Elevating Your Brand with SEO: Reputation Management Made Easy

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SEO reputation management isn’t just about boosting your online visibility or driving sales; it can also be your best ally in shaping and maintaining your brand’s reputation.

In this article, we’ll look into the world of SEO for reputation management and show you how to put your best foot forward in the digital realm.

Identifying Areas of Concern

Before embarking on any reputation management campaign, it’s crucial to assess your current online landscape. Start by identifying specific search queries that might raise concerns. These could be searches where negative websites rank prominently.

Search queries of concern typically fall into two categories:

Brand Searches: For example, “yourcompanyname.”

Brand + Specific Queries: Such as “yourcompanyname reviews,” “yourcompanyname scam,” or “yourcompanyname + <specific concern>.”

You can gather data to identify these problematic result pages from various sources:

Google Ads query report
Google Search Console performance report
Google’s auto-suggest feature
Third-party keyword research

Analysing and Classifying Ranking URLs

Once you’ve identified potential concerns, it’s time to gather more data and assess the current situation. For each query, check your own website’s ranking on the results page and take note of other URLs that appear.

For each URL, perform:

Sentiment Analysis: Determine if the result is positive, neutral, or negative towards your brand. You can expand this analysis to uncover the most harmful results.

Ownership Analysis: Identify whether the result is controlled (owned), earned, or uncontrollable.

This analysis will help you understand which URLs have the most influence on your brand’s image. Ownership and sentiment classification will guide you in prioritising URLs and search queries for action.

In most cases, you’ll find just a few prominent detractor URLs that repeatedly appear for various branded search queries.

Expanding Your Content to Target Branded Queries

Make sure your website addresses all common queries related to your brand. Don’t let others claim the top spot for any term containing your brand name. Follow these steps:

Identify top branded queries.

Benchmark your current ranking performance.

Conduct a gap analysis to determine where you lack control for each query.

Decide on the appropriate action for each query. Can existing content be optimised? Should you expand an article? Do you need a new page for associated terms?

Implement the chosen changes.

With the right content strategy, your brand can secure the #1 ranking for any term featuring your business name.

Identifying and Targeting SERP Features

To regain control of your branded SERPs, ensure you provide content that aligns with the various formats on the results page. Gone are the days of the “10 blue links.” SERPs now offer a range of features that you should leverage.

Common SERP features on pure brand searches include:

Knowledge panels
Local listings
Top stories
X (formerly known as Twitter) widgets
Related searches
People Also Ask
Image widget

Claim All Your Profiles

In addition to your website, optimise other “owned” assets to appear on pure brand search terms. Social media profiles are often the most valuable in this regard. Use a service like Namechk to identify other relevant social networking sites where you can claim your username handle and create an account.

Ensure your profiles on key platforms, such as X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, are fully populated. Unify your branding across these profiles and link to them from your website to enhance their authority and relevance for branded search terms.

Claim Your Knowledge Panel and Google Business Profiles

If you haven’t already, claim your brand’s knowledge panel and Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business). Ownership allows you to control some of the content displayed and add more information.

To claim a knowledge panel, use various verification methods, and propose changes to logos and social media profiles.

With Google Business Profiles, ensure your business information is accurate and up-to-date. You can also take advantage of features like Posts to provide news updates and highlight special offers.

Collaborate with Your PR Team

Work closely with your public relations team to align on reputation challenges and SERP appearances. Consider specific pages or phrases you want to emphasise in press coverage. A well-crafted press release can encourage journalists to use certain phrases from your release, giving you more control over timely narratives.

Change Your Ways

If your business exhibits behaviour that customers perceive as toxic and it’s affecting your online presence, it’s time to change course. SEO can improve your brand’s SERP ownership, but a poor customer experience will still generate bad reviews and negative press coverage. Address the root cause.

Explore SEO Solutions for Extreme Cases

In some instances, a single disgruntled customer may create a significant amount of negative publicity. When the customer is unresponsive or the commentary isn’t libellous, consider using SEO to replace negative webpages with more favourable ones.

Need SEO Reputation Management Help?

If you require assistance in identifying search behaviour related to your brand, analysing SERP sentiment, or countering unfair commentary, don’t hesitate to reach out.

We can provide insights into common search queries related to your brand and conduct sentiment analysis to classify URLs as supporters, neutral, or detractors. We’ll work with you to reclaim control of your branded search results. Let’s chat and take your brand’s reputation to new heights!

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