Online Reputation Management (ORM)

Some Hard Facts About Online Reputation

I am continually frustrated by how much misinformation there is out there regarding SEO. In many cases, the information is blatantly wrong and in other cases it is just being misapplied.

Most business owners and executives are not savy SEO experts. They all know that this “SEO thing” is important to their business so most are open to learning more.

In an effort to improve our knowledge I thought I would review some common misconceptions.

1. You must have Meta Keywords to boost your organic rankings. This is not true, Meta Keywords no longer have any real value in boosting your rankings. Google doesn’t even consider them in their ranking algorithm that includes well over 100 different factors.  Take Away: If someone is speaking to you about the value of meta keywords, this a red flag that they really do not know what they are talking about.
2. Google Page Rank directly impacts your site’s keyword rankings. There is evidence that Page Rank is positively correlated with rankings on Google.com. However, the degree of correlation is not overwhelming. Page Rank should simply be viewed as a benchmark indicator of Google’s view of the importance of your site.  I regularly see sites with lower Page Rank that rank higher than competing sites with a higher PR.  Take Away: Don’t get hung up on PR. It’s a nice number to look at occasionally but focus your efforts on converting your site visitors to customers.
3. “Our SEO is endorsed / approved by Google.“ Google clearly states that they do not endorse any SEO companies. Companies can be Google Certified in certain Google products, such as Adwords or Analytics. However, these certifications are NOT for SEO.  Take Away: In Google’s words “Beware of SEO’s that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. Read more from Google on SEO.
4. Guaranteed Rankings. There really is no such thing as guaranteed search engine rankings when you’re dealing with natural search results.  Google states on their on site that “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” Read more from Google. Take Away: Any company or individual that promises ‘Guaranteed Rankings’ should treated with extreme caution.
5. SEO is a one-time activity you complete and are then done with. How many times have you heard someone say “We actually just finished SEO’ing our site”?  SEO is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process that must be actively managed.  Do you think your competitors are going to do a little work and then stop?  As competition online becomes more heated, it is essential that companies engage in an ongoing SEO program.  Take Away: If you’re serious about promoting your business online, then SEO should be a standard component of your marketing plan.
6. Spending money on Google Adwords boosts your natural results. It is understandable to believe that spending money on paid ads with Google will somehow affect your organic / natural rankings. However, it is not true. Google has stated repeatedly that paid ads have no bearing on organic search result, yet this myth continues to live on. Running paid ads in conjunction with an SEO program can certainly be a good thing. It can give you increased visibility which can lead to higher click through rates, more natural inbound links. etc. Take Away: Incorporate a PPC campaign as part your overall online marketing strategy but don’t expect it to have any impact on your SEO efforts.

SEO can be a very confusing subject to the average business person. However, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore it. My advice is to do some research and find a reputable SEO company to partner with…get a basic understanding of their approach to SEO, talk with their clients, and verify results they have achieved.

Here are my top 6 reasons I may hate your website:

1. Slow Load Times – If your site takes more than 4 seconds to load, then chances are I’m not waiting around. Google hates slow page load times too and is starting to incorporate it into their ranking algorithm.
2. Splash / Intro pages – These pages were cool in 2000 but now they just waste my time. I do not care to see the same intro every time I visit your site. An exception would an intro where you’re really telling me something new or making an offer.
3. Poor Web Design / Confusing Layout -  I use the 4 second rule on this one too. I should be able to quickly determine the following: Am I on the right site? Do you have what I need?  What do I need to do next?  Don’t make me think about it.  Your web design needs to lead traffic down a path that leads to conversions.
4. Too Little Information – Give me as much information as I need to move to the next step. If I cannot find the information on your website, then it is likely that I will move on to the next site. A good rule of thumb is to give your visitors as much information  as you can in a manageable format. Give me a quick overview and then give me a link to more detailed information if I want it.
5. Lack of Contact Info – Seriously?  Are you a real business? I’m very skeptical about doing business with a company that doesn’t give me easy access to contact them, if needed.
6. Too Many Google Ads – I really hate sites that are littered with Google Ads. I understand their value but a home page with Google Ads throughout it screams spammer to me. Google hates spam in their search results, yet many of the spammy sites I run across are littered with Google Ads…go figure.

Most of my reasons are common sense, yet I still see websites everyday that I hate. How does your site stack-up?

On February 23rd, Google released a search algorithm update dubbed “Farmer” (aka Panda) that affected some 11.8 percent of Google search queries in the United States.  This latest update was tagged “Farmer” because it impacted sites that specialize in junk content.  These ‘content farms’ flood the Internet with a never ending stream of low quality content. I’m sure you’ve stumbled across a few of these sites laden with useless content and tons of ads.

