What does MyBizGrade check?

We analyze your website speed, SEO tags, Google reviews, social media presence, and accessibility. Each area gets its own score and letter grade.

How is the grade calculated?

Each category is scored from 0 to 100 based on real data from your site. The overall grade is a weighted average across all five categories.

Yes, the full audit and grade are completely free. You can upgrade to a Pro report with copy-paste fixes for $39 if you want help improving.

What's in the Pro report?

You get a priority action plan, copy-paste ready fixes for every issue, time estimates, and a downloadable PDF. It tells you exactly what to change and how.

How long does the audit take?

Most audits finish in under 30 seconds. Complex sites with many pages may take up to a minute.

Do you store my data?

We store your audit results so you can revisit your report. We never sell your data or share it with third parties.

How often should I check my grade?

We recommend running a new audit every month. Your online presence changes as you update your site, get new reviews, and post on social media.

MyBizGrade was built by a small team of developers who wanted to make online presence auditing simple and affordable for small businesses.

Online Reputation Management for Small Business

## What People Find When They Search Your Business Name Determines Whether They Call Online reputation management is the practice of monitoring and influencing what people see when they look up your business online. For small businesses, this means managing reviews, search results, and the overall impression your digital presence creates. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. One bad review sitting unanswered at the top of your Google profile pushes potential customers to your competitor. The good news: you do not need a PR firm or expensive software. Small business reputation management comes down to consistent habits and smart responses. ## What Online Reputation Includes Your online reputation is everything someone encounters when researching your business: - **Google reviews** and your average star rating - **Yelp, Facebook, and industry-specific review sites** - **Google search results** for your business name - **Social media profiles** and the content on them - **News articles or blog posts** mentioning your business - **Photos and videos** associated with your brand - **How you respond** to positive and negative feedback Every piece of this mosaic shapes whether a stranger decides to trust you with their money. ## The Real Cost of a Bad Online Reputation Numbers tell the story: - A single negative article on the first page of Google results drives away 22% of potential customers - Businesses with ratings below 4.0 stars lose over 50% of potential customers before first contact - 53% of customers expect a business to respond to a negative review within one week - Increasing your star rating by one full star leads to a 5 to 9% increase in revenue Small businesses feel this impact more than large companies. A national chain absorbs a few bad reviews across thousands. Your business has a smaller review pool where each review carries more weight. ## Step 1: Audit Your Current Reputation Before managing your reputation, know where it stands. **Google yourself:** Open a private browser window. Search your business name. Note what appears on the first page. Is your Google Business Profile the first result? Do review snippets show? Are there any negative results? **Check all review platforms:** - Google Business Profile - Yelp - Facebook - BBB - Industry-specific sites (TripAdvisor, Healthgrades, Angi, etc.) For each platform, note: - Total number of reviews - Average rating - Date of most recent review - Any unanswered negative reviews **Search for variations:** Also search "[your business name] reviews" and "[your business name] complaints." See what comes up. ## Step 2: Set Up Monitoring You need to know when someone mentions your business online. Waiting months to find a bad review sitting unanswered is how reputations erode. **Google Alerts:** Go to google.com/alerts. Create alerts for: - Your exact business name - Your business name with common misspellings - Your personal name (if tied to the business) You get an email whenever Google indexes new content containing these terms. **Review notifications:** Turn on email notifications for every review platform where your business has a profile. Google, Yelp, and Facebook all offer this. **Social media mentions:** On platforms where your business has a presence, enable notifications for tags and mentions. Check everything at least once per week. Daily is better. ## Step 3: Respond to Every Review This is the single most impactful reputation management habit. Respond to every review, positive and negative, within 48 hours. ### Responding to Positive Reviews Keep it personal and brief. Mention something specific from their review. **Good example:** "Thank you, Sarah! We're glad the kitchen renovation turned out the way you envisioned. Enjoy the new space!" **Bad example:** "Thank you for your review. We appreciate your business." The first response feels human. The second feels automated. Potential customers read your responses to judge your personality. ### Responding to Negative Reviews Negative reviews test your character publicly. Every response is a performance for the hundreds of people who read it later. Follow this framework: 1. **Acknowledge the issue.