What do you do when you’re looking for a new restaurant to try, a reliable AC repairman or a new book to read? Like many Americans, you probably open up Google, type in a few key words and look through the reviews of the top search results to find the best choice.

Online reviews can make or break your business. In an age where over 300 million Americans use the internet for work, leisure and informational purposes, having a low rating on a major search engine can be catastrophic for your business. A disgruntled customer or anonymous internet troll can wreak havoc on your company’s sterling reputation if you aren’t paying close attention.

One of Doubletake’s clients experienced this first hand when an aggrieved neighbor decided to wage a bitter campaign against them online.

This company opened a brick and mortar location last year in a neighborhood featuring a mix of businesses and single family homes. The owner of one of these homes grew very upset after Doubletake’s client moved into the neighborhood and decided to post a negative review of the business online. As time went on, this man had his friends and family post additional negative reviews online with the goal of hurting the business’ bottom line. These reviews were not motivated by the quality of business’ products or customer service, but they still had the pernicious effect of lowering the business’ star rating on many popular websites.

The business thankfully took this problem seriously and Doubletake was able to counterbalance the bad reviews by asking satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and crafting respectful responses to the bad reviews. By following this strategy and keeping up its high quality products and customer service, Doubletake’s client now has a high star rating across the board and was able to recover from this unjust attack on its reputation.

Every business owner should remain vigilant of their online reputation though because even a small complaint can snowball into a full-blown PR crisis.

Also, if you have had a positive experience with Doubletake, please leave us a positive review on Google or Facebook. Every bit helps for a small business!