Best Reputation Management Services Of 2024 : Chosen By Us
Whether we like to admit it or not, every company has a reputation. Some businesses prefer their reputations to evolve organically, while more successful businesses proactively monitor and manage it. This is typically done through online reputation management services.
Reputation management software allows companies to track what existing and potential customers are saying about their brand. The software searches social media, search engines, and review sites like Yelp. Furthermore, the best reputation management companies also provide solutions that help you look at and respond to time-sensitive online reviews.
If there’s anything I’ve learned about brand building and scaling online businesses, it’s that you need to take charge of your company’s reputation with a comprehensive marketing strategy. It needs to be one that promotes positive content and aggressively handles negative content. Don’t believe me? According to a consumer reviews marketing report by G2 and Heinz Marketing, 92.4% of customers are more likely to purchase a product or service after reading a trusted review. The data doesn’t lie.
That’s why I combed through dozens of online reputation management companies to find you powerful solutions with affordable pricing. To help you narrow down your options, I evaluated features, ease of use, and extra integrations/tools that assist with social media marketing, digital marketing, and other industry-specific services.
Best Overall Reputation Management Services For 2024
- NetReputation – Best reputation management company overall
- WebiMax – Best for building a positive online reputation
- Birdeye – Best for large-scale organizations
- Igniyte – Best for combating negative reviews
- Gadook – Best all-in-one solution
- Reputation X – Best for online reputation repair
- Podium – Best self-service tool
NetReputation is an industry-leading online reputation management service that specializes in branding, public relations, and content marketing.
The company helps you take control of your online reputation with an in-depth process that analyses your existing internet reputation and develops a customized plan to improve it. NetReputation also provides SEO-driven asset development and content creation services to maximize brand reach, visibility, and impact.
NetReputation has an excellent customer service team that promptly answers questions and addresses issues. They even offer a free reputation consultation that evaluates your current standing and explores various methods to restore, improve, or create a positive online image.
Pricing
NetReputation has flexible and affordable pricing options. Costs will vary depending on your unique situation and needs. You will need to contact NetReputation directly and their team will put together a budget-friendly pricing plan specific to your business.
Pros
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Key online reputation management solutions to improve brand authority and stand out from competitors
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Responsive and knowledgeable customer service team
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Experience serving a wide range of industries
Cons
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Unclear pricing
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Founded in 2008, WebiMax is a well-known and well-established digital marketing agency specializing in online reputation management. This company has helped a long list of businesses and individuals over the last two decades.
This online reputation management company offers customized solutions to every single client. The team will work closely with you to better understand the nuances of your specific situation and put together a personalized, thoughtful plan that fits your goals and budget.
Such an approach is especially important if you already have negative publicity surrounding your brand. WebiMax is able to strategize a long-term, reputation-based plan to remove and/or bury negative content and promote positive reviews. It’ll feel like you hired an entire internal department to handle your reputation online.
Pricing
All plans and pricing are customized to the client, their needs, and their budget. WebiMax offers a free reputation analysis, which identifies where your brand needs to improve and how its online reputation management services can help.
This initial analysis typically includes the following information:
- A realistic and transparent timeline to achieve your goals
- Negative content that either needs to be reported or deleted
- Positive reviews that need to be highlighted
- Any unclaimed profiles or inactive accounts
- A custom price quote
Pros
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Custom strategies for online reputation management
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No outsourced services, fully U.S.-based
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Single point of contact and no long-term contracts are required
Cons
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Not ideal for larger organizations
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Above I mentioned WebiMax, which is a smaller digital marketing agency that’s great for reputation management but not necessarily for enterprise-level companies. Well, what about all the larger, multinational organizations? Please welcome, Birdeye.
Birdeye is an enterprise-grade online reputation management and customer experience platform with omnichannel capabilities. Essentially, it gives you a bird’s eye view of your entire online presence and reputation performance.
Beyond this holistic perspective, Birdeye can also dial into specific locations for insights into customer experience and sentiment. All of these findings and results are then delivered to a centralized, easy-to-use dashboard in real time. This means that you can interact with your community the moment new feedback hits the internet. This helps larger organizations break through the corporate barriers of having to engage with customers across multiple locations.
Birdeye really stands out from other reputation management firms with its automated systems and integrations with Meta and Google. This platform enables you to automatically send messages to customers and encourage them to write a review.
Pricing
Birdeye offers three main pricing plans: Standard, Professional, and Premium.
The Standard plan starts at $299 per month and includes solutions for messaging, listings, and reviews.
The Professional plan starts at $399 per month and includes everything in the Standard plan, plus web-chat and live-chat features.
The Premium plan has custom pricing and includes everything in the Professional plan, plus specific features and tools for managing referrals, surveys, ticketing, insights, and benchmarking.
Pros
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Great options for both small businesses and enterprise-grade, corporate companies
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Multiple pricing plans
Cons
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Expensive service
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Igniyte is another quality online reputation management service with experience serving various brands and individuals. The company’s expertise lies in its ability to repair damaged reputations by removing content from Google. It also monitors online reviews, and preparing public relations crisis strategies.