Specifically, Google identified and penalized the rankings of sites that copy or “scrape” the content of other sites; sites that have low-quality content; sites that have a high ratio of ads to content; and sites that lack brand trust. To put it simply, Google is penalizing sites that don’t provide much value to the user.

So what does this mean to you and your site?

Certainly anyone who employed an SEO who relied on dubious shortcuts took a hit. Unfortunately that includes legitimate well intentioned business people who were simply trying to market their services on the Internet like everyone else. They trusted search engine optimization companies that relied on dubious tactics, or off-shore optimizers with a poor command of the English language who simple scraped and assembled content for other websites.

However, if you have been following good SEO practices, then it is highly unlikely that you were negatively affected.  In fact, you may notice slight improvements in your search engine rankings due to the drop in rankings for sites that were penalized.

Google Counters Bad SEO Tactics

Google actually makes hundreds of changes to its search results ranking algorithm each year in an effort to stay a step ahead of black-hat optimizers who use dubious tactics in an effort to “game” the system rather than produce useful content. We knew this change was coming… we just didn’t know when.  The same thing happened a few years ago with ‘link farms’.

There are no short cuts. There never have been…

Gaming the system has never worked for any length of time. Trying to circumvent Google’s algorithm is short-sighted and ultimately builds your web presence on a house of cards that collapses the moment Google makes a change.

There are certain things that work, and will always work. A professional SEO company knows that Google is happy to reward optimizers that play by the rules and consider that the end game is to serve up the most accurate, meaningful and varied results to the person searching for information.

What’s the upside?

Well if you are just a person searching for something on Google, your chances of finding good quality results just increased. If you are a business who employed a skilled “white hat” Search Engine Optimization company then a lot of the noise on the Internet just cleared out of your way to the top of the results.

Step 1: Monitoring

Social media has become the personal journal of everyone since it is very easy for anyone to publish information on channels such as blogs, discussion boards and opinion forums. Unfortunately, not everyone can be pleased all of the time.

The Internet is a great way to judge what people think of a particular service or product. People tend to be more honest; the only downside is you are more likely to get negative feedback rather than positive ones. People who received very good service will rarely write about it, whereas people who received bad service will tell everyone and also write about it.

If you want to know what is being said about your brand, you must monitor these online conversations. However, the size and complexity of the Internet coupled with the speed at which news travels means it is difficult to continuously monitor all that is being said. To tackle this problem, you need an early warning system to alert you of all news relating to your brand, so you may remedy when needed. There are several social monitoring services available that do the work for you.

Examples of Social Monitoring Tools

1. Google and Yahoo! Alerts – Receive email alerts every time someone mentions brands that you are tracking. Google Alerts allows you to set up keyword searches for the name of your company or competitors and receive updates in your email inbox or through an RSS feed.
2. Social Mention – Social Mention tracks blogs, blog comments, Twitter, mainstream news, images, video and audio. Searches can be saved as an RSS feed, so you can easily stay up-to-date.
3. Radian6 – Radian6 is a powerhouse that gives you the ability to slice-and-dice your data until your head spins. This social media monitoring tool offers integrated workflow, alerts, sentiment, monitoring across blogs, forums, news, Twitter and more.
4. HootSuite – HootSuite is a popular tool that can be used to manage multiple accounts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, WordPress, Foursquare and LinkedIn. You can push updates to one or more profiles, track click-through, deploy timed updates, monitor your social media buzz across multiple web services and assign tasks among team members based on roles.
5. Technorati – This is one of the largest blog search engine directories that can also be searched for keywords related to your brand (or those of your competition).
6. Addict-O-Matic – This tool has a consolidated page with search matches across sites like Twitter, Flickr and more. Featuring an appealing interface and one-page dashboard, Addict-o-matic is one of the best free tools available for summarizing your entire “buzz” in one place.
7. ReputationDefender – Created for the specific purpose of helping you preserve and restore your reputation in social media, Reputation Defender offers a robust monitoring service that will help you keep track of your brand. A feature called MyEdge helps you deal with the results that Google serves up about you.

Once you have adopted a monitoring system for your brand you should also track other information, such as competing brands and organizations, industry terms as well as general industry news. Monitoring gives you instant notice if bad information appears. You may want to include positive and negative modifiers like “fail,” “sucks,” etc. This will help to target your search.

Monitoring is an essential and useful tactic for controlling bad information within the search engine space. Unfortunately, monitoring by itself is not enough if it is too late and damage has already been done. The best outcomes occur if you proactively control your space and what people read about your brand. It is important to analyze your current space in order to take action and control it.

