Let’s imagine that a potential buyer or client is looking for your company on the internet. They enter a query into a search engine, such as Google, and get certain results. These could be articles in the media, review platforms, map services, biographical information, your brand’s website, social networks, or blogs. According to statistics from Reputation House, which has been working in the field of reputation management since 2010, 95% of people will only look at the first page of results to get their information. Most consumers trust information on the internet as much as they trust reviews from the people close to them. If they come across negativity, then the likelihood of cooperation with your company will sharply decrease. According to Reputation House, for 60% of buyers, negative reviews were the reason for refusing to purchase goods and services. Negative search results lead to a loss of customer loyalty, a drop in sales, and, accordingly, income.
How to Manage Search Results
If the top 10 search results contain resources with positive or neutral information about you, then trust in your product and brand as a whole will grow. However, negative PR from competitors, mistakes in marketing, and other factors lead to the fact that search results are uncontrollably filled with negativity. When it comes to negative reviews, Reputation House does not recommend deleting them: they will just appear again and again.
There is a more effective set of tools that has been proven over the years: Search Engine Reputation Management. Its goal is to make sure that when users search for information about you on the internet, they find a higher number of positive results and see your good ratings on various resources. With the help of SERM, Reputation House takes full control of the first page of search results, thereby creating the desired information field.
When SERM technologies are needed:
- When an information attack by competitors occurs, it eliminates its consequences.
- If there are negative reviews from clients or former employees, improve your reputation as an employer.
- When there is not enough brand information to increase your awareness.
- If it is necessary to create demand for new or insufficiently known products and services.
SERM by Reputation House is effective not only for working with large companies. Technologies make it possible to create and maintain a positive background in search results for executives and people in the media, as well as medium and small businesses.
SERM by Reputation House: Step by Step
Before correcting the current situation in the online space, agency specialists conduct a thorough analysis. They study search results, the general reputational background, and identify brand problems. When choosing a SERM strategy, Reputation House relies on statistical reports prepared by the team.
Positive reputation
Even an ideal situation does not mean nothing to be done. Search results are constantly changing, and competitors are also actively working to improve their rankings. Therefore, it is necessary not only to monitor current positions in the top 10 but also to strengthen them. To do this, reviews, testimonials, and other content can be created, and the number of platforms for their publication can be increased.
Negative reputation
Reputation House starts by identifying the roots of the negativity. Issues may stem from the product quality, the features offered, the standard of service, or the treatment of employees. At this stage, the support of your marketing department is important, as correcting your own mistakes will naturally dissuade customers from leaving negative reviews. In the meantime, you need to make every effort to regain customer trust, so responding to comments, complaints, etc is important. Feedback from your side is very important because it is a signal that you sincerely want to help customers solve their problems.
However, if the negativity in search results was because of negative PR from competitors, then you will have to choose a different strategy. For example, the SERM team from Reputation House can contact the owners of sites where false information is posted and justify the need to remove it. In the most extreme cases, a judicial avenue will be pursued.
Neutral reputation
This isn’t the worst scenario, because it means the ratio of positive and negative content is approximately the same. In this case, efforts are directed towards increasing the share of positive content.
Lack of reputation
This happens with young companies, those who work in a very narrow niche, or those who have not done any promotion on the Internet at all. Here, the task is to expand the information presence in the online space: create a blog, make pages on social networks, add cards in map services, include products in catalogs, write reviews, etc. Of course, the Reputation House team is also engaged in filling such resources with positive and neutral content.
Verdict:
Throughout the entire cycle of work, search results are constantly monitored, and at the final stage, the achieved results are analyzed. The channels that turned out to be the most effective or did not bring the desired return are identified. Experts determine how the top 10 resources have changed, what positions the negative sites are in, and how the chosen strategy has affected consumers’ attitudes toward your company, product, or service as a whole. After analyzing the results, the Reputation House team adjusts their strategy to make the new work cycle even more effective. And as practice shows, SERM not only helps improve your reputation and push your brand to the top positions in search results. The tool significantly increases the chances that a buyer will choose you among your many competitors.
