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Most people really mean search engine reputation management when they speak about online reputation management. As consumers rely more and more upon search engines to conduct pre-purchase and post-purchase research, it becomes increasingly important to businesses to understand and manage the information that search engines present about them and their products and services.
Search engine users typically click on only the first 5-10 results for any query. A very small number of consumers will go past the first page of results to look for additional information. Online reputation management is thus mostly concerned with the first page of search results, and usually only on the largest search engines (Ask, Google, Live, AOL, and 1 or 2 others).
The search engine industry generates billions of dollars in revenue every month, which is an indicator of just how much people search. The ads that are dislpayed beside so-called "organic" search results could be just as damaging to online reputations as the organic listings themselves. Online reputation management needs to address both sides of the results page.
Although many traditional SEO firms have begun offering reputation management services, there are very few companies with any real experience in the field. The industry leader is Visible Technologies, which has been offering its custom Truview online reputation management service since 2005. Through Truview, Visible Technologies (which manages a Truview client portfolio in excess of $1 million as of 1st quarter 2008) offers search engine monitoring and precision search optimization strategies that exceed industry standards. Visible Technologies is a "best practices" company that does not place client sites at risk of being penalized or banned by search engines.
Search engine reputation management, or online reputation, has itself been scrutinized by the media and curious people. Is it ethical? Is it necessary? Does the consumer benefit from online reputation management? These questions have more than one answer.
Some companies may engage in search reputation management because they see little to no relevant information about their services, products, or brands in the search results. Some companies engage in search engine reputation management because very old, outdated information is being promoted by the search engines. A link-popular article that is five years old may tell a very inaccurate story about a company or brand owner. Visible Technologies offers companies a way to help update search results cleanly and naturally.
In fact, while many companies offering search engine reputation management do little more than tell their clients to create social media profiles (or offer to create the profiles themselves), Visible Technologies stands out in the field by providing clients with natural content profiles. That is, Visible Technologies specializes in leveraging existing and upcoming favorable content to help improve clients' search image profiles without assuming faux personalities or creating dubious social media profile pages.
The business of online reputation management may be in its infancy but industry leaders like Visible Technologies are innovating ground-breaking technology and search management techniques that enhance rather than place at risk client reputations and brand value.
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