicians, public figures, Fortune 500 companies, and more. Reputation Changer owns several media outlets, and is known for its innovation in positive SEO techniques, social media implementation, and more. The company is also unique for the custom, individualized process it takes for every client and every campaign.