Your agents may have a certain reputation among colleagues and consumers in your local market, but is that reputation reflected online, where many new prospects are doing their research about real estate agents? Today, the Internet is where most consumers are making major decisions about the things they buy and the professionals they choose – real estate agents included.

How do you ensure that your agents' online reputation is stellar? It's a complex question that requires a multi-pronged solution. This may include agent ratings, agent profiles on consumer-facing property search portals, social networking, an agent website, and much more. Sound intimidating? That's why many companies with expertise in digital marketing for real estate have taken much of the responsibility off of agents' hands.

Each company manages online reputation management differently, so it's important to understand your objectives and your options.

To help you learn more about online reputation management, we recommend reading the following articles. They're a good place to get started:

• 4 Tips to Protect Your Brand's Online Reputation
• The Value in a Quality Service Certification
• Service Forensics: Diagnosis, Treatment, Survival

Choosing the Right Tool

If you're in the market for a reputation management solution, there are questions you can ask to evaluate which option is right for you, like:

• Which strategies will this vendor use to manage an agent's online reputation?
• How active a role will agents need to take? How much time will be required of them?
• If the tool/service monitors Web sites or publishes a profile on Web sites, which ones?
• In the case of agent ratings, how will customer feedback be gathered? Can anyone anonymously provide feedback or do those providing feedback need to be validated?
• What kind of customer service and training programs are available? Are there webinars and, if so, are they recorded so agents can view them at any time? Is the vendor's online help sufficient?

Find more questions to ask in our 2014 Technology Guide. It's a free resource for real estate professionals who want to learn more about the technology products available to them.

Here is one online reputation management solution highlighted in the Tech Guide:

• Rated Agent from Quality Service Certification: Gain valuable insights from validated customer feedback and reach more prospective customers with RatedAgent.com's consumer-facing agent profiles.

For more information on the option above, download the full guide. For a full list of reputation management solutions, visit our Product Directory.

More in the "Tech 101" Series

This is the latest in a series of articles that explores the spectrum of technology products available to real estate professionals. Each post covers what a specific type of technology does, how to evaluate solutions in that category, and available options. Here's what we've covered so far:

• CMAs
• Back office solutions
• Online Marketing
• Electronic Signatures
• Real Estate Websites
• Document and Transaction Management
• Virtual Office Websites
• Lead Generation
• Lifestyle Search
• Lockboxes
• Mobile Apps
  
• Website Analytics
• Market Analytics

Stay tuned for more!