People spend lots of time and money creating the perfect website. Then when it’s all set up and running, they wait. But unless traffic comes to the site, it won’t do well, no matter how good it looks. SEO (search engine optimization) is a hugely important facet in making your online reputation thrive, so it’s important to invest in good SEO practices as much as anything else on your site.
SEO and Your Online Reputation
With good SEO, your site will stand higher in Google ranking, and when people search the certain golden words to get to your site, you’ll be there, right at the top. This is what you need to help your online reputation take off in a positive and productive light. When the right wording is used, Google connects your site to Google searches and your site will pop up. The key is to have your site show up on the first page of Google results; people usually don’t look much past that.
Regardless of what your site is about, whether it’s gardening, safe driving practices, the latest good books or doctor reputation management companies, you still want high ranking SEO and a search engine friendly site. You want to show up on Google’s first page, and with all the websites out there that are competing with you, you need that SEO to help your online rep thrive.
Also, when building your site, make sure to use SEO keywords throughout the site, not just on the homepage. Remember, it’s what Google uses to match people’s searches with where to send them.
Social Media
Your business’s website is the key to opening the door of a good, solid online business reputation. But don’t forget to look beyond your actual website. Social media is also a great platform to concentrate on SEO and gain those Google rankings. The more you know about SEO and search engine friendliness, the more you can incorporate it into your LinkedIn information, Facebook posts, and your business’s Facebook page, tweets, and blogs. Which, by the way, are all important components of building a strong online reputation.
Other media will dictate some of your Google rankings, too. Maybe you’d like to post a press release every so often, or reward customers for writing reviews. All of these together will boost your company’s online reputation and drive more and more traffic to your site and your business– and that’s your goal!
What About Negative Content?
The thing about the Internet is what’s there is there. You can’t get rid of something, even when someone bashes you or your company. But with a good, strong reputation and lots of positive content, the positive (full of your important SEO keywords) can head the Google search results and push the negative comments further down the rankings, where people usually don’t look.
With everything moving towards an online presence, an online reputation can make or break a business. At first it may sound like there’s not a lot you can do to make sure your business maintains a good one, but there is! You have a great deal of control, and by being savvy and utilizing SEO to your advantage, including social media, your online reputation – and in turn, your business – can thrive.
Heather Legg is a writer who blogs on Internet safety, online businesses, and positive outlooks on life.
