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A good reputation is like air. You can feel it, and you know you need it. With every provider making promises and so many options available, it’s no wonder you’re not sure which service to trust.
We’ve spent 72 hours dissecting and comparing ReputationDefender and NetReputation. Mingle that with our years of industry experience and you’re left with our expert comprehensive review that will help you say goodbye to uncertainty.
We’ve crafted a balanced comparison that will empower you to make the best decision for your unique needs. If you’re ready to create a tremendous online presence, we’re here to help.
Let’s dive into the review.
ReputationDefender: An Overview
Background and history
ReputationDefender, founded in 2006 by Michael Fertik, has been a pioneer in the online reputation management industry. The company was founded to help individuals and companies safeguard and improve their internet presence.
Over the years, ReputationDefender has evolved and expanded its services. The company’s success can be attributed to its innovative approach and commitment to staying ahead of the ever-changing digital landscape; always believing that everyone deserves to be represented fairly online.
Services offered
Business and personal reputation management: ReputationDefender offers comprehensive business and personal reputation management solutions, designed to improve and protect the online image of small businesses, large corporations, executives, and individuals.
Digital privacy: ReputationDefender provides digital privacy services to protect your sensitive data and keep your personal information secure online.
Cyber attacks on your identity can have monetary and other long-lasting effects you want to avoid at all costs.
For example, a recent study from the 2021 Consumer Aftermath Report revealed “A staggering 83% of victims faced difficulties in renting apartments or securing housing, while 67% accumulated debt to fulfill financial commitments. Moreover, 84% of victims experienced anxiety or worry, and 76% felt a sense of violation.”
Personal branding: ReputationDefender helps individuals build and maintain a strong personal brand online. They create positive content highlighting your brand and accomplishments that social media platforms and search engines love.
Executive protection: ReputationDefender’s executive protection services are tailored to address the unique reputation management needs of C-level executives, public figures, and high-net-worth individuals.
VIP services: These services offer a more personalized approach. You basically tell ReputationDefender what you need, and they build a more comprehensive plan for you or your business. This service requires you to call and speak directly with an online reputation expert before pricing can be established.
Pricing and plans
ReputationDefender clearly defines plans that help you take control of your search results and more. They cater to various goals you may have for your individual needs or your business, making it easy to get started.
Plans available include:
- Search Results
- Personal Branding
- Digital Privacy
- Executive Protection
- VIP Services
What’s fantastic is you don’t have to go searching for pricing. All you do is scroll to the bottom of the services page.
The only service that doesn’t include pricing is VIP services. That’s because it’s customized to specific goals you may have.
Simply go to a service page, read about how the service works, and then see simple pricing that takes the confusion out of what you will be paying for.
Here’s what we mean:
Search results: The search results service helps you craft exactly what people find about you online. This service page breaks down six different plans.
Each plan has three specific services you will receive: personalized websites, unique direct websites, and the amount of professional content created.
Plans are:
- Defender 3000
- Defender 5000
- Defender 7500
- Defender 10000
- Defender 15000
- Defender 25000
This is one example of the pricing available for one of the services. The same clear pricing for all other services (except VIP Services) is available as described above on each service page.
Pros and cons
Pros:
● Comprehensive reputation management solutions
● Wide range of services for various needs
● Long-standing reputation in the industry
● Flexible plans and pricing options
Cons:
● Upfront costs can be considered expensive for smaller businesses or individuals
● Limited customization options in lower-tier plans
For all plans, you can customize the type of content you need and even approve it before it goes live. However, you are given the features included and you work with that. The VIP services give you more options to design a custom plan.
NetReputation: An Overview
Background and history
Founded by Adam Petrilli in 2014, NetReputation is an online reputation management company married to its creative approach and steadfast commitment to providing top-notch customer service. They cater to the needs of specific businesses, executives, and individuals.
Services Offered
NetReputation claims to remove unwanted and negative content from the internet. This is extremely hard to do as the internet also has rules and regulations about what can be removed. This is a bold promise—one that is often not possible to keep. But they talk about their process on their site.
They also provide a transparent disclaimer that states if they can’t remove content, they bury it with search engine suppression.
Other services include:
Reputation management and monitoring: Their services are segmented for both businesses and individuals and include services like branding, internet privacy, and Wikipedia page solutions.
Public relations: Utilizing public relations, credibility is built by capitalizing on the reach of reputable third parties in media and various widely used communication platforms, thus enhancing your public presence and image.
Local SEO: This service helps you rank higher using specific SEO techniques for local businesses. They offer keyword ideas that target the modern consumer using specific NetReputation SEO strategies.
Crisis management: The possibility of a crisis impacting your business is unpredictable. However, NetReputation provides a dedicated crisis response team, crafting resilient crisis management plans that enable you to convey your message with clarity and confidence during challenging times, be it natural catastrophes, industrial mishaps, or corporate misconduct.
Pricing and plans
When it comes to pricing, NetReputation is not as transparent as ReputationDefender. They don’t include any pricing details on their website. You have to call to get a consultation.
Pros and cons
Pros
● Offers a breakdown of individual and business services clearly on their website
● Provides crisis management strategy for the businesses they serve
Cons
● No clear and easy-to-find pricing is available
● Only offers business reputation management for eight specific business types
Key Factors When Comparing ReputationDefender and NetReputation
When you look at these two ORMs at a glance, it’s easy to see how they can be compared to each other.
They both offer reputation management services for individuals, VIPs, and businesses, but there are a few things that separate them in a big way.
Business Reputation Management
NetReputation is severely limited. They only provide services for legal, construction, senior living, retail, automotive, cryptocurrency, healthcare, and VIPs.
So, if you run a dog-grooming business or have a bakery, for example, then you’re out of luck.