Igniyte is actually my top recommendation for tackling negative reviews. If you are already in a crisis, their reputation specialists will evaluate your challenges and provide you with a comprehensive plan to put you back in control. If you simply want to be proactive about your online reputation, Igniyte can help you build and maintain a positive online reputation.
The Igniyte team is both experienced and ethical. They have helped top brands with review and reputation management, response training, customer service communications, internal processes, and more.
Pricing
Igniyte offers two main plans: the Business Reputation Management plan and the Personal Reputation Management plan.
Prices for business reputation management start at $2,102 (one-off setup fee) and are best for small businesses looking to either build or repair their online reputation.
Prices for personal reputation management start at $1,965 (one-off setup fee) and are best for people suffering from the negative effects of unwanted content and who want to improve how others see them online.
Pros
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Trusted by worldwide brands
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One-time fee structure
Cons
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Limited social media management services
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Gadook goes way beyond the self-service methodology. This personal reputation manager utilizes every tool and strategy in the book to improve and protect your online presence. This is an ideal option for brands that have already experienced some kind of attack or negative publicity.
The reputation management consultants at Gadook understand that mistakes happen and sometimes it’s at no fault or your own. They will handle everything involved with the brand building process. They will cover everything from web design and development to new domain names to a new customer service setup.
Gadook looks at the individual situation/crisis and finds a way to build the brand image. All-in-all, they’re experts at brand repair and protection.
Even as one of the best online reputation management companies, Gadook offers other services as well. This includes search engine optimization, social media marketing, public relations, and content marketing.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one platform to manage everything from online review management to social media optimization, I highly recommend Gadook.
Pricing
Online reputation management services for individuals start at $400 and go up from there. Business reputation management services cost between $800 and $8,000 per month, though every plan is custom.
It really boils down to the individual tasks you require, as they are billed at an hourly rate. For example, reputation management, web development, project management, and consulting services all have a rate of $80 per hour. Advanced level participation for things like solution architecture, disaster recovery strategies, and system integration cost $120 per hour.
With Gadook, there are long-standing contracts required. This means that you can cancel, upgrade, or downgrade your play anytime you choose.
Pros
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All-in-one online reputation management solution
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Ideal for re-branding and brand building
Cons
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Pricing is determined at an hourly rate rather than a guaranteed monthly/annual fee
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Podium is a unique online reputation management company that takes a proactive approach to generating reviews for your brand. Rather than trying to delete and/or bury negative information and boost your Google rankings, Podium uses automated messaging tactics to get you more customer feedback and online reviews.
For example, if a customer just purchased a product or service, Podium will automatically send them a message asking for a review. The customer can then click on the link in the text – which sends them directly to Google, Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or whatever site you designate. Hopefully, they will leave a rave review for your brand. This solution is ideal for small businesses that need to stay focused on what matters most. This includes driving leads, converting prospects, and generating revenue for your SMB.
Podium’s approach of automated messages to prompt reviews is actually very effective. There are multiple case studies and testimonials on the platform where businesses that were averaging a few hundred online reviews jumped to tens of thousands of reviews after leveraging automated messaging tools.
Of course, this is a very specific service. If you need more extensive online reputation management assistance, I recommend choosing a different platform that is able to customize a plan specifically for your needs and goals.
Pricing
Podium offers three core plans.
The Essentials plan costs $289 per month and is ideal for small business owners and self-employed professionals just starting out.
The Standard plan starts at $449 per month and is perfect for business owners looking to expand, either in-person or online.
The Professional plan costs $649 per month and offers all the advanced tools that mature businesses need to generate and manage customer reviews.
Pros
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Niche reputation services
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Robust customer support (i.e., tutorials, videos, and other resources)
Cons
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Limited online reputation management services
Star Rating
/ 5.0
Reputation X has been providing online reputation management solutions to small businesses and large-scale enterprises for more than 10 years. The company’s core services included reputation repair, digital marketing, and Wikipedia page development and editing.
With search engines and social media, people today can get an immediate window into the company. Reputation X works to monitor and engineer how people perceive one of these entities. They offer assistance to build a personal or company brand, protect your online reputation, improve ratings and reviews, and bury negative content (and even possibly get it removed from Google and other search engines).
Reputation X also provides top-notch customer support. Representatives are standing by to help you understand your options, timeline, and costs. You can either write an inquiry or call a rep directly.
What’s the best part? Even if you request information, there is no obligation to sign up for a recurring plan. Reputation X offers a free, one-on-one consultation to learn more about its services.
Pricing
The pricing plans are not listed on the Reputation X website. Packages are developed on a case-by-case basis. Prospective customers must set up a call or schedule a Zoom meeting with an online reputation management expert to discuss the options available, as well as pricing.
Pros
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Several positive case studies are listed on the website
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Unique Wikipedia services for development and editing
Cons
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Lacks self-service tools to manage some aspects of your online reputation
Star Rating
/ 5.0
How to Choose a Reputation Management Service
When choosing a reputation management company, it’s important to explore all the different options available to you in order to find the right software and tools.
