We see it all too often, an unstructured approach to online reputation management, emergency after the damage has been done DIY shots at repair, or not considering online reputation management as part of an overall SEO and digital marketing strategy, and the damage this has.
As an online reputation management company in Melbourne that also a digital transformation company, that is fortunate enough to work with a variety of organisations across the globe, helping them with digital marketing strategy and campaign execution, our online marketing team has a good grasp of what works and what doesn’t.
For executives, business owners, marketing teams and resources responsible for PR, incorrect expectations spawned by the sheer volume of incorrect information available from a quick google search can be exceptionally challenging to decipher. Here are a few online reputation management mistakes that businesses make, and how speaking with an experienced and trusted online reputation management in Melbourne, or a digital transformation company can help navigate this difficult path.
Focusing all of your energy on links and profiles
Online reputation management can be thought of as reverse-SEO, where instead of attempting to improve one link with a variety of keywords, we are attempting to improve one keyword with a variety of links.
A common mistake is made however when businesses believe they should focus their energy on building hundreds upon hundreds of links with the blind hope that the volume driven approach will nudges them into top raking outcomes. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Rather than building a vast array of links, focus energy on traditional SEO activities on all the links you create (backlinking, content creation, optimisation, etc.). And yes, this approach does take time. All good things do. Start with social media profiles, business listings and other backlinking profiles, and populate these with high quality content, ensuring they are seen as valuable and trustworthy sources of information and data sharing.
Let’s all get a Wikipedia page
Yes, it’s seen as pretty cool to have a Wikipedia page, we get it. And having one might even help with a few backlinks to your website, along with the look at me factor bump. But, yes, there’s a but, Wikipedia does indeed offer some great backlinking opportunities and will certainly help boost the credibility of your business, there are two key problems with this approach:
Not everyone can have a Wikipedia page.You or your businessmust be newsworthy and be known for something noteworthy and of value. I’m afraid to say it, but most business owners and their businesses, while they may well be fantastic at what they do, or cutting a new path or be leaders in their industry, still don’t tick the right boxes to be worthy of a Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia content is not a single snapshot in time. Meaning if you’re struggling with negative sentiment, upset customers might jump on and add information that’s not so rosy. Sure, you might go years without a single hiccup, but, one day someone that’s disgruntled might destroy your bio, leading to much larger problems.And while this is hypothetical, it’s worth keeping in mind when you cannot entirely control the narrative.
Assuming online reputation management is more important than SEO
Online sentiment is tough. Not only is it damaging, it’s also both hard to take and at times complex to solve. And while it’s enticing to focus all of your energy trying to do everything in your power to make the links to that sentiment disappear, you will be hijacking your SEO strategy and doing further damage.
While people do trust online sentiment very highly, they also like to discover information from multiple sources and make informed decisions. Negative sentiment isn’t great, and it’s important that you work to improve it, but don’t do that at the expense of a well crafted SEO campaign that can help do wonders for online reputation management.
Online reputation management and SEO should be viewed as two distinct campaigns, that can and likely will do work together at times.
Allow online reputation management to take its course
Online reputation management takes time, focus and planning, which can be very annoying when you are desperate to immediately resolve a problem. Trust anonline reputation management in Melbourne, or a digital transformation company to map out a strategy that’s sensible, achievable and will work. Give them time and support to execute the strategy and to report back to you weekly and monthly with progressive results. While reputation issues rarely resolve themselves overnight, they can be resolved with a sound approach and strong focus.
