SERM Essentials: How to Protect Your Site's Online Image

Strategies to improve positive search results

You can use particular strategies to manage and improve your search result presence. This turns the internet into a landscape of visibility and reputation-building opportunities. There are just a few:

Of course, every business and individual will have their own customized reputation management online strategies. But you can use the essential tools as the basis for a system to protect your positive image. 

How to deal with negative search results effectively?

Not everyone will agree to delete their review. SEO techniques for managing a business's online reputation are rather slow. Meanwhile, negative content remains visible to hundreds of thousands of users, continuing to affect your company negatively. To reduce its impact and improve the situation, you can use the following company reputation management techniques:

• Always respond to comments. Do you know the phrase "silence means consent?" It also applies in the business environment. If you ignore a comment, you confirm its truthfulness and, even worse, are afraid to admit it. Don't be silent, no matter how bitter the truth is.
  
• Admit mistakes and improve your service. A helpful tip for managing a business's reputation is that if you are at fault, admit it, promise not to repeat it in the future, and offer compensation. Honesty makes you look good, while an attempt to escape responsibility does the opposite.
  
• Address problems publicly. You can reduce the impact of negative reviews on your reputation or even turn the situation to your advantage. Ensure that the client confirms the waiver of claims — after the problem is finally resolved, ask them to verify that the situation has normalized and they are satisfied.
  
• Engage experts and reputable users. Reputation management agencies are constantly in touch with influential people. They come to the rescue when you can't convince the author of a negative review on your own. Their opinion negates the damage to the company's image without arousing unnecessary suspicion.
  

SEO for better reputation management

Controlling branded search requests, publishing guest posts, and promoting positive reactions are not the only SEO tools for a business's online presence management. You can also take advantage of the following techniques:

1.Confirm facts and refute rumors. Requests related to the most sensitive topics often appear in the autocomplete search bar and in the FAQ section. It is very difficult to remove them from there. To save your business's reputation, optimize the pages under your control for these queries and share your side of the story through them. 

2.Generate positive news. Companies can fill their websites and blogs with engaging content that others want to share to improve online reputation management. You can learn more about this in our article on content marketing for small businesses.

3.Promote your brand and reputation on social media. Agencies offering reputation management services often use viral marketing methods. By using current trends and memes, they stimulate brand discussion, increase brand awareness, and motivate further spread of the company's message.

Audience engagement to boost SERM

Another method of reputation management for companies is using user-generated content (UGC). We've already talked a lot about testimonials and reviews, but you shouldn't limit yourself to them. The example of successful companies shows that it will be very effective to use:

• photos
  
• videos
  
• product placement
  
• mentions in podcasts
  
• sharing on social media, etc. 
  

Create advocates and brand ambassadors who will protect the company's reputation without unnecessary reminders from you. To do this, work with the most loyal customers, offering them special terms of cooperation, personalized offers, and significant bonuses.  

Long-term SERM Strategy

Corporate reputation management or personal online reputation management should be an ongoing process. People make mistakes, companies choose the wrong ways of communication. Therefore, it will be good if the negative reaction reflects off your shield and does not hit you in the heart. To build a reputation in marketing management strategy, follow these recommendations:

• Set up a monitoring and analytics system. It is important to know your online reputation at the current stage to make situational decisions and choose further directions for development.
  
• Create a content plan for publications on your website, social media, and guest blogs. Select high-quality, interesting materials that people will want to share on their own.
  
• Think about ways to manage online feedback. Choose a suitable tone of voice and build a structure for a typical response. Do not hesitate to use generative artificial intelligence if necessary.
  
• Establish contact with influencers and experts. Motivate them to spread your message. They will help solve complex problems when you cannot give an official comment.
  
• Monitor the first pages of search results for branded requests. Contact their authors if there are materials you do not know, even positive or neutral ones.
  
• Learn from mistakes, draw conclusions from negative reviews, and improve your marketing strategy. This is the only way to win the competition.
  

Source: Kitchen And Bathroom Marketing

Conclusions: Can You Change How Google Sees You?

Knowing what a SERM is, we can confidently say yes, you can control search results, albeit within certain limits. Key methods of managing corporate reputation and online personal reputation management allow you to promote positive results and lower the rating of harmful ones. And even if you cannot influence certain content, you can always share your vision of the situation or neutralize the negativity with the help of expert opinion. 

Understanding that SERM and ORM should not be a means of emergency response is crucial. You should build a strategy for protecting your online reputation rather than repelling specific attacks. Being proactive makes it much easier to maintain a positive business image. 

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