Managing reputation in search engines

Correct and maintain a positive online reputation. Tips on how to create a good image

Reviews, comments, portfolios… If you are planning to buy headphones, read the comments. If you want to go to a restaurant, you read reviews. If you are going to order a repair, you look at the “before and after” works in the portfolio, study the recommendations.

We need a reputation! For a product, a place, a contractor – anything or anyone. Every client wants to get quality work the first time.

What is SERM?

The abbreviation stands for Search Engine Reputation Management. It means reputation management in search engines. The essence is to create a positive image of a company, store, or person in the eyes of the target audience using special approaches and tools. This includes working directly from scratch and processing existing negativity.

So, SERM is an effective method of ousting opinions that denigrate the company from the search results. There is a lot of negativity nowadays, especially in the face of fierce competition. Reputation management will not help to completely get rid of negative content, but it will help to level it out and “whitewash” the company as a whole.

When is SERM needed?

Situations are quite commonplace:

• There is a lot of false information about products or services in the search.
• Lack of attention to a new area of activity – that is, popularization.
• Crowding of Google search results with a negative opinion about an organization or product.
• Black PR ordered by competitors, a negative flow of reviews from everywhere without ceasing.

Who is SERM useful for?

• Brands
• Products
• Companies
• Websites
• Public figures (singers, actors, football players, politicians, etc.

SERM and ORM – the differences

These concepts are often confused. The purpose of working on SERM reputation is to form a positive perception of the target audience based on the results of the search results analysis.

ORM (stands for Online Reputation Management) is reputation management and actions to improve it on the Internet in general: on the client’s website, on forums, in social networks, on thematic resources.

Advantages and disadvantages of SERM

The main advantage of the tool is the ability to form or adjust the company’s image. The advantages include the following:

• Response analysis helps to identify the pain and problems of the audience, thus effectively eliminating the shortcomings of a product or service;
• increases conversion rate;
• It is possible to increase customer loyalty due to the established feedback.

There are also cons. The main one is a weak return without the use of additional tools. As mentioned, SERM is best used in tandem with ORM.

There are other disadvantages:

• Money is always needed. Reputation management in search results involves paying for the services of an SEO marketing team, SERM specialists, copywriters, and also involves paid content placement.
• It is impossible to give long-term guarantees. To maintain the effect, you need to manage your reputation. If everything is abandoned, the negative can grow again over time.
  
• Search engine results are changing rapidly. That is why regular monitoring is important.

Even despite the disadvantages, SERM in marketing remains one of the best ways to build a reputation. And it is definitely worth using.

SEM methods

There are three main methods of online reputation management:

1. Hidden marketing. Here, the user does not feel manipulated by his opinion. Let’s take an example: a company orders advertising from a famous blogger. He seems to accidentally shine the product in the frame or unobtrusively praises it.
   
2. Determination of factors that affect the reputation of a particular product or business in general. There are even related services. To order such a service for foreign web resources, you can enter the phrase “Online Reputation Management” in the search engine and see the results. There are no good analogues at the moment.
   
3. Reputation in the issuance of large systems Bing and Google. We analyze mentions, timely form responses to positive and negative reviews, comments.

Who should use search engine reputation management? SERM will be useful for almost everyone: companies, shops, and public figures. It is only important that the strategy is formed and implemented correctly.

Do you need a SERM manager?

If you noticed that a brand, product or service is no longer in demand, noticed the emergence of a huge number of unfounded negative opinions about the product – this is black PR from competitors.

We have corrected ourselves, but the reviews in search results, on sites like Quora, are still mostly with a “-” sign, then you should contact a specialized agency or a freelancer with experience providing this service.

Negativity is easier for people to accept, so positive reviews should be accurate, as human and diverse as possible – it’s important not to go overboard with praise. Try to be unbiased and keep the information field clean.

The strongest influence on SERM is how you work with the client. If you are honest and fulfill your promises, customers themselves will build a positive reputation. If you are trying to give your company or product advantages that do not exist, then SERM can only bring short-term results.

Conclusion

SERM is something that helps a lot in pushing out negative reviews and replacing them with positive ones. But this can only be realized with a multi-stage strategy and an experienced team. Reputation management takes time and sustainability. This is not a case when you have completed all the work and are satisfied with the result for a long time. As long as specialists are engaged in SERM, you don’t have to worry about the image of your company or product.