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After conducting extensive research and analysis of reputation management services, we recommend Reputation.com as the best reputation management service for businesses.
Why Reputation.com?
Ease of use
Some of the qualities that were very important to us when narrowing down reputation management services were the simplicity of navigating each company's website, and the transparency about the capabilities and prices of the services offered. We found that most companies don't explain their methodology or list any of their pricing information, and when they do, it's difficult to find.
Reputation.com, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to navigate. There is a wealth of information about the company's reputation management process available on the website, and everything is laid out in a clear and streamlined manner. The company offers a learning center that explains what reputation management is and why it's important, along with webinars and a free download of its business reputation "success guide."
The only problem we had with Reputation.com was that not all of the pricing information was clearly outlined. However, most of this information was available, and the company was quick to give us detailed information about its pricing when we called. Weighed against the rest of the website's pros and our experience with other companies, we did not consider this to be a major downside. For more on choosing a reputation management service, see our 2015 Buyer's Guide.
Services offered
Reputation.com offers two different services for businesses: a general reputation management platform, and ReputationDefender, a service that focuses mainly on fixing negative search results. Both options have different features and different prices.
If you are already dealing with a reputation disaster, ReputationDefender is the service you need. This service helps suppress negative search results, including newspaper articles, images and videos, private legal or financial information, blog posts and other website content. With ReputationDefender, you'll work with a reputation adviser to strategize and map out your goals. You will discuss and agree on a content strategy, which Reputation.com will then develop, publish and optimize with your approval. Over time, the addition and optimization of positive content should push down the negative content, making it less visible to people searching for information about your business. The amount of content required to effectively hide your negative search results depends on the severity of the problem, and pricing adjusts accordingly.
For new businesses or those looking to build up their reputation and prevent a crisis, Reputation.com's overall reputation management platform is the way to go. This service covers all of the major reputation management tactics, including online-review management, SEO and social media management. Reputation.com uses SEO to make sure your accurate business information is available on all of the top business listing sites and even scores your reputation against that of your local competitors, so you can see how you compare. You're given access to a dashboard where all of your online reviews and top social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) are available, and you'll get customizable email alerts when new reviews are posted or if anything changes.
With the reputation management platform, Reputation.com also offers fully managed campaigns for reviews and social media that includes responding to reviews, reaching out to customers to gain more reviews, optimizing and posting to social media, and responding to users on social media. Everything in the platform is cloud-based, so you can access your information from anywhere. The platform also has a mobile app for even easier access on the go.
It's also worth noting that Reputation.com also offers reputation management services for individuals; you can read more about those services on the company's website.
Unique features
Along with all of the typical reputation management services listed above, Reputation.com has solutions tailored to different business industries. Although the core features offered are the same, your reputation advisers will work to make sure your business's specific niche needs are met. The industries covered include automotive, dental, health care, hospitality, property management, restaurants and retail, but the company's services will work for any business. These tailored services were hard to find at most other reputation management companies.
One unique aspect of Reputation.com is its review "kiosk" feature. When using the reputation management service, clients are given a customized tablet kiosk to use on-site at their business. The tablets help businesses collect reviews from customers before they leave the business, as opposed to waiting for customers to potentially post to Yelp or other review sites at a later time. The interface is easy to use — it's one simple screen that asks for a rating, review and some basic information about the customer. If a customer enters a negative review, it's sent to your Reputation.com management team, and if the customer enters a positive review, the customer is prompted to post it online. Reviews entered into the kiosk can also be posted on your website, Facebook page and other sites. This is a great way to quickly boost your online reviews and ratings, and yet another stand-out feature that we couldn't find anywhere else.
Customer service
We were impressed by Reputation.com's customer service — both online and over the phone. Reputation.com has a great live-chat feature on its website that you can open by clicking the link under the phone number on the top-right corner of any page. This is the perfect way to ask basic questions about the website (for example, if you can't find the information you're looking for) or the services offered, without making a phone call. If the agent you're chatting with can't help you directly, he or she will direct you to someone who can help you over the phone. When we tested out the live-chat feature, the response time was quick, and the wait time was less than a minute.
