More and more consumers are making decisions based on reviews from online sites like Angie’s List and Yelp.  In a perfect world, every customer would be a happy customer. Unfortunately, it is usually the disgruntled customer who chooses to leave a nasty review that can leave a brand feeling tarnished. In fact, eight out of ten consumers change their mind after seeing a bad review. So how should you respond to these reviews, both positive and negative? Here are some best practices to managing your reputation when it comes to online reviews.

1. Monitor: This is the first step. In order to respond and manage, you have to understand what is being said about your brand online. Google recently launched a free tool, “Me on the Web” that can help small businesses monitor online sentiment more easily. Similarly, Google Alerts is another free tool that will bring attention to any newly added reviews. Don’t forget to check sites like Facebook and Twitter; users are increasingly turning to social media to share their consumer experiences.

2. Participate: It’s important to respond to negative reviews.  Whether it’s through a private message (Direct Message on Twitter) or a short apology and possible explanation, other consumers will see that you stand behind your brand.  Feel free to respond to glowing reviews too, but whatever you decide to write, make sure it is thoughtful and appropriate for an open, online community.

3. Generate and Promote Reviews: Invite your consumers to share their experience online, and make it easy for them! Increasingly, brands have links from their website to review sites to facilitate sharing.  While it may draw initial attention to any bad reviews you have, encouraging consumers to visit your website and leave their opinion will start to pay off.  Transparency is key.

4. Engage with Influencers: Influencers tend to have a large following and their opinion holds weight online.  By reaching out to them, or sending them your product and encouraging them to review it, you can reach a broader audience.  While you can’t guarantee a glowing review, at the very least, influencers can garner attention and start an online conversation about your brand.

5. Report: If someone is leaving unwarranted and malicious reviews, you can reach out to the review site and request the review be taken down.

Feeling overwhelmed trying to sift through all the reviews? Be careful of companies offering to manage your reputation for you. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported that small and mid-size businesses will spend $700 million on online brand management this year alone.  Be wary of companies that promise to take down any nasty reviews, as they can cost a fortune and often rely on black-hat tactics.  By employing these best practices and taking the time to engage with your consumers, your brand can enjoy a genuine, and authentic, positive sentiment online.

Personally, I find great value in reviews, both positive and negative.  Aside from using them to decide where to eat on a Friday night, I am increasingly relying on review sites to help me find a new doctor or dentist. While there are many reviews sites, I could never find one site that showed an overall rating that had been aggregated from the top review sites. This is why I decided to publish a website that uses an algorithm to compile the best user-reviewed dentists across the country.  That way, potential patients don’t have to sift through the review sites and can rely on our site to find the top dentists in the country.  I am hoping that these types of sites will be the future of consumer-generated reviews to help consumers make the most educated decisions.

About the author: Alexis Goodrich is the brand manager at Best Dentist Guide, a free guide that helps in selecting the best professional for your dental needs. Find and compare top-rated dentists, based on ratings, patient reviews, specialized training and degrees, years of practice, convenience and several other factors. Follow her on Twitter, @alexisgoody and @bestdent1st, for more dental related topics.