Featured article by Calvin Paige, Independent Technology Author
With 92% of modern consumers now reading online reviews, businesses need to do everything in their power to receive a glowing recommendation from their customers. Despite all your efforts, however, there might be unscrupulous competitors who will happily write negative reviews to damage your reputation and, in turn, your business. If you believe you have fallen victim to online defamation, you should find out how your business can fight fake reviews.
Contact the Review Website for a Removal
The longer you leave a negative, false review on a third-party website, the more damage it can cause to your business. You must, therefore, attempt to deal with the problem both carefully and swiftly. After you have recorded the review for your own records, you should then contact the third-party website to seek a review removal. However, they will likely only remove the review if you have evidence to prove you are a victim of online defamation.
Respond to the Review
If you are confident you have had no contact with the reviewer, you have every right to respond to the review to state you cannot verify their identity. This could ultimately prove to potential customers that you have received a dishonest review, which can restore trust in your brand. A visitor is also more likely to believe your response if you have one negative review in a crowd of many positive recommendations. However, you should always respond in a professional, calm manner and should not direct blame at an individual or business on the review website.
Contact Various Authorities
If you have concrete evidence to prove you have received a false review online, you have the right to contact the Better Business Bureau, your local Chamber of Commerce, and any other regulatory authorities to inform them of your industry rival’s underhand tactics.
Consult an Experienced Internet Lawyer
If online defamation has negatively impacted your reputation and finances, you should contact experienced Revision Legal Internet Lawyers. Legal assistance cannot only help your company to protect itself against false claims and reviews, but they can also help to restore your online reputation, so you can continue to grow your business.
Drown Out the False Reviews with Real Ones
Every business should take the necessary steps to get defamatory reviews removed from a website and should respond professionally, but there might be some false reviews that you cannot delete. However, the best way to counteract false reviews is with positive reviews from genuine customers. So, you must simply aim to keep up with the good work to drown out malicious comments, because the truth will win in the end.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are various actions you can take to remove reviews and restore your good name, from contacting the third-party review website with evidence to embarking on an online defamation lawsuit. The biggest defense could ultimately be to continue to enjoy positive reviews to prove to your customers that you are a trustworthy, dependable business worthy of their time and money.