Step 2: Analyzing

Although monitoring systems are in place, the work is not yet over. It is crucial to analyze your social reviews to improve your brand. The analysis part consists of going though all the key comments, feedback and identified concerns that are being expressed online.

Healthy Conversations Comprise of Both Positive and Negative Feedback
Once you have learned what is being said about your company online, you need to evaluate the impact this has or will have on you. You need to understand that healthy discussions comprise of both positive and negative feedback. This feedback (negative/positive) will bring about many opportunities to formulate new and upbeat changes for the better.

Let your audience know that you have been following them and their feedback has helped you enhance your product/service. Invite them to give more feedback to enable you to provide them with a better product/service. Let your audience know about the new improvements you are making and ask for their advice. Make your audience feel involved and let them know you are listening to them.

For instance, if someone left a negative comment or review about your company, they’re giving you a chance to change the conversation and make things better. They did not silently vow to never do business with your company again or trash you to their friends. They told you what happened, why they are disappointed, and now they are looking to you to make things better. Instead of just deleting the comments, listen to what they are telling you. Understand their problem and where the communication has failed. Do not fear the biggest critics. You just need to know how to handle harsh criticism in a positive and subtle way.

Step 3: Influencing

Let’s assume you represent a well-known company whose leader has just been photographed engaged in an illegal action. Do you merely release a statement, or quickly take to the Internet to defend your company’s interests?

Although this situation is somewhat overriding to the idea of public relations, the advent of social media is quickly changing the way this sort of crisis is handled. Since business organizations can connect with its audiences quickly, it is possible for them to deal with such situations rapidly and digitally.

Respond to a Negative Comment with a Positive One
One of the most applied theories to counter attack a negative comment is to attend it with a positive one. As mentioned earlier, you can influence the results by participating in the conversation and eliminating negative online conversations by being actively involved in them. Your participation in such conversations will give you the opportunity to improve the perception of your brand.

We all know that Customer Is King. It is only the opinions of your customers that count, so let them be the judge. You should establish a good relationship with the blogger or the customer that complained about your service on any social media platform. A simple comment like the below can do wonders. Of course, comments need to be followed by actions. “Thank you for your feedback. We are working on resolving this issue.”

You should take an active part in your industry conversation by becoming a regular contributor to blogs and forums. Lead the conversation about your brand. Respond to comments or feedback; engage in conversations already happening or start your own. As you do so, be honest and transparent in your approach. People like the fact that you are paying attention and are actively participating in the conversation, not just being talked about. You should always be prepared to act. If negative feedback occurs, you ought to respond immediately. Even if you don’t participate on a regular basis, you should always be prepared to manage digital disasters.

Select the Right Social Technologies
Giving positive feedback to negative ones is not always sufficient to influence the public. You will have to try a little harder to mark your presence among your audience. The Internet is immense and to be able to reach your customers, you will have to segment your audience.

Due to the numerous quantities of social media technologies on the Internet, many businesses favor the most popular ones like Facebook, Twitter and so on. Nevertheless, many of them complain that they cannot reach their audiences. Just because Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social sites does not necessary mean that your audience is on these specific platforms.

According to statistics, mostly people of age group 18-34 are engaging in Facebook. Assume that your company’s target audience is middle aged. Will you still focus more on Facebook or will you move to another social media with an audience that matches yours?

Selecting the right social media platform is important to build and promote your online reputation. To be able to access the right social networks, you must focus more on your target audience. You may also classify your audience in terms of demographics or geographic to have a better idea of the type of social network they are using.

To provide better customer service to your audience, it is important to engage in the right social network appropriate for your industry. You may also consider building your own social network if you want to hit the most appropriate community.

Let Your Company’s Tone Show You Care
Once you have elected the appropriate social network suitable for your business organization, you can easily receive and give feedback to your audience. But you should remember that a two-way conversation must not be an official one. You must have a particular way to confer to your audience and it should go well with your company’s tone of voice.

You may also consider establishing a team blog where there is less focus placed on a single individual and more attention on your employees. Your employees are the people who will represent the brand and image of your company. Bloggers and the online public prefer to hear from those working in your company as their opinions are considered authentic and similar to “public opinion”.

Participate in Related Discussions
To be able to influence your social community, you should make yourself noticed. Why not comment on other blog posts or discussions related to your business?

You can create interesting dialogue by sharing well-crafted and insightful responses to topics that are relevant to your customers. This also positions you as an expert in your field.

Read relevant blogs to understand what is going on in your industry, but only comment on events, articles, posts, etc., where you can add value. Commenting on everything will not increase your visibility or reinforce your image as an expert. Unless you bring value, you will just be adding to the noise. Define your expertise narrowly and go deep. Never be afraid to take a risk with an opinion, no matter how controversial you think it may be – as long as you approach it carefully and professionally.

