Everything About SEO Reputation Management for your Brand

Many brands underestimate the power of reputation management until they are inundated with negative reviews from all sides. To minimize risks, any brand needs to engage in SEO reputation management to be preferred by its clients again.

Everything starts with SEO. Before users get to the site, they get into the search results. You don't want the users to see only negative reviews or inaccurate brand information in search results. So make sure that the positive comments will contribute to your brand's overall success. SEO reputation management can ensure it.

Of course, you can always buy more backlinks from reliable sources. But unfortunately, you cannot remove or hide negative reviews if your site starts to rank. When third-party sites host negative reviews about your customers, you can do little to affect SEO on those sites. To bury those negative reviews, you need to double down on your SEO efforts and use your branded properties to make them appear at the top of search results. It is what online reputation management in SEO stands for.

Why is Online Reputation Management in SEO so important?

Online reputation management creates a positive perception of a business or brand. ORM includes monitoring mentions of your target queries, reviewing and analyzing online content or customer reviews that may damage your reputation, as well as using strategies for crisis prevention and problem-solving.

Thus, to protect yourself and your business from reputational losses, you should have a general understanding of online reputation management. Let’s focus on the working tools for online reputation management in SEO.

Audit Your Online Properties

You need to know where in organic results your clients are, how they are holding up against the competition, and in which areas you lose and win.

Here are the online resources to include in your audit pipeline:

• Website – is it optimized according to industry best practices? Do target visitors like it? What improvements can you make?
• Social media channels – is there any engagement? If so, where do people interact most? Is the brand information consistent?
• Managed listings – is the information (name, address, and phone number) accurate and consistent? Are there any lists not claimed or verified?

Conducting an audit allows you to identify opportunities you may have missed or have not discovered yet. 

Optimize On the Go

Search engine algorithms may change, but the SEO rules remain the same. Make sure you are not wasting your time on unnecessary things. For example, go through this article to know which practices to avoid. As long as you follow Google's quality assurance guidelines, your customer will be safe, and you can focus on optimizing for better SEO and a stronger online reputation.

One of the SEO pillars of managing your brand reputation is optimizing for the right keywords and anchor texts. This can be done when you check keyword rankings regularly and remove broken backlinks from your website. Also, you can link your anchor phrases. You can link your anchor phrases to relevant pages, which allows you to establish contextual relevance with your brand and target keywords. These anchor texts will be useful for targeting content to different sources such as website content and social media profiles.

Expand Your Online Presence

If a brand is talked about on the Internet, it is alive. Be active on social media and support your content platforms. A page on Instagram or Facebook is a feedback channel with potential and real customers. Many people find it technically and psychologically easier to sell on Instagram and not fill out a form on the site. At the same time, it is better for your reputation if you communicate, advise and resolve contentious issues with users on your territory. You can only use advanced instant messaging software like Troop Messenger.

Respond to all reviews, positive, negative, and even funny bad reviews. In this way, online reputation management means monitoring negative reviews and pushing them to the margins. You need to work with each negative comment, carefully translating it into a positive one. It will increase the loyalty of existing customers and add trust points to your potential ones. Left without feedback, people will share their complaints with everyone ready to listen on all available platforms. If you have serious problems with negativity, start working out the main sources that spread the negativity. And only then increase the volume of positive publications on the Internet.

Ask Customers to Share Reviews

Usually, dissatisfied customers leave reviews, while satisfied people prefer to remain silent. Encourage customers to leave a review on Google Maps, social networks, review sites, blogs, and other resources. Motivate a loyal customer by offering a bonus or discount for a positive review.

Add Some Influencer Marketing

Customers are more likely to buy from a company endorsed by a well-known person or an authority in the industry. It is a common tactic to gain attention and increase sales by building brand awareness. Information coming from an influencer sounds more reliable than if it comes from an insider. It will help you fill the gaps in your content strategy and give your customers a fresh perspective on topics. Also, don’t forget to work with third-party resources. Publications on industry and expert platforms significantly increase the reach of the audience. 

Regularly Monitor Brand Mentions Online

That's where some agencies fail - monitoring results. Because some agencies are too busy prospecting for leads, they forget to observe things important to their clients. You can read about all the advantages of SEO analysis on pestleanalysis.com. In terms of monitoring, you can use SEO and reputation management tools. For example, Google Alerts provides you with ''alerts'' based on keywords or phrases related to your client's brand. These tools allow you to track and analyze the mood of your information field and immediately respond if the negative is activated.

Also, you can conduct a quick brand reputation audit manually. Open your browser window in incognito mode and enter your brand name. Carefully study the sites that appear on the first page and evaluate your presence: comments, reviews, ratings, and photos created by users. Try to understand the general opinion and monitor it from time to time, as not to miss something essential or terrible for your reputation.

Focus on Local Search

For a business focused on a specific city or region, as well as those selling complex or expensive products or services, competent reputation management is an effective tool for growth. Ensuring sufficient presence in the search results is not difficult: register in the services of Google My Business and Yandex. Directory, and other famous local directories.

Draw Conclusions and Make Changes

The best way to avoid problems is to take preventive measures. Negative feedback and comments may arise against the backdrop of those business processes you can improve today. For example, if your customers complain about the speed of order processing or delivery, it may be worth expanding the staff of consultants and optimizing logistics. Analyze any situation and draw effective conclusions.

SEO Reputation Management as Part of the Overall Strategy

More and more companies and individuals understand the importance of creating a positive image. Therefore, online brand reputation is becoming an essential component of a company's growth strategy in 2022. Brand reputation is critical when clients choose to give their money to you or a competitor. Unwillingness and inability to influence the information field of the company can have negative consequences for the business.