When we talk about e-reputation, the association with the most famous bad buzz is natural. However, a company’s online brand image is not only the prerogative of large companies and the simple fact of having negative Google reviews can have an impact on business performance. In e-reputation, companies must anticipate rather than react. For this, SEO is the lever of choice that will allow you to control the communication around your company.
Find out how to get Google reviews here.
In order to understand how SEO will help you to take care of your online reputation, we are going to give you some techniques to prevent and answer to the problems you might encounter. Follow the guide!
E-reputation is a global issue
Before launching into the complete guide of actions to be taken, a few explanations are necessary to highlight what e-reputation is. Contrary to popular belief, it is not only about issues related to social networks (Twitter and Facebook have strongly contributed to this common belief).
The general e-reputation is as well to be taken into account in terms of natural referencing as, much more surprisingly, of UX design.
E-reputation in the SERPs
The SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the first place where e-reputation problems will be concentrated. Because everything is there: from the opinions of your customers/clients to the press articles published about your company and, potentially, user tests. In short, if the slightest person is dissatisfied with your work, this can be felt in the SERPs. It is therefore necessary to continuously analyze the search engine results and to keep an eye on the mentions citing your company, your brand or your services.
E-reputation and UX design
The relationship between e-reputation and UX design (for user experience) is a bit more subtle. Unlike SERP results and social networks, a problem in the experience with your site/platform will not necessarily be readable. The user experience that an Internet user will have with all your content on the Internet must be perfect or else you will have unhappy users who will share their negative interactions with your brand. In a second time, they will also share their opinion in the SERPs and social networks. Reputation is created by the experience of an Internet user with your products, but also in your stores and on your website. If the UX design of your website is neglected, the experience will be negative and your reputation will be impacted. The famous “X makes great products, but their website is terrible…”.
How to optimize your e-reputation with SEO
Now that we have defined how e-reputation is a global issue, we are going to present you with tips on how to keep control of your brand image through SEO.
Search intentions: deciphering interesting queries for E-Reputation
To understand how SEO can help your company to control its e-reputation, it is necessary to understand the concept of search intentions of Internet users. The UpByWeb agency talks about it in a dedicated article to understand how to define your SEO keywords. It presents the behavioral intentions behind the use of a keyword. There are three kinds of keywords:
- Informational intentions: the Internet user is looking for information
- Transactional intentions: the Internet user is looking for elements to buy or to confirm his choice before a purchase
- Navigational intentions: the Internet user is looking for information about a brand
When working on your e-reputation (as well as your SEO) it is essential to understand the marketing intention behind the use of a keyword. Otherwise, you may not grasp the full potential of SEO.