** Show you take it seriously. 2. **Apologize for their experience.** Even if you disagree with the details. 3. **Take it offline.** Offer a phone number or email to resolve privately. 4. **Keep it short.** Long, defensive responses look worse than the original complaint. **Good example:** "We're sorry your experience didn't meet expectations, Mike. This isn't the standard we aim for. Please call us at 555-0123 so we resolve this directly." **Bad example:** "Actually, our records show you were 30 minutes late to your appointment and our technician had to wait. We provide excellent service and this review is unfair." The first response shows a business with class. The second shows a business picking fights with customers. ### Handling Fake or Unfair Reviews Sometimes reviews come from people who were never customers, or from competitors. - Flag the review as inappropriate through the platform's reporting process - Respond publicly in a calm, factual tone: "We don't have a record of this visit. Please contact us at [email] so we look into this." - Do not accuse the reviewer of lying in your public response - Continue building positive reviews to push the fake one down Google removes reviews violating their policies, but the process takes time and is not guaranteed. ## Step 4: Build a Positive Review Pipeline The best defense against negative reviews is volume of positive ones. A single 1-star review damages a business with 5 total reviews. It barely dents one with 100. **Ask consistently:** Build review requests into your regular business process. After a successful job, sale, or visit, ask for a review. **Make it easy:** Create a direct link to your Google review page. Share it via text message, email, or printed QR code. Every extra click between the ask and the review form reduces completion. **Time it right:** Ask when satisfaction is highest. Right after delivering good results. Not two weeks later when the memory fades. **Avoid incentivizing:** Offering discounts or gifts for reviews violates most platform guidelines. Ask genuinely without rewards. A steady stream of 5 to 10 new reviews per month keeps your profile fresh and your rating resilient. ## Step 5: Manage Your Search Results Beyond reviews, control what appears when someone googles your business name. **Claim profiles everywhere:** Create and optimize profiles on Google, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, BBB, and industry directories. Each claimed profile is a search result you control. **Publish content:** A business blog, press releases, and social media posts create positive search results. Active businesses push down any negative results. **Optimize your website:** Make sure your website ranks first for your business name. A strong homepage with good SEO takes the top organic spot. **Encourage press coverage:** Local news features, charity involvement, and community events generate positive articles mentioning your business. The goal: when someone searches your name, the entire first page of Google shows content you created or influenced. ## Step 6: Handle a Reputation Crisis Sometimes something bigger than a bad review hits. A viral complaint, a news story, a social media callout. If this happens: 1. **Do not delete or hide.** The internet notices and it makes things worse. 2. **Respond publicly within hours.** Acknowledge the situation. Show you take it seriously. 3. **Take meaningful action.** Refunds, policy changes, public commitments. 4. **Follow up.** Update the public on what you changed. 5. **Bury the negative with positive.** Create a surge of fresh content, reviews, and social posts. Most small business reputation crises blow over in 1 to 2 weeks if handled with honesty and speed. They linger for months when handled with silence or defensiveness. ## Building a Long-Term Reputation System Reputation management is not a one-time project. Build these habits into your weekly routine: **Daily (5 minutes):** Check for new reviews and mentions. **Weekly (15 minutes):** Respond to all new reviews. Post on social media. **Monthly (30 minutes):** Google your business name. Check all review platforms. Review your average ratings and trends. **Quarterly (1 hour):** Full reputation audit. Compare your ratings to competitors. Identify areas for improvement. ## For more on this topic, read [Why Your Business Doesn't Show Up on Google: 9 Reasons and Fixes](/blog/why-business-doesnt-show-up-on-google). For more on this topic, read [Local SEO for Small Business: A Beginner's Guide](/blog/local-seo-beginners-guide).Know Your Starting Point Effective reputation management starts with knowing your current score. GradeMyBiz gives you a free, instant assessment of your online reputation alongside your website, Google Business Profile, and overall online presence. Get your free grade at [https://grademybiz.vercel.app](https://grademybiz.vercel.app) and see exactly where your reputation needs attention. Every day you leave negative reviews unanswered or profiles unmanaged, potential customers choose someone else. Start managing your reputation today.