Alternatively, you can call to speak to an agent directly, and getting through to a representative is fairly simple. The phone-system menu is short, with only a few options, and thus is easy to navigate. When we called, it took only a minute or two to be connected with a representative. Initially, we spoke to a representative who asked us what we were looking for, and then we were connected with another representative who was better suited to answer our questions. The second representative we spoke with was thoughtful and thorough in answering questions about how the reputation management process works, and gave detailed explanations of the company's services, pricing and more. What impressed us most was that, at the end of the call, the representative offered to send over an email summary of everything we discussed, and the information was in our inbox by the time we got off the call.
Pricing
Compared to other online review management companies, Reputation.com's pricing was reasonable, with its base package starting at $2,500 for one year. Pricing depends on which service you use (ReputationDefender or the company's reputation management platform) and the severity of any reputation issues you may be facing. All prices are annual, with the exception of the review kiosk fee. Here's a breakdown of Reputation.com's pricing:
ReputationDefender
With ReputationDefender, there are five different prices, ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 per year, depending on the plan you select:
- Defender 3000: For moderately high severity, this comes with 30 commercial website postings, four customized websites and 10 content refreshes. Cost: $3,000 per year.
- Defender 5000: For issues with high severity, this level comes with 40 commercial website postings, six customized websites and 20 content refreshes. Cost: $5,000 per year.
- Defender 7500: For very high severity, this package comes with 40 commercial website postings, eight customized websites and 20 content refreshes. Cost: $7,500 per year.
- Defender 10000: For extremely high severity, this includes 50 commercial website postings, 10 customized websites and 30 content refreshes. Cost: $10,000 per year.
- Defender 15000: Also for extremely high severity, this package comes with 60 commercial website postings, 12 customized websites and 30 content refreshes. Cost: $15,000 per year.
Each service comes with a tailored content strategy, a dedicated reputation advisory team and regular progress reporting.
Reputation management platform
For Reputation.com's reputation management platform, there are two subscription levels: Gold and Platinum. The Gold level costs $2,500 per year, and Platinum costs $4,500 per year. Both offer essentially the same major features and services, but there are some major differences between the two packages.
With the Gold package, Reputation.com won't respond to negative reviews on your behalf, and the company won't post or build up your social media presence for you or respond to social posts on your behalf. (You will still be able to access and manage your social media accounts from the dashboard.) With the Platinum package, all of these tasks are covered. In addition, clients that use the Gold package will have their business info populated in 10 different online business listings, whereas the Platinum package includes 20 listings.
For both packages, there is also a onetime setup fee of $199 for use of the review kiosks, in addition to the annual costs.
Other things to consider
While researching Reputation.com, we did come across some negative reviews about the company on various websites, like Ripoff Report and the Better Business Bureau. However, many of these negative reviews are a few years old, and several of them did not make substantial claims about what went wrong. Some clients seemed to complain of minor billing issues, while others didn't like that not all of their negative search results were effectively hidden or removed, or that it would take more time or cost more to effectively solve this problem. In these cases, it is important to note that each reputation management situation is different, and companies that use legal, white-hat tactics cannot always hide or remove negative search results. This is a risk that any client using an online reputation management service takes.
Finding negative reviews was concerning, and it is something that potential customers should be aware of. However, we still recommend Reputation.com as the best online reputation management service for businesses, due to the nature of the reviews, as well as all of the good features it offers, including its great customer service, reasonable prices and unique services, like customized review kiosks.
Runner-up: Reputation X
If you're looking for an option that starts at a lower price*, we recommend Reputation X. The company offers many of the same services as Reputation.com to help you build and grow your brand online while also preventing (or handling the aftermath of) reputation management disasters. Reputation X's website is easy to navigate, clearly spells out the company's methodology and ethics concerns, and lists prices for each service it offers and how difficult your situation is to manage. We also like that Reputation X offers a free analysis tool on its website. Prospective clients can sign up for this service — no credit card required — to score their online reputation. We tested this tool, and it's quick to set up and easy to use.
However, although Reputation X offers many of the same great features as Reputation.com and more, it may not be the best choice if customer service is of high importance to you. We tried several times to get a representative on the phone but were directed to voicemail each time.
*It's important to note that Reputation X is not necessarily less expensive than Reputation.com, as it depends on the type of service you require. Prices range from a onetime fee of $499 for the most basic plan (much less expensive than Reputation.com's most basic business plan) to monthly fees of more than $10,000 per month for the most challenging cases (much more expensive than Reputation.com's price-range estimates).
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