No Reputation Score is built with a single step, and you are never done building one for your business. Though it is a continuous calculation, where do you start? What works? What makes sense? Here are four steps you can take right now to start improving your Reputation Score.

1. Claim Your Listings

If you haven’t claimed your listings, now’s the time to do so. Search engines and social media sites are also actively asking for reviews, and they allow you to claim your business on their platforms. One point to consider is how your customers get in contact with you and what platforms they use to engage with your business. Once you establish a presence on those sites, get a sense of what people are saying and begin crafting an engagement strategy.

2. Ask for Reviews

Requesting customers to weigh in is a time-honored marketing tactic, one that even Google encourages you to do to build your SEO profile. The trick is to do it in a way that’s comfortable for your customers and to have a policy in place when a review that’s less than glowing is posted. Handling a bad review with grace and tact is great for your Reputation Score, simply because customers know that if there’s a problem, you’ll care enough about it to attempt to resolve it. Asking for reviews with integrity opens a door to stronger relationships with your customers and demonstrates why they should respect and trust you.

3. Run an SEO Assessment

Think of running an SEO assessment as akin to going to the doctor for a check-up. An assessment tells you how you’re doing, where you can work to improve and in some cases, what you should reconsider doing. Even if you have rigorous SEO best practices in place already, a periodic SEO assessment is important because good SEO is an ever-shifting target. One change on Google’s part can render even a well-regarded business practically impossible to find. Scheduling regular SEO assessments gives you access to metrics you can use to see how your SEO health and online reputation are improving.

4. Look Up the Competition

How can you use information about your competitors to gain an advantage? Read their reviews, examine their websites, look at what people are saying about them on social media and in the wider press, and look at how they handle clients or consumers who might have a concern. There are times you may be surprised by what you read. Every business, even in the same industry, is different in how it handles certain challenges. Ask yourself how you’d handle a similar situation and look at what your competitors are doing to encourage customers to engage.

As your business reputation grows and new points of interest turn up, you’ll keep adding to your reputation management strategy. You will also need new tools to better understand what customers are saying and how to reply. To take the first step toward enhancing your online reputation in a systematic way, download our free guide to Getting Started with Online Reputation Management today.