At the end of the day, it’s entirely up to you which reputation management service you ultimately decide to use. I only considered feature-rich, yet affordable solutions so there isn’t necessarily a wrong answer here.
To help you along the decision-making process, I’ve shared a mix of different criteria to consider below.
Industry Experience
The first thing to look at when choosing a reputation management service is industry experience. It’s important that the company has spent time and gained knowledge from working in the industry for several years. Do they have a proven track record of successful cases with strengthening brand reputation and resolving negative content online?
Online Reputation
Reputations matter, even for reputation management services. The best online reputation management companies have flawless business reputations. To verify this, read through online reviews and media articles. You can also check out the company’s own social media accounts to see how they interact with customers. If the company itself has a positive reputation and satisfied users, you can be more confident trusting them with your company’s online reputation.
Ethical Aspects
A good reputation management firm is transparent, responsible, and ethical. Building a quality online reputation and showcasing a business in a positive light takes time. Steer clear of quick fixes that claim instant results. Fundamental ethics also include compliance with all federal and state laws, as well as user privacy and protection when collecting data. Companies should proactively take a principled and transparent stand on how they handle data collection and utilization.
Functionality and Ease of Use
The best online reputation management services have an easy-to-use interface and intuitive operations to support that interface. First impressions are important here. If the interface isn’t running smoothly right away, chances are it isn’t an easy-to-use, easy-to-learn product. Look for software that enables fast implementation, a straightforward learning curve, great support, and insightful training materials to support both current and future needs.
Response Options
When it comes to a successful reputation management strategy, responding to customer/user feedback is non-negotiable. This can be difficult with the hundreds of general and niche review sites online. Review management software should be able to spot new feedback across all mediums and enable you to respond quickly and easily directly through their platform. That way, you’ll never miss a chance to respond to customer feedback again.
Integrations With Third-Party Tools
An all-in-one reputation management company will offer various solutions that cover every single part of the brand building lifecycle – from attracting new customers and getting more reviews to monitoring, showcasing, and responding to existing reviews. This also extends to integrations with various social media marketing, content marketing, and digital marketing tools. Ultimately, you should be able to easily integrate your existing stack into the software.
When Do You Need a Reputation Management
It doesn’t take much for negative content to go viral and cost you sales. Reputation management not only helps you build a positive image, but it also helps you keep it that way.
By enacting a reputation management strategy from the get-go, businesses can act swiftly and intentionally if a crisis strikes. Moreover, the company will already have loads of positive content helping to boost the brand’s reputation and drown out the negative noise.
Reputation marketing is simply a piece of brand management. And the sooner you implement a thoughtful strategy to boost your brand’s online reputation, the faster you can take advantage of the many sales-generating opportunities that come along with it.
Benefits of Using a Reputation Management Company
I’m not going to sugar-coat it – effective reputation management takes a lot of sustained and consistent effort. That’s where online reputation management services come in.
They provide powerful tools that help you monitor, manage, and improve your online reputation. For example, most utilize software that can easily scan review sites and social media platforms for brand mentions. Once it finds new reviews, it should send you an alert either by email or text. Most solutions have a centralized dashboard where you can quickly view and respond to reviews directly on the platform.
Some online reputation management software enables you to monitor specific keywords or phrases that are relevant to your business. Furthermore, you may even be able to track top competitors and review consumer sentiment.
Overall, online reputation management services help to enhance brand recall, drive conversions, and stay ahead of the curve in terms of negative feedback.
FAQs:
What Causes A Bad Online Reputation?
A bad online reputation is caused by one or a combination of factors. These may include bad customer reviews, negative search results, poor social media brand mentions, or deliberate reputation attacks. While businesses cannot control what customers say or act upon, it’s still important to monitor negative sentiment and respond accordingly.
How Much Does Online Reputation Management Cost?
Online reputation management services typically charge by the number of seats or users on the account. Most offer both monthly and yearly subscription plans that include varying tiers. The more expensive plans often provide additional features and more capacity. Average costs across providers vary from a few dollars per month for the most basic tools to several hundred dollars per month for comprehensive solutions.
What’s the Difference Between Review Management vs. Reputation Management?
Review management is the process of tracking both positive and negative reviews across various sites. This is done so that you can resolve issues as they arise and get a better understanding of customer sentiment surrounding your service/product.
Reputation management is the wider-scope process of ensuring that your brand reputation is and stays positive. The main difference between the two is that reputation management includes monitoring review sites, in addition to social media and search results. Review management is simply a component of managing your online reputation.
Best Reputation Management Services: Key Takeaways
Whether you’re an entrepreneur building your brand reputation from scratch or a long-standing company looking to repair a damaged brand image, online reputation management is a necessity.
Ultimately, I highly recommend NetReputation. This high-quality, well-trusted service will work to monitor, manage, and protect your online presence and reputation.
