Search engine optimization is a visibility and website ranking technique that’s as old as the search engine itself. The concept of SEO has evolved since the first search engine came online in 1990, but the basic premise of using keywords to query a database has changed little. It’s something that’s highly beneficial to someone who wants to engage in personal branding, build and maintain a positive online reputation, and grow their customer base over time.
The goal of online reputation management is to encourage potential customers to buy from you or utilize the services you’re offering. A customer that sees a lot of positive reviews, mentions, and comments about your business in their search results is much more likely to connect with you. In contrast, numerous negative reviews and comments can turn away the customer. This is why it’s important to keep on top of what’s showing up online regarding your business.
Engaging in SEO and ORM is an ongoing effort as information on the internet changes by the minute. A bad review can show up when least expected, forcing you to stop what you’re doing to respond to the comment and protect your reputation. Utilizing an online reputation management company such as Status Labs frees you up to keep doing what’s important and have peace of mind knowing you have someone guarding your reputation.
How SEO and Online Reputation Management Work
SEO by itself is a simple, yet effective technique that improves the ranking of a website. Someone is looking for information, a product, or insight, and types their question into a search engine. They’re not the only ones doing this, as thousands and even millions of other people tend to search for the same information using the same or similar keywords.
Someone who wants to get their website to rank on the first page of a search engine can use SEO in the same way. Putting the name of the business or professional name throughout the copy of the website serves the same purpose: A search engine crawler identifies the business or professional name and the algorithm assigns it a higher search engine value. The end result is the web page has a higher placement on the first page of search engine results. This has the result of improving the brand’s image with the person who’s looking for information about the business.
Why You Need To Manage Your Online Reputation
The internet is loaded with places for people to leave reviews of businesses, and someone with a grievance is more likely to post than someone who’s happy. Further amplifying a negative review is the fact these websites do little in the way of moderating what people post, as they have no legal liability for what a third party says. If you don’t take action against negative reviews, they can accumulate on the first page of search results and make your business look like it’s one that customers should avoid.
SEO helps you create a strategy to combat these posts in various ways. That can include responding directly to the poster while avoiding an argument, improving the ranking of positive comments, and pushing down the negative comments. Taking this kind of action can require a lot of effort, making the hiring of an online reputation management company a good idea.
Who Can Benefit From SEO Reputation Management?
Anyone and everyone can benefit from reputation management. That includes professionals who operate small practices, small businesses that serve local and surrounding communities, and individuals who run a small business out of their home. All businesses, no matter who or what they are, need to protect their reputation against misinformation in order to keep building their brand.
Utilizing a Reputation Management Company
Maintaining your company’s reputation and improving brand perception in the online arena is a lot of work. This is true even when you have numerous positive reviews posted on different sites. Search engines pull information from different sources that include videos, social media sites, review sites, and more. It’s a lot to keep track of, and the work is never finished.
Hiring a reputation management company with a proven track record lets you do what you’re good at. You don’t have to figure out how to engage in reputation management, spend time tracking down bad reviews, and strategize a way to de-rank them. Letting a company like Status Labs do the work on your behalf ensures that your reputation is monitored and kept safe at all times.
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