Today, having a strong online brand is one of the most essential ways to keep your business growing. That means need your finger on the pulse of all things internet that not only affect your brand image but tell you who your competitors are and how well they are doing. There are many tools available that help you choose the best brand-sensitive key words, monitor your hits, follow what people are saying about your business and most importantly, keep your site secure. Needless to say, you must also stay on top of the latest trends, and make sure your visual brand is consistent.

Use Google Alerts

One of the easiest tools to monitor your brand online – and it’s also free – is Google Alerts. This handy device lets you know the instant you come up in a search engine and from what source. After you set it up (just follow the Google instructions), you can plug in important search queries like “John Smith” which tracks mentions of your name; “Top Advertising Solutions”, that monitors the company name mentions, and “topadvertising.solutions” to monitor domain mentions, which includes backlinks.  Other tools to add to your repertoire are Brand Mentions, Buzzsumo, and Hooks, which is a mobile app which lets you see your brand mentions on your phone.

Use the Best Keywords

Although it is not rocket science to use the best keywords, researching the best brand-sensitive keywords is a skill you must develop. You need to research all the variations on keywords your brand name and stay on top of the rankings. You can find one of the best and fastest “growth hacking tools” at https://serpstat.com/ , which allows you to enter a keyword, choose what country to google, and hit “search.” Also, play around with your key words, to make sure they are not overly competitive.

Grace Under Fire – Handling Negative Mentions

As the owner of the company, be your best representative. Don’t try to fool viewers by giving yourself five stars like you are a happy customer. Be a confident and authentic voice, and take a more gracious position of you can help customers solve their problems, even if you can’t please all of them.  And, instead of blocking or deleting negative comments – which could backfire on you big time – handle each issue with a sense of humor. If the customer slams something about your product or service, you can come back with an apology and a promise to fix or replace it in a lighthearted manner.  Remember, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

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