Unfortunately, the cost of an online reputation being damaged can be difficult to quantify. Online reputati0ns are not exactly measurable, nor is the amount of business that is turned away by a bad one. This is unfortunate, but a reality of the Internet. This article discusses the topic of online reputations and the costs associated with them at length.

My company, online reputation management specialist BrandsEye, extensively monitored Tuesday’s conversation and discovered through our research that more than 5 000 people took online part in the conversation about the disciplinary across the country. Based on their respective levels of influence, this conversation reached an astonishing 8,4m people by our estimates.

The measurement in the article concerns a particular event in South Africa, but it serves as a microcosm, an experiment that is well worth observing and learning from. Think–how much would it cost to protect my reputation? Yours? Brad Pitt’s?

Small Business Computing is a website that gives many good tips for small businesses on a variety of issues. For now, I’d like to draw readers’ attention to this article concerning how to protect online reputations. If you’ve ever wondered “How do I protect my reputation online?”–this article can provide some answers.

Without forcing it, try to optimize several pages on your site with your most important search phrase: your company name, Beal advises. Mention your company name on pages that describe your products or services, for instance. Make sure you have a page optimized with the name of your CEO or other top officials as well.

Here’s why: Google is likely to see your site as the ultimate authority on your company, and authoritativeness is an important signal Google uses when ranking content. With proper keyword optimization, your content will therefore surface to the top of search results. On the flip side, with proper optimization you’ll have a better chance of pushing down less-positive content that mentions your company by name.

Good advice, all. The entire article is well worth reading.