It’s easier than ever to create an online presence for you business - but should you? Many business owners feel that their presence online could start to create problems … perhaps they’re right. Consider these five things that business owners should avoid online.

1. Scams

There’s a ton of opportunity out there for business owners interested in making more revenue … and an equally large amount of scams promising to help business owners reach their goals, succeed in life, and retire rich. It’s crucial to avoid these scams at all cost. The most important aspect to think about when encountering a scammy offer is the reputation of your business - once you build a disreputable name for your company, it’ll be a hard to gain your customer’s trust. The last thing you want is to end up on a blacklist of some sort.

2. Associated with Scams

Again, even if you don’t participate with the scam, you risk the chance of being associated with them if you’re not careful. You can run into this trouble when promoting services, websites, or other seemingly helpful tools for business owners or customers. Stay away from scams all together and you’ll be fine. Before you recommend a site or service, be sure to check it out for yourself.

3. Bullies

Welcome to the web … some people are mean. As long as you’re doing something good, whether it be providing free tips, services, or products, people will want to tear you down. Some people just enjoy destroying what other have created - just like the kid who wrecked your sand castle. The best thing to do when verbally attacked online is to simply ignore it. Remember what you learned growing up - if you ignore bullies and deny them a reaction, they’ll disappear.

4. Negative Reviews

While no one wants negative reviews, sometimes they do happen. If they’re out of line and you feel you’re being misrepresented on a forum or message board, contact the web publisher and ask that they kindly remove or edit the review. Be ready to explain your situation though because web publishers will most likely favor the reviewer until convinced they were in the wrong. If you feel the review is legit, then you’ll have to bite the bullet and try to improve your customer experience.

5. Blackhat Practices

When dealing with the internet and business, it’s tempting to practice whatever means necessary in order to improve business and increase sales - however, it’s this behavior that usually leads to blackhat practices. The term blackhat is most commonly associated with methods of search engine optimization (SEO) that are frowned upon by the search engines. Blackhat techniques often associated with cheating the system, and therefore lead to banning from the search engines all together. Once you’re banned from Google, for example, you’ll have a hard time convincing them you’re legitimate. A few examples of blackhat methods for search engine optimization include cloaking, hidden text, and more.

Before creating your online presence for you business, consider these five points. They all have the potential to taint your business name.

For more on what business owners should avoid online, check out How to Lose a Customer in 4 Seconds