What's the best way to avoid online reputation disaster as a small business owner? It's simple; the things you'll do to boost word of mouth in your community will also help to boost your online reputation.

Here's how it works.

Most small business owners deal with reputation attacks via review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. Angry or disgruntled customers head to these sites when they're upset by something they've purchased or a service they received. The sites give them an outlet for anger.

Small business owners could hire reputation defenders to fix the problem when it emerges, but there's another approach that could work even better.

Real success comes through focusing on the customer, day in and day out. Ask yourself these four questions.

Answer "Yes" to These 4 Qeustions to Protect Against Potential Online Reputation Problems

1. Do my products deliver on my advertising promises?
2. Do my staffers treat my customers with respect?
3. Are my prices reasonable?
4. Do I communicate changes involving hours, price and products to my clients, so there are no surprises?

According to an online reputation management specialists at InternetReputation.com, "if you can answer 'No' to any of these questions, you have an internet reputation issue just waiting to explode." And once that problem is in full swing, it's very hard to clean up the damage. A better approach involves fixing these issues now, so consumers won't have anything to complain about in the first place. This is a preemitive online reputation managment technique that works wonders.

As an added bonus, companies that do put customers at the center of the culture tend to see other benefits. Their repeat business goes up, their loyalty scores go up, their customers spend more. Their businesses do better, and in the meantime their internet reputation concerns fade away.

While online reputation companies stand at the ready to help any business under attack right now, it's clear that the proactive approach delivers bigger benefits.

You should get started, now!

Companies without a traditional brick and mortar presence have to be extremely cautious about their online reputations.

Consumers are looking for ways to separate the positives and negatives out there from the many choices in front of them. For companies whose business operates primarily online, a good internet reputation is everything – and an online reputation management firm is the best way to ensure your company’s good name stays good on the internet.

How to Handle Negative Reviews of Your Online Business

If your business has been targeted and is suffering from negative reviews or unkind social media posts, here are a few tips from the online reputation management playbook that may help deal with it:

Don't argue

This might be the most difficult part. When someone hurts your business, he or she is hurting you. Keep in mind that it never looks good for a business to argue with a patron, and it might make the situation worse.

Maybe it was an off-circumstance and the reviewer's claim is valid. Own up to it, offer an apology, and (if non-confrontational) provide a brief explanation. Make sure to stay positive. Offer free or discounted work to try and win back the customer.

Fix what you can immediately with the first two options, and then contact an online reputation management firm that has experience handling bad online business reviews. Such a company will ensure that your online business isn’t hurt by angry patrons and negative reviews.

Trust comes at a premium, and online businesses have to work hard to build consumer trust because they can’t always see those customers face to face. Don’t let the future of your company hinge on what's available in the first search engine results. Protect your business, your livelihood and your employees by retaining the services of a reputation management company, such as InternetReputation.com.

What can you do to acquire positive​ online business reviews?

We all know that online reviews are extremely important in the modern marketing age. While there are other ways to improve your SEO more dramatically, reviews have a lot of sway when customers are deciding where to eat or what to buy. A review is basically a word-of-mouth recommendation, and studies have shown that online reviews have a lot of power. It's worthwhile to invest some time and effort into acquiring a solid base of positive reviews for your company.

However, you may be at a loss when deciding just where to start. We have some great tips to help you get more reviews for your company so when people search for your business and read about it, they choose you.

5 Ways to Generate More Business Reviews Online

Ask with an email. With the major exception of Yelp!, there's nothing wrong with outright asking for a review. If you have any way to get your customer's email address at time of service, go ahead and send out a response email asking them for a review. You might be surprised at the positive reception you get for doing this.

Link your profiles on the website. So long as you don't say, "review us here!" you can certainly link to your Yelp! profile on your website, among others. You might notice that many stores have the "People Love Us On Yelp!" sticker prominently displayed. This is a mega hint to get people to visit the site and review. You can hint on your website, too.

Create simple printouts to hand to customers with their receipts. When service is over, hand them a piece of paper that has a list of sites to review you at. It's basically the non-tech version of sending an email, but if you're a non-tech type, this is a quick and easy way to ensure that you get your review sites in the eyes of your customer. You can also add links to your review profiles at the end of receipts, but considering how many people never actually look at the receipt it may not be noticed.

Ask with your voice. Again, this is not very technical, but quite effective. Feel free to physically ask your customers to review you after you render a product or service. No harm done. Train your staff to ask for reviews at the end of service as well. If you place follow-up phone calls with your clients, ask them when you call.

Respond to your customers' reviews if possible. If you get a bad review, this helps you appear caring and committed to customer service. If you get a good review, it shows that you're actively engaged with your customers and grateful for their feedback. Either way, this encourages other customers to interact with you through reviews.

However, remember to be careful about getting an avalanche of reviews, since if you get too many at once it can trip off a filter and they may not appear. If you're using the above advice to generate online reviews the the honest way, however, this shouldn't be a problem.