Online reputation management involves managing the search engine results and protecting your company’s brand reputation from negative exposure online. This is very crucial since buying decisions are influenced by what is found on the web. Simply, an ORM strategy combines traditional marketing and public relations with search engine marketing.

Visibility and high rankings for good publicity are the ultimate goals, which will in turn push bad publicity down the search engine listings and out of public view. Keep in mind that online searchers rarely view more than 2 pages of search engine results for any search. Online reputation management enables you to protect and manage your reputation and brand from becoming actively involved in the outcome of negative publicity online.

Why is ORM Important for Businesses in Today’s Environment
As discussed, consumers use search engines to gather information. When they undertake a search for your company name or brand, your hope is that your own website is high up on the search results list. If your company name appears in the top 10 lists, hopefully your customers won’t be distracted by the other 9 listings.

Online customers searching for your company name will often look at all results provided not only your business website, but by review sites, discussion forums, etc. When their eyes skim down the list, what stands out about your company? Is it all good, relevant, up-to-date information? Are there any negative listings saying bad things about your brand or company? Are there sites with outdated information about your brand in the list? What are people saying about you on industry forums and blogs? People looking for your company in the search engine results will scan all this information.

People from all walks of life use search engines to research and gather information, so that they can make informative decisions. If the information they come across during a search relating to your brand is adverse, it can affect the decisions they make. Negative information can ultimately lead to problems in many areas including sales, investor relations, recruitment, financials, image and reputation. In other words – damage to your brand.

In it’s effort to continually provide better search results, Google is once again changing way search results are displayed for Local searches.  An example of a local search would be ‘plumber greenville sc’.

Previously, Google Places listings (formerly Google Maps) were display in an abbreviated version next to a Google Map.  This week, we are starting to see search results for local business in a new display.  The Google Map can now be found in the upper right corner of a search result page (see image below).

In addition, Google is now displaying much more information, such as images, on each local listing and the format is very similar to the organic results that are shown below the top seven Google Place results.  The Local search algorithm is also changing and it is evident that two key factors are the physical location of your business, as well as having a strong website that is optimized for local search results.

Previously, you would see businesses listed in the Google Map results that may not even have a website. We are seeing that many of those businesses are no longer listed in the top results. In addition, they will now find it almost impossible to maintain a listing without a well developed and locally optimized website.  This is good news if you have been engaged in local search engine optimization.

From an SEO perspective, we’re seeing businesses that previously had a high organic ranking on page 1 may now be pushed to page 2.  The new page one results for local searches are showing the Top 7 Google Places along with the top 6 organic results.  So if you were previously listed in position 7-10 on the first page, it is possible that you may now find yourself on page 2 if you are not optimizing for local search results.

I love this video from the NFL combine. Rich Eisen, the 40-something ESPN guy in the suit, probably thinks he still runs fast. Then you see Tim Tebow blow him away. Then, “here comes Jacoby Ford”. It’s a hilarious video but it also shows you how everything is relative. From a business perspective, no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better and room to improve.

The same concept can be applied to web design and search engine marketing.  Don’t believe me, then check out your competition.

Google continues to add more enhancements to their local listings, i.e. Google Places, that give business owners more ways of making their listing stand out. After several months of testing, Google has officially rolled out an update that allows business owners to Tag their local results. Google Tag’s are yellow markers that allow business owners to promote important features of their businesses that differentiate them from other similar businesses.  Users can scroll over Tags on Google or click on the sponsored link to view coupons, photos, or other select features (see example below).

Tags are not free, but for just $25 a month you can create a yellow price tag that shows up on the map as well as in the 7-pack (Google’s listing of the top 7 businesses on local searches).

TIP: Google is offering a 30 Day Free Trial of Google Tags, but the offer to enroll expires on 7/23 – Visit Google Places for more details.

As you can see in the screenshot below, in addition to the standard info and Tags, Google also released a new feature called Posts. Posts allow business owners to create a custom message with their Google Local results to let the world know what may be going on with their business at that moment. Examples of Posts are:  exclusive coupons, special event announcement, happy hour specials, new products in stock, or other discounts and notices.

To see an example, check out the Place Page for Mission Mountain Winery which posted to introduce a new wine.

You can now get the word out by posting to your Place Page directly from your Local Business Center dashboard. Once you’ve logged in and are on your business’ dashboard, post an update and it will go live on your Place Page in just a few minutes.

Finally, I”m sure you’re wondering how all this affects search results. The short answer is that Tags and Posts do not affect the rank of search engine results. What they do is simply add more information about your business and give you another tool to make your listing standout when people are searching.

Contact WSI if you have further questions or need assistance.