Search Engine Optimization vs. Online Brand Reputation Management What is the difference?

What do you do when you want some information? You google it – and every single second 67921 people do the same. Indeed, our next story starts online: and just like 68% of online experiences do, it starts with opening a search engine and typing in some words. 

Jenny’s journey

Imagine Jenny. She is Director of Communications and recognizes her company needs help with social media advertising. She goes online to search for “digital marketing consultant”, and stumbles upon an interesting article on targeting online audiences. Jenny is interested and spends the next hour reading his blog.

 

The first part of Jenny’s story illustrates what search engine optimization (SEO) can do for a business. Search Engine Optimization is an online marketing technique used to improve content and make it discoverable for search engines. Had it not been for the interesting blog post written and optimized for the phrase “digital marketing consultant”, Jenny wouldn’t have known that the company existed.

However, she is not ready to request a company training yet. Before buying, Jenny needs to learn more about the expert. She does a couple of quick searches on his name. Most of the results are positive, but his LinkedIn profile looks rather vague. Jenny then finds a review three-star review that highlights a mixed experience with the social media professional.

Jenny is confused. She is torn between her desire to request training for her company and her hesitation about the expert. So she turns to her LinkedIn account and searches for her network’s recommendations about freelance social media consultants. She also tweets to some of her fellow marketers whether they know the guy in question.

Jenny’s decision-making process is where Online Brand Reputation Management (OBRM) kicks in. Unlike SEO, Online Brand Reputation Management includes everything a business or an entity can do to improve its image and build a positive reputation online. Online Brand Reputation Management services enhance the entire online presence of the business or entity and they are increasingly important for sales – recent data shows that about 80-90% of people check online reviews prior to making a purchase. Successful Online Brand Reputation Management lies behind Jenny’s decision to hire the consultant.

 Setting the terms right

OBRM is broader and more general than SEO. It involves everything from building an SEO-friendly website with relevant content to having a positive presence on social media, online review websites, forums, blogs, etc. Whilst Search Engine Optimization is a technique that helps websites appear higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) Online Brand Reputation Management combines different disciplines– online PR, content marketing, social media marketing and monitoring, SEO, community management, web analytics, and psychology – to proactively build and control the brand’s reputation online. This multi-disciplinary and multi-channel approach is what differentiates Online Brand Reputation Management from SEO.

On the other hand, Search Engine Optimization is foundational to all successful Online Brand Reputation Management campaigns. After all, every brand needs a great website! Search Engine Optimization improves the website’s visibility with on-site optimization, or managing the technical aspects of the page such as creating HTML code, meta-descriptions, and tags. As part of a content marketing strategy, Search Engine Optimization tactics help optimize the website’s content by using specific keywords. The other aspect of SEO, off-site optimization, deals with building quality inbound links that can serve to “vouch” for the website in front of Google’s spiders. Off-page Search Engine Optimization uses social media marketing and external websites to create traffic.

 

Six Differences Between Online Brand Reputation Management and Search Engine Optimization

Here are the main differences between Online Brand Reputation Management and Search Engine Optimization.

 Holistic vs. Specific aim

 OBRM tackles a very elusive and intangible concept – reputation. Therefore, it uses a holistic approach to build a brand’s reputation and to ensure that people find mostly positive information about the brand online. In contrast, Search Engine Optimization is specific and easy to define: it helps a website appear on the first page of a search, because 95% will just look at that page. Search Engine Optimization uses specific tactics to increase the rankings of a website ahead of the Google search algorithm changes, which occur around 500-600 times per year.

Many websites vs. One website

SEO efforts focus on one website only, the company’s own website, while Online Brand Reputation Management tracks how the brand is mentioned on all possible places on the Internet, including the company’s own website. Online Brand Reputation Management also includes mentions on blogs, review and ranking websites, social media, and forums – and trying to make the best opinions and articles easier to discover.

 Tailored vs. Uniform approach 

No matter the market niche or segment, Search Engine Optimization will use similar techniques to promote a company’s website. An Online Brand Reputation Management campaign will differ widely depending on the company, the industry and the target market. Some Online Brand Reputation Management campaigns will be more aggressive to ensure quicker positive results and broader community outreach.

 Brand perception vs. Sales

 ORM is oriented towards general brand perception, while Search Engine Optimization is more sales-oriented. Although the ultimate goal of online reputation management is not to influence a purchase, but to change brand perceptions, a successful Online Brand Reputation Management campaign will eventually lead to more sales, because the positive reputation will convert potential clients into paying clients.

 Purchase decision vs. Information seeking

Remember Jenny? Her story is an example of a consumer buying journey. All consumer journeys go through the phases of:

1) Problem Recognition (the person has a problem and needs a solution)

2) Information Seeking (the person searches online for a solution) 

3) Evaluation of Alternatives (the person finds a lot of brands and services offering various solutions – this is the stage where all businesses compete for the client’s attention)

4) Purchase Decision (the person chooses to buy a specific product) and

5) Post-purchase Evaluation (the person receives the product, evaluates it, is happy or not, and decides to leave a review or post on social media about the company).

SEO comes at phase 2 of the consumer journey – an SEO optimized website guarantees that the potential client will find the business on the information seeking phase. However, unlike SEO, Online Brand Reputation Management plays a role in all phases, with a particular focus on the third, fourth and fifth phases. A positive brand reputation will influence a client to evaluate a brand more positively than the competition.

 “Be liked” vs. “Get found” attitude

 Basically, Search Engine Optimization wants a website to be found, while Online Brand Reputation Management wants only the best content about the company to be found.

Using reverse Search Engine Optimization to build a positive reputation

Reverse Search Engine Optimization demonstrates how Search Engine Optimization and Online Brand Reputation Management can work together for the brand’s benefit.

One single negative mention, especially if it has a high Google ranking, can overturn the hard-earned reputation of any brand and instill distrust in potential clients. Psychology calls it “negativity bias” – we are simply wired to remember the bad news. Our Jenny spent a lot of time scavenging forums and social media platforms after she found a vague LinkedIn profile and questionable review.

Because no brand is ever spared a negative opinion, reverse Search Engine Optimization saves the day for ORM. Its aim is to suppress negative content in the search results pages and place positive content higher. Reverse Search Engine Optimization uses a variety of methods and focuses on off-site optimization, blogging and social media to change the rankings of a given article. Some of the techniques might include the following:

 

·          Creating a blog and new social media profiles;

·         Creating and posting positive content more often;

·         Defining positive keywords about the brand and using them strategically;

·         Answering reviews and ranking on websites;

·         Creating search alerts to follow the latest mentions about the brands; and

·         Engaging with users on social media.

 

In conclusion, Search Engine Optimization can help Online Brand Reputation Management and is essential for building a positive reputation. Every Online Brand Reputation Management campaign must include an Search Engine Optimization strategy, otherwise it will not accomplish what is best for your business. Hire experts at Blue Ocean Global Technology today for building, monitoring or repairing your online presence.