The importance of Search Engine Reputation Management
As I blogged about a couple of weeks ago, people are Googling you, whether you like it or not! But what do you do when the results are less than ideal? One negative comment, a mean-spirited blog, or a listing on a so-called “consumer advocacy” site such as RipoffReport.com can really harm your business.
Our Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM) strategy is very simple: Displace — push down — the negative listings that appear when a person or company’s name is searched with favorable ones and ones that we can control or influence. We provide SERM services to a growing number of clients and were featured on MSNBC.com in September.
We advise individuals or companies to be proactive in managing their reputation online rather than being forced into “crisis management” or “damage control”. Some things one can easily do include:
* reserve additional domains associated with their name or website (.net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, etc.) and create micro-sites with unique content on each of the URLs;
* create profiles on free sites such as LinkedIn, Squidoo, ZoomInfo, and ClaimID;
* start a blog — there are free services like blogger.com, wordpress.com and livejournal.com, for example –- which will have a strong likelihood of ranking well on a person or company name.
When people hire DONE! SEO to help with their Online Reputation Management, we apply such tactics as well as our own methodology to help give neutral or positive websites an equal chance for high positioning. We create original websites, profiles, press releases, blogs and do extensive submissions and link popularity in an effort to positively influence pages and websites that paint a person or company in a more positive light.
