Whenever I run across the term “reputation management” these days, I know what is coming next: A nice long “how to” on dominating search engine shelf space (this post for example is excellent). I give a lot of credit to the search industry for educating clients on the consequences of leaving online reputation unchecked. However, I fear we may have created a monster. At the end of the day, search is a necessary, but insufficient condition in the struggle to define a brand. And while hiring a good search firm is a good idea (for a lot of reasons), it doesn’t mean you’ve got reputation management covered.

Consider this:

1.) Most of the consumer generated media found on social networks like Facebook may never make it into the search engine rankings because the content isn’t spidered. Conversations on many social networks take place “under the radar” of search engines – visible to hundreds, thousands in some case, but not necessarily visible in search. (Note: Recent changes in spidering of some SN’s will change this somewhat, but as long as members have the option of keeping content private, many conversations will continue to take place under the radar.)

2.) Dominating the first page or two of results is great, but it could mask a big problem. For example, we found that one of our clients was being trashed by a competitor on a very small Forum. Unfortunately, that Forum served a niche group of high value customers – influencers – in the space. The damage done within the confines of that little Forum never made it to page one of the SERPs but it resulted in significant lost business for the client in a very short period of time.

3.) Search is the last step in a long process that starts with a lot of big picture questions. Your search marketing firm can optimize the Enterprise Generated Media necessary to dominate search shelf space, but who creates and maintains that content? Who ensures that it is strategically integrated into your communications mix? Most importantly, who tracks the cost/benefit of your EGM assets?

The reality is that your search engine rankings are usually not where the real problem lies. More likely it is your product, your customer service, etc. If that is the case, you’ll need to decide on the goal early on: Is it to make detractors less visible or to have fewer detractors? Sure, there will always be unfair detractors and you do need to protect that shelf space to make sure that they don’t get an unwarranted share of voice in your brand. However, in all our years of experience in this area, we’ve only had one client that could link 100% of their problem to a single, nutty detractor.

Having a say in how your brand is defined in the world of Web 2.0 requires more than a search engine strategy. It is about content creation, engagement, and understanding where you really are with your customers or donors. After you’ve got that part covered, call the search engine firm to make sure that your efforts are accurately reflected in the SERPs.

Filed under: Reputation Management, SEO on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 by Nan Dawkins | 4 Comments
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