Search engines are always looking to improve the organic search results they show to users, which is the reason why reputation management in SEO is so important.
In short, your online reputation plays a crucial role in your organic rankings. Search engines like Google measure different signals to assess your company’s reputation and having a negative image can potentially detail your entire search engine optimization services.
In this article, we’ll go over the importance of having a good reputation online. We’ll also discuss how reputation signals influence your rankings and share practical SEO reputation management tips to help improve your organic results.
What is Online Reputation Management (ORM)?
What is reputation management in SEO?
In simple terms, search engine reputation management is the process of monitoring and improving your customer’s perception of your company.
ORM is the practice of ensuring that your business has a good reputation that encourages customers to contact you.
Now, managing your reputation on the internet is easier than traditional word-of-mouth. The reason for this is that the feedback left by your customers is available to everyone — including you.
To succeed, your marketing team needs to figure out a way to leverage the feedback from your customers to make improvements that give you a better brand reputation.
Importance of Digital Reputation Management
When you conduct a search for a local business, the search engine results pages (SERPs) usually come back with a listing of companies at the top before listing the actual result links.
This area of the Google SERP features an average rating score and, sometimes, a little snippet of a relevant review. All these little elements contribute to your reputation. And the better your reputation, the more likely your target audience will contact you.
In short, SEO for reputation management can help ensure that you appear on the first page of Google and that your company creates a great first impression.
This can be the difference between customers calling you as soon as they see your business listing and visitors choosing to continue their brand search after seeing your content.
How Does Your Online Reputation Work?
In the traditional sense, a business’s reputation is fluid, which makes it hard to gauge.
Online, the reviews and ratings usually remain the same over time, so it’s easier to build a plan and do something about it.
It’s important to note that online reviews and ratings are not the only factors that influence your digital presence. The quality of the content on your site, the resources you share, and the service you provide will all contribute to your overall reputation.
So, in order to build a whole online reputation management SEO strategy, you need to include creative actions. For example, you should use your resources to create videos, post-long-form articles, and share other resources that help establish you as a thought leader in your industry.
SEO Reputation Management Checklist
SEO ORM is a unique process for every business. The steps required to avoid negative search results are different for every business.
So, you need to build a list of SEO reputation management tools to go with a personalized strategy to improve your image on the web and social media.
Here’s a general checklist you can use as a base to create your personalized strategy. Remember, the process of collecting positive reviews is different for every company. So, take the time to tailor this list based on your requirements.
- Conduct a branded search and identify profiles on review sites
- Assess whether you have a positive or negative online reputation
- Identify the best reputation management tactics to improve your results
How Does ORM Affect Search Engine Results?
Understanding the impact of ORM on SERPs is a requirement if you want to choose the best reputation management SEO strategies.
There are different systems and mechanisms that come into play whenever a user conducts a search. But, all of them work toward a single goal: improving the rankings of companies with a good reputation while suppressing results from businesses with a bad name.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – SEO Reputation Management
Building a local SEO and reputation management plan can improve the brand image of your business online. But this process isn’t always straightforward.
Here are three frequently asked questions that may help you build a strong and positive image.
How Long Does Reputation Repair Take?
The amount of time it takes to recover from a bad reputation varies depending on your industry. For instance, high-traffic blog sites can usually turn around their reputation quickly, while local businesses often need a bit more time and effort.
How Much Does ORM Cost?
Many factors influence the cost of your ORM campaign. These include:
- Your current Google My Business rating
- Brand equity
- Your SEO plan and the resources you already created
- Your link-building profile
- Organic search traffic goals
- Present domain authority metrics
- Average business rating on review sites today
- Your company’s social media brand mentions
Is It Possible to Remove Negative or Inappropriate Reviews?
There are two distinct answers to this question.
First off, it’s possible to remove inappropriate reviews as well as ratings that don’t adhere to the rating platform’s terms and conditions. As a matter of fact, review platforms do this automatically, whether it’s a positive review or negative press.
With the above in mind, it’s not possible to remove a review from Google search or most other platforms just because it’s giving you negative press. Review platforms don’t usually get involved in consumer-company disputes, so your brand’s reputation is in your customer’s hands.
Conclusion
Building a solid SEO reputation strategy can improve the results of your SEO campaigns and ensure that there’s no negative content derailing your digital marketing efforts.
SEO reputation management matters to companies that want to attract more potential customers. But, as a business owner, taking on this extra responsibility can put a lot of pressure on your internal team. At Fannit, our team specializes in helping clients showcase their content and garner positive search results. To learn more about our ORM services, paid search traffic generation, and other solutions, contact us today.
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