Most organisations now make use of social networks  as avenues to reach and connect with their various publics in the online environment. The consumer market is highly competitive in nature and to stay ahead of competition it is necessary for organisations to maintain and sustain good reputation online.  

Why does online reputation matter? It boosts confidence among customers who enjoy associating with organisations that have untainted image and reputation. It increases sales of products and services offered by an organisation resulting from patronage of loyal customers. The profits of an organisation rises when sales increases, this in turn makes the organisation stand out among competitors. One good thing about online reputation is that it effect changes on products and services through customer feedbacks channels employed by an organisation.

Organisations manage their online reputation to know what is being said about their products, services, performance, achievements and shortcomings using monitoring tools such as:

·          Trackur

·          Technorati which is a search engine site to know what is being said on the blogosphere about your organisation.

·          Digg to know who has dugg up submitted stories that match your organisation’s name.

·         Google blog search to know who is blogging about your organisation.

·         Google analytics

·         Del.icio.us

·         Google video which has switched to index videos from online hosting sites such as YouTube and Metacafe. It helps to keep track of negative videos that include your organisation’s name and products.

 According to Dale Neef in his book Managing Corporate Reputation And Risks (2003, p.25), “From the Brazilian rain forests to Nigeria, and from the diamond mines of South Africa to the oil fields in Alaska, company activities are mercilessly monitored by an increasingly powerful and effective cadre of activities who quickly relay information worldwide, into collaborative activist networks, to lobbyists, to government agencies, and the press.” This means that it is imperative for organisations to monitor their online environment closely, they should be credible and ethical in their operations, watch out for pranksters that start and spread negative rumours because the slightest mistake on the web can escalate and destroy and organisation’s reputation built over the years.

 Good online reputation guarantees long term sustainability for the organisation while on the other hand, reputation can be destroyed when negative stories arise. Here are Andy Beal’s ten tactics for saving online reputation.