Search engine optimization, or SEO, has become one of the most popular ways to ensure businesses can be found online. Around 41% of marketing firms used SEO in 2016, but more brands are now realizing that search engine optimization can make a huge difference in their web traffic and conversions.

Generally speaking, the more visible your brand is online, the more successful you are. But you can be too visible — particularly if you’ve received some negative coverage online. Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as bad press. In a world of “cancel culture” and 24-hour news cycles, it’s all too easy for a poor review to spiral out of control. If and when it does, you may want to utilize premium SEO services to manage your business’s reputation.

What Is Reputation Management?

Let’s talk about online reputation management first. Simply put, your online reputation is how your brand is perceived online. Managing that reputation involves taking control of the story you’re telling by making sure that those who look for your business find only the materials you want them to see. The purpose of ORM is to protect your brand, associate your business with positive experiences, and to keep any misleading or untrue claims as far away from your brand as possible.

Why Would a Professional SEO Firm Recommend Reputation Management?

There are a number of reasons why your business might need to be proactive about online reputation management. Negative reviews, unflattering press coverage, scandals, or other misleading statements posted on social media and websites can be quite powerful. Since many people will be more inclined to believe these accounts (even if they’re posted anonymously!) than the brand itself, it’s important to distance your brand from this content. Otherwise, you could experience a decrease in web traffic, a drop in brand equity, and major revenue losses. In other words, you need to take action quickly if you want to protect what you’ve built.

How Is SEO Used to Manage a Brand’s Reputation?

While digital advertising and public relations can influence public opinion, search engine optimization is one of the best tools at your disposal to manage your online reputation. Because SEO is often seen as more organic than paid ad placements, it often has more value in terms of public perception.

“Reverse” SEO may be utilized to more effectively optimize pages on your site or even your social media platforms in order to get those pages to rank higher in search results. If you can accomplish that, it’ll essentially push down any negative coverage of your brand. While those posts might still exist, consumers will have to put more effort into finding them. And since most people simply want the fastest and most relevant results possible, you’ll actually be doing them a service by providing them with quick and helpful information. Of course, you’ll help yourself in the process by distancing your brand from that not-so-flattering content.

The truth is that any business can become a victim of undeserved negative reviews and online coverage. Whether or not the allegations are true, it’s essential that you take control of your online reputation. To learn more about how search engine optimization can play a vital role in your online reputation management, please contact Studio98 today.