ReputationSimple – The Reputation Protector Schools Can Trust – Control Your Educational Reputation – Grow Your Enrollment.

When schools don’t manage or control how they appear online, their students, programming and numerous other areas can suffer. To maintain their good name, they must address any negative feedback and produce content that highlights their attributes and accomplishments.

ReputationSimple will partner with a school or district to keep its reputation flawless. If an educational institution gets bogged down with negative buzz, ReputationSimple can help clean up how they appear to online searchers. With so much at stake, from funding to morale, schools shouldn’t leave their reputations to chance.

Staying on Top of Reputation: Why Schools Must Be Proactive

 

Schools and their students are under constant threat – and not in the way one might assume. The digitally driven world we live in presents problems that didn’t exist a mere 15 or 20 years ago – leaving educational institutions and those they serve vulnerable if they don’t remain vigilant.

Internet commentary about a school district or it’s student body can affect funding, safety, morale and a host of other factors. Education professionals who ignore how their district and schools appear online do so at their own peril.

The Role of Enrollment

As any administrator realizes, the number of children in classrooms greatly affects a district’s bottom line – and thus how well it serves its students.

What does that have to do with online reputation? With so much information available with just a few clicks, most families won’t pick a school these days without conducting an Internet search first. The information they find via Google and social media will influence where their children enroll.

Therefore, in a very concrete way, online reputation can greatly affect the educational experience schools can provide.

Recruitment and Turnover Trouble

Every school wants to hire the best and brightest administrators, teachers and support members for their teams. Such high-quality candidates will do their homework before accepting positions – and they’ll probably go elsewhere if a prospect is portrayed negatively online.

A poor online reputation also can have a chilling effect on a school’s veterans. A glut of bad buzz may cause these valued employees to question their employment situation – and prompt them to move on. With them goes a wealth of talent and institutional knowledge. Even if they stay, their happiness and job satisfaction will be lower than they should be.

Charting a Course

While administrators and others may sometimes feel helpless, they don’t have to be at the mercy of online detractors or poor reviews. Rather than letting others shape how their schools come across, it’s their responsibility to drive and direct online perception.

Reputation protection should be a primary part of every school policy and strategy, not an ancillary concern. Sometimes school officials focus more on putting out daily fires than on important long-term matters that appear less pressing.

Getting on the Right Track with Educational Reputation Management

How can leadership do right by their school, students and staff in this area? Taking some critical steps and adhering to certain principles will set the proper tone.

Be Aware: Success starts with having all the relevant information, which in this case means monitoring Internet discussion closely. Whether one designated individual keeps abreast of this material, or the task is divided amongst several people, someone should have an eye on the conversation – both on websites and social media. A school or district can’t handle something it doesn’t know about, and they should strive to stay a step ahead.

Be Proactive: Those beset by online criticism tend to forget an important fact: Detractors aren’t the only ones who can disseminate information. The same is true for school districts and schools. Did a student win a prestigious scholarship? Was your school recognized for excellence? This is the type of good word you want to spread – whether through the local media or via the school district’s own Internet channels. The more positive messages shared with stakeholders, the better.

If content creation proves too great a challenge, a professional can come to the rescue. ReputationSimple, the leader in the reputation management field, can craft a high volume and quality of materials that cast any school or district in the best light. Internet searchers will see those results on page one – and the critiques will be pushed down.

While schools can counteract and suppress negative chatter, it shouldn’t go unacknowledged. Some censure may be unfair, but stakeholders should trust that their district or school will respond to legitimate concerns quickly and appropriately.

Be Consistent: Most schools and districts have an overarching mission – a set of core beliefs that guide their actions, decisions and strategies. Given the power of the Internet and social media, these elements should be integrated into everything an educational institution does.

Some questions schools and districts should ask consistently: How can we reach parents and students more effectively? How can we communicate our attributes to prospective members of our community? How can we protect our standing from undue attack?

The bottom line: All efforts a school undertakes – whether they be marketing, outreach, programming, etc. — should give reputation management the prominence it deserves.

No matter how far gone a school’s reputation may seem, it’s never too late to improve. Schools must take the reins of their own reputations – or others will.