ReputationDefender caters to all small businesses and can craft a plan that will suit your needs regardless of what your passion is.
Content Removal Service
NetReputation claims they can do this. Though it sounds nice, it’s very unlikely based on several variables. That’s why it’s always a red flag when these kinds of claims are made.
They even have a quote on the bottom of the personal reputation management page on their website that states they can’t give you pricing because results can possibly take up to two years depending on your unique situation.
This makes a huge dent in the effectiveness of repairing your online reputation. Something we talk more about in the next section.
To put this into context, you possibly can be paying for a service for 24 months and not see any results. Not ideal.
We believe in transparency, and no provider can tell you how much time it will take to fix things. However, many of ReputationDefender’s customers see results within a few months, but that all depends on your situation.
You can download some case studies and read real results from people getting results to get a feel for what we mean.
Customer Feedback
ReputationDefender loves customer feedback and customers love them. On Trustpilot, they have a 4.8 overall rating on over 240 reviews as of April 2023.
You can find this on their website at the bottom of every page, and it links directly to the review site so you can read them for yourself.
NetReputation doesn’t allow any negative feedback. In fact, their Terms of Service include a non-disparagement clause that prohibits clients from publishing negative reviews. How can you know their full overall customer satisfaction then? You can’t. That’s something anyone spending money on for any service should not be forced into in our professional opinion.
Effectiveness in repairing online reputation
As we mentioned earlier, there is no surefire way for any ORM to guarantee a time frame for services.
It’s all based on your situation and how damaged your reputation is. However, most content for search engines can be available to rank within three to four months on average (standard SEO results).
When comparing ReputationDefender vs NetReputation, we did find a few things that will help you dissect the effectiveness of repairing your online reputation.
Customer service and support
Both companies emphasize excellent customer service and support.
ReputationDefender provides a dedicated account manager for reputation management while NetReputation offers a dedicated social media strategist and business account manager for social media management.
However, if services are not satisfactory regarding NetReputation, you might never hear about it. But based on Trustpilot reviews[1] , they have a 4.9 overall rating based on 183 reviews as of April 2023, so it appears this is a fair comparison.
Customization and flexibility of services
While ReputationDefender offers a range of fixed plans and a custom VIP service, NetReputation provides more customized solutions tailored to the specific needs of each client.
This flexibility can be an advantage for those seeking a more personalized approach to reputation management.
However, with pricing not being available for NetReputation on their website, we can’t go into detail about if it’s comparable to the plans offered by ReputationDefender.
Additional features and offerings
They’re both solid here. Each ORM offers a wide range of services beyond reputation management, including digital privacy, personal branding, and executive protection.
Choosing the right provider will depend on the specific features and offerings that best align with your goals.
Pricing and value for money
Hate to sound like a parrot just repeating things here, but no pricing for NetReputation[2] hurts them in this category. Though if a custom approach is something that caters to your needs, then they might be a better fit for you.
You just have to find out what that customization will cost you and compare it to what ReputationDefender is offering.
What can help here is for you to consider which provider offers the specific services, features, and support you require.
Making Your Decision: Choosing the Right ORM Solution for Your Needs
When it comes to making your decision, it’s all based on feeling, price, and what is more important for you in the long term.
You’re building a relationship here. This is not an empty exchange like when you go buy your coffee in the morning. It’s selecting a company that will represent your voice, your brand, or your children’s future (depending on your needs).
Do you want a provider that builds its reputation on making sure every person has a fair representation of who they are online (ReputationDefender) and offers more structured plans?
Or do you want a more custom approach to your online reputation management? Just keep in mind the limitations of both.
In the end, each company offers similar services, and both clearly get results. However, in our expert opinion, NetReputation doesn’t allow for honest feedback, so that can lead to some doubt for many of you.
Assessing your unique situation and requirements
In the end, your choice will be how we see it’s truly based on your needs and what you feel works best for you given the information provided.
What are your goals? Budget? Once you know that, it will be easier to select the features and benefits most important to you and make a confident decision from there.
Evaluating the pros and cons of each service
One thing we found helps is really evaluating the pros and cons of each service. Go back through this article again if you must, but dissecting them will make things clearer.
The price might be one factor, another might be customer support. Many of you might not like the fact that if you speak out against your provider, they can drop your service without warning. That’s a big thing to consider, especially given the amount of money you are investing.
Tips for making the most of your chosen ORM solution
To help you, here are some things you can do to get the most out of your online reputation management solution:
- Foster a strategic partnership with your account manager: Cultivate a collaborative relationship with your account manager to ensure a seamless exchange of ideas, leading to a tailored and effective ORM strategy.
- Embrace a solution-oriented approach to feedback: Tackle negative reviews or comments with professionalism and grace, demonstrating your commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement within your business.
- Develop a content-rich online ecosystem: Along with the services from your ORM, create and distribute valuable, shareable content across your website, blog, and social media channels to assert your authority and reinforce a positive digital image.
- Adopt a growth mindset in strategy evaluation: Periodically assess the performance of your ORM strategy, embracing feedback and embracing change to continually refine your approach in response to evolving goals and the dynamic digital landscape.
These are just a few things you can start doing that will improve your experience and online reputation as you work on improving your digital reputation with your new online reputation provider.
Final Thoughts
We know it’s not easy making such a big decision. But we hope this insider’s guide to choosing your online reputation sidekick will make things a bit easier.
ReputationDefender will walk you through the process and answer all your questions. Get your free instant reputation report card today.
Or, if NetReputation is more your speed, you can find more information about them here.
Both are reputable companies offering a range of services to help you or your business improve, maintain, and protect its online reputation.
By carefully considering your unique needs and comparing the offerings of each provider, you can make an informed decision that best supports your goals and delivers the desired results for your online presence.
