Most of your clients and potential clients probably do an internet search every time they prepare to buy a product or use a service. Because of that, negative online reviews can be massively detrimental to your company. Ideally, you need to delete this negative press, but that isn't always easy. Here are some tips on how to do that and what to do when you cannot delete the negative coverage:

1. Monitor what the internet says about you

Before you can delete negative reviews, you need to know about them. Search your name and your company name online daily, and if possible, set up online alerts. Many search engines have the capability to look for certain keywords and email you every time they get a hit. That means that you know as soon as anyone mentions your company online, regardless of whether it is negative or positive. Set up alerts for your company's official name as well as any nicknames and include your name and the names of any key employees.  

2. Know your rights

If you own a restaurant and a disgruntled customer posts a negative review about your under-seasoned steak or over-reduced demi glace, you have no legal recourse to fight that reveiw. Even if you believe that your steak was perfectly seasoned and your demi glace perfectly reduced, the matter is subjective.

However, if the reviewer lies about an issue that is not subjective and it hurts your reputation, the reviewer may be guilty of defamation, and you may have a legal right to take him or her to court. For example, if the reviewer claims your bathroom walls were smeared with poop, your wait time was 3 hours long or anything else that you can definitely prove as false, you may have a legal right to get the reviewer to rescind his or her comments. In some cases, the reviewer or the publication may even have to pay you compensation for the damages.

3. Do not shoot yourself in the foot

Unfortunately, the most damaging negative messages do not always come from others. They may come from the inside, and deleting the damage from these messages may be the hardest. Ideally, you always need to be in control of your message, and you need to keep it positive.

If you inadvertently tweet or share something inappropriate or offensive, you can delete it yourself, but in the meantime, anyone could take a screen shot that captures the entire message. Similarly, if you respond to a client's online complaint in a negative or disparaging way, that can really hurt your reputation as well, even if you delete your message once you realise your error. Because of that, it is important to only allow you or a skilled social media manager to create your social media messages.

4.  Address what you cannot delete

Whether you or someone else posts something that you cannot delete, take steps to remedy it. If you post something that tarnishes your reputation, be honest and apologise about it. If a customer posts a negative review about your company, jump in and create a retort.

If the site where the review is posted offers a spot for owners to post rebuttals, post an apology, an explanation or an offer for a free service. If it doesn't allow owner rebuttals, find friends, neighbors or supportive clients who are willing to write positive reviews on your behalf to counterbalance the negative ones.

5. Flood the internet with positives

Positive reviews are only one piece of the online reputation puzzle. Aside from deletion, the most effective way to keep your online reputation positive is to flood the internet with positive press about you and your company. Send out press releases to the newspaper or to online media sites when your company is launching something new, have a massive (uplifting) presence on social media, and donate to charities that will list your business publicly as a donor.