Date: 4 Dec 2009 Comments: 1

Reputation Management is SEO in 2010

This week would be a good time to talk about public relations as it relates to your website and brand.  With a large portion of news programs, websites and newspapers devoted to a certain professional golfer’s behavior it struck me as an opportune time to talk about Reputation Management.  If you look at how the SEO time line has evolved over the past decade you can see that we’ve come a long way from talking about “Keyword Density”.  A majority of SEOs now want to discuss link building and link diversifying.  Which is great.  All websites and companies should be concerned with this because ranking for keywords and phrases critical to your business is still important.  But here is the catch:

You want your site to rank above the potentially negative results on the SERPs.  And to do this you need to dedicate a serious amount of online marketing efforts to your PR campaign.  Negative consumer reviews are inevitable but that doesn’t mean you can’t off-set this negativity by building a strong Reputation Management effort that includes regular press releases, gaining positive consumer reviews on sites such as Yelp and utilizing Social Media to talk directly to customers of all dispositions.

Writing Effective Press Releases

Chances are you or someone you employ is a talented writer.  The chances are even greater that you are passionate about your company and when you combine the two that is a powerful formula for writing top-notch press releases.  So, my next question would be “Do you have a Media section of your website?“  You need a Media section to house your press releases.  Once you’ve got that start writing on a monthly basis or more if there is a truly news-worthy story that relates to your company.  Include the keywords that are relevant to your business and generating searches.  Use anchor text within those releases to either product pages or info pages that will help readers go even further as they interact with your brand.

Next, you need to get that release picked up by media outlets.  There are plenty of free press release sites you can drop your link in.  The problem is that everyone does that.  Yes, it is a link (go link building go!) but if thousands of other sites are doing it simply because they have to then it really doesn’t set you apart.  This means you need to use media outlets – news sites, blogs, industry sites – to pick up your release and place it online.  I don’t think you get this to happen with a friendly email and a “Thanks Exclamation Point” closing.  In this online world I’m going to suggest something crazy:  Pick up the phone and call the site you want to pick up your press release.  Tell them over the phone why it is important and newsworthy.  Then send them an email.  This is how you get people to link to the article via Twitter, Facebook and emailing it to colleagues in those great company-wide “Hey read this!” emails we all love so much.

Using Social Media to Manage Your Rep

I’m not a fan of having a Twitter account or Facebook page just for the sake of having one.  Use Twitter as your “Help Line”.  If someone has a complaint send them to an email address, phone number and Twitter page.  Respond directly to them and either get that complaint taken care of ASAP or thank them for any compliment they pay.  This is how re-Tweets happen.  This is how long comment strands on Facebook get created by a snowball effect of compliments.  Because if you delay in responding or make accessibility difficult that will be one snowball you don’t want to get run over by.

Exceptional customer service inspires your customers to brag about your product.  It compels people to write reviews on Yelp or other product and service review sites.  This becomes free PR.  This become free link building.  All it takes is a little appreciation.  Companies take for granted how a smidgen of appreciation shown towards an existing customer can create 20 new ones.  Take advantage of the opportunity that these Social Media sites offer.  The trending topics are typically loaded with garbage and spammers.  Don’t believe me?  Go ahead and read through them at any point in the day and you’ll get a headache.  So stand apart from the typical account and talk to your audience.

2010 PR and Beyond!

SEO as we’ve known it for the past few years is dead.  On-page optimization is always going to be important.  Building a “user experience” in all Flash is still a dumb idea. Managing your online reputation is now King.  Drafting effective press releases on the regular is important.  Building a network of sites that will pick up your awesomeness is more important than getting quoted in a newspaper article.  And having people describe your Twitter or Facebook account as very useful is worth more than gold right now.

In 2010 you should be shifting time and money to online Reputation Management.  You should be paying extremely close attention to sites that rank above or below you that could potentially have a negative impact on your reputation if you are not countering it with a Niagara Falls of positivity.  Take our friend the pro golfer I mentioned earlier as an example of how bad things can get in a hurry.  One moment you’re backing out of your driveway at 2AM on a national holiday and the next you’ve got hundreds of story lines and “eye witnesses” trying to bury you.  You may think I’m being ridiculous but this serves as a cautionary tale for online marketers that think they can weather any storm because of their importance in their industry.  Nothing ruins all you’ve built up over time more than bad PR.

Build your Media page and get it updated with what great work you’re doing.  Grow a network of friends that will support how important you are.  Take advantage of how Twitter can make you accessible to the customer.