An online vulnerability audit is a thorough analysis of your brand’s online reputation. It looks at your current search engine rankings, your social media accounts if any, and also looks for any current negativity surrounding your brand. Basically, it’s an in-depth analysis that focuses on finding weaknesses to improve upon and provides you with strategies that can be implemented and put into action right away.
The best time to perform an online vulnerability audit is pre-crisis, before there’s any negativity going around about your brand. This way, if and when you find yourself in the midst of a crisis, your search engine rankings and online presence have the advantage of having a strong footing. This helps make it easier for you to sustain your search engine rankings when there’s negative content being published about you online.
The 3 benefits of a pre-crisis online vulnerability audit
The following are the three biggest benefits of having an online vulnerability audit done for your organization pre-crisis:
1 – Know your weaknesses: It’s better to know what your weaknesses are in advance, instead of waiting to discover them in a crisis.
2 – Thorough analysis: Gain insight into the full breadth and scope of the current position of your online presence.
3 – Strategy development: Work with experienced crisis and online reputation management experts to develop a long-term strategy that will help give you peace of mind in a crisis.
Read: Why Your Organization Needs an Online Vulnerability Assessment, NOW
It’s easy to have strong search engine rankings for your brand when there’s not much being said about you by third parties, whether it be positive, negative or neutral. It’s another thing to keep those rankings when other high ranking and widely shared websites are publishing negative content aimed towards you. When you work to improve your online presence pre-crisis, you’re not only giving your organization a strong foundation, but you’re also helping reduce the damaging impact a crisis can have on your online reputation.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
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