Enterprises’ online reputation: bad practices to avoid

The Internet has changed the customer-enterprise communications a while ago. Before, a client would complain directly to the company if he was dissatisfied with their services or, worst-case scenario, he would mention it to his relatives.  Nowadays, all you need to do is send an email or write a negative review on social networks. This digital word-of-mouth tendency is damaging the online reputation of enterprises with less experience in digital marketing. To help you deal with this, I share with you this list of bad practices to avoid in your website, social networks and emails:

Website 

1. Loading time: it should not exceed 5 seconds.
2. Outdated contents.
3. An obsolete web page not following current design trends.
4. Poor ergonomics: information on your products or services too difficult to find.
5. An unattractive design and information not reflecting your value proposition.
6. Visual inconsistencies. In other words, not including your corporate logo, colors or images.
7. Using images with the wrong size or resolution.
8. Broken hyperlinks.
9. A web design that is not responsive. It means that your website does not offer an optimal viewing experience on different platforms or screen formats (computers, tablets and smartphones).

Social networks 

1. Not using your brand image. For example, not using your logo or enterprise’s description in your profile.
2. Accounts with no activity or profiles with very few publications.
3. Sharing non-original content or publications that are not related to your business activity.
4. Plagiarism of contents (texts, images or videos).
5. One-way communication or a lack of interactions with your subscribers.
6. Your reaction when your subscribers publish negative comments, or deleting these comments.
7. Ignored or unanswered requests from web surfers.

Emails

1. Using a non-professional email address.
2. Sending emails to people who have not given their permission to be included in your database.
3. A lack of customization or segmentation.
4. An email subject that is too long or not drawing attention.
5. Non-hierarchical or poorly structured information.
6. Not including a value offer in your message.
7. The absence of a call-to-action. Tell your customers in one word what you expect them to do with the information you sent.
8. Neglecting to include options to unsubscribe from the mailing list.

Overall, even if your e-reputation depends on what your customers say about you on the Internet, you have control over a large proportion of your online brand image. Pay attention to the details I mentioned: they are essential to highlight your presence on the new media and increase your number of potential customers.