Online Reputation Management (ORM), is made up of three different disciplines; Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and Reputation Management (RM). Each of these are separate in the fact that they can be done independently and can have different focus levels, but are equally important when you are trying to achieve maximum visibility on the web. Each is also very different in how they affect your ranking in Google, not Page Rank; physical rank in the search engine results.

SEO: The overrated discipline

Ask anybody in the industry how to rank high in Google, they will tell you SEO and give you their own theory of the best way to do it. Although these theories and strategies may be very viable and proven, most of them are actually talking about ORM to some extent. SEO is purely based on making it easier on Google to find your website by building backlinks from various places, also known as off-site optimization, and making your website eas

Search Engine Optimization

ratings in your area for a specific service, they are more likely to go to you for that service. Also, if they see that you are very knowledgeable in your line of work based on the articles or blogs that your write, they will again come to you with questions and hopefully become a customer. There is a bit of SEO involved with RM in the aspect that it is ideal to include back links in your articles to your site, or other sites that link to you (i.e. article on third-party site links to blog or other article which links to your site).

As for responding to bad reviews, that is managing your rating on sites that allow customers to review various businesses. People are more likely to write a bad review out of anger or frustration than a good review if you do a good job. Also, bad reviews can stick around for a long time, even years, and be very detrimental. The object is to try to rectify the situation by responding to the bad review quickly by commenting on their review, and resolving the situation. After you correct the situation, ask the customer if they will retract the review, or at least update it saying that the problem was solved.

5 Star Review

What is Online Reputation Management? by The Web Squad is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.