For today’s PR professional, there are many reputation management tools in the toolbox. Content creation is a big part of what fuels reputation management, for instance; without a strong content strategy, you’re going to end up nowhere fast. It’s important to implement social networks as well. And there is no end to the SEO tactics that a reputation defender must deploy.
But what is it that unites all of these tools and gives them focus? If you’re seeking to defend your reputation, the central, organizing force behind your campaign should be keyword research. Keyword research shows you exactly how you can go about defending your reputation.
KEYWORD INSIGHTS
Keyword research is an important part of reputation management because it provides you with insight and answers to questions like these:
• How strong is the rivalry and intensity for a given keyword—that is, how competitive is it and how intense is the campaign going to be? In other words, how many negative listings are you combating and how many associated keywords do you need to strategize for?
• How much time, money, and effort is the campaign really going to require? Conversely, how much time, money, and effort would it take for someone else to outrank you?
• How might a change in Google’s algorithm impact the keyword? Is your content truly “future proofed,” against Google’s frequent algorithmic upheavals?
The bottom line is this: For many newcomers to the reputation management game, it’s all about basic brand signifiers. If you’re seeking to undo damage that has been done to your company, for example, then the only keyword you need to focus on is the name of your company—right? Wrong. The reality is that there is no limit to the number of keywords that a search engine user might use in order to find information about the brand in question, and the name of the brand is really just a starting point.
5 CONSIDERATIONS
There are five things to be aware of here:
1. There are always going to be new entrants seeking to rank for the same keyword. That’s why research cannot be a one-time thing. You must engage in ongoing research, as the field of keyword competition is constantly in flux.
This is particularly true in the age of Yelp. If you’re doing online reputation management for a particular company, especially a smaller one, then there’s never any way to know if and when new consumer reviews will appear. Positive and negative reviews alike will affect the competition that’s out there for a given keyword, so you must maintain constant defenses against these new reviews.
2. It’s not just the keyword field itself that is always in flux, but also the search engines themselves. Google is notorious for always changing its algorithms. If there’s one thing Panda and Penguin taught us, it’s to remain vigilant about how algorithmic changes can affect your keyword.
3. The search engine can impact your keywords, but so can search engine users. User behavior is a big player in reputation management and SEO. If you’re seeking to defend your reputation, you’ll need to include social signals as part of your keyword research (that is, you’ll want to analyze the number of shares, likes and tweets that a keyword tends to generate). Likewise, you’ll want to make sure you include a social media strategy as part of a reputation defense campaign.
4. Remember to consider not just your most basic keyword, but also some keyword variants—including geographic signifiers, or words like reviews, scam and complaints. For example, if your business is called “XYZ Resources,” and you know you’ve been on the receiving end of some consumer complaints, it’s important to make “XYZ Resources Complaints” an integral keyword, and an essential part of your strategy.
Incidentally, your keyword research should also take into account any common spelling variations. Remember that the goal here is to consider all of the ways in which a consumer might search for the brand in question—so if the brand is in any way difficult to spell, it’s best to be prepared for that.
5. Remember to continually monitor the competition over your given keyword. How many people are searching for the term, and how many entities are seeking to rank for it?
Research is one of the central practices of any reputation management strategy, providing you with both a baseline and a vision for where your campaign needs to go. PRN
CONTACT:
This article was written by Cliff Stein, CEO of Reputation Changer, an online reputation management services company. He can be reached at [email protected].