Keeping Ahead Digitally With Current Trends in Reputation Management

People and businesses seek to maintain their positive reputations. For individuals, this often involves completing educational and professional milestones, as well as building networks. For companies, creating a successful image involves marketing and strengthening brand loyalty.

The online environment has changed the way we assess and address reputation management. Years of successful work may be harmed or derailed by a handful of adverse reviews, a misinterpreted news story from the past, or an intentional campaign that begins with a single post on social media. If search engine optimization processes focus on the bad rather than the good, results may be difficult to overcome.

Understanding the Digital Landscape

Now that we’re into a new year, some wise words about online reputation management in 2024 are worth considering. Jesse Boskoff, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Status Labs, shares trends in reputation management and explains how to keep ahead digitally.

Boskoff reminds us that different reputation management categories exist, and that online reputation management is a strategy to have the best achievements about you appear at the top of search results. Putting you in a positive light through ORM is an important marketing and business strategy worth considering.

Turning the Reputational Page

Years ago, people relied on an expert in a chosen field, an authoritative source, or a knowledgeable reference librarian. Today, they expect search engines to make judgments and prioritize the best and most helpful information on the first page of the search results.

ORM is the process of having the best aspects of your digital presence appear on the first page, and as high up as possible. Whether this serves to improve your branding, describe your digital assets, or suppress negative or inaccurate content, getting the best and most accurate content on Page 1 is a very important goal. Few scroll to Page 2, and seldom do people go deeper than that.

If the top results offer negative, outdated, or inaccurate content, your reputation will suffer. If the user considers the source of this information to be trusted or authoritative, they may click, read, and have even less interest in the goods or services you offer.

For businesses, a few negative search results on Page 1 may reduce interest from potential customers by more than 50%. This occurs despite the successful advertising, marketing, and outreach efforts you already have in place elsewhere.

Pursuing the Best Solution for You

To confront negative digital entrenchments, you have to assess the landscape and consider your options. Some prefer to integrate ORM practices internally, though this involves an ongoing commitment to do more than random queries on search engines. Working with a trusted partner such as Status Labs is another alternative worth considering.

To maintain and improve reputation management, you must consider a number of strategies. For example, you should get a sense of the number of negative reviews, articles, or stories on Page 1 you want to be lower in the search results. Are these results coming from websites considered “authoritative” by search engine companies? If so, their results often rank higher.

Other factors may involve a website’s relation to your industry. An article critical of a homebuilder tends to carry more weight if it’s on a website related to the construction industry, and less weight on a website about food culture. Similarly, news from websites from nearby locations tend to rank higher than stories found on websites from distant areas.

There are other things you must consider when implementing an ORM strategy. You need to know how search engines assess engagement metrics for both positive and negative content. Information-rich pages tend to get greater attention than those with limited text or only short media pieces. Often, in general searches, more recent results tend to populate the top page.

Backlinks matter. Connections from other websites — especially those considered to be trusted ones — give the impression that the source is more relevant. Similarly, shares on social media have an impact on search results.

An Evolving Landscape

ORM is a vibrant and ever-evolving practice. Strategies appropriate five years ago are inadequate today. Keeping ahead digitally requires time and effort.