How Good Is Your Reputation?

You’ve worked hard over the years to build a solid reputation with clients in you local community and are now ready to put your business on the net in the hopes of expanding your market share. It’s one thing for clients who have gotten to know you and your business in person to stay loyal even in the face of occasional diversity. It is completely different when a total stranger who may know nothing about you decides to post malicious and unfounded rumors about you on the internet. This type of slander can spread like wildfire and go viral in no time. Along with the tremendous advantages that the internet offers businesses of all sizes, the chance to go global comes with its share of risks. By the time a company realizes what is happening, the ability to stop this process can be extremely difficult, not to mention very costly.

Advantages of SEO over SEM

Many companies are still unclear of the precise differences between an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and an SEM (Search Engine Marketing) campaign. They are however very clear on what their objectives are when it comes to their website and what they expect it to do for their business. Although the goal of any company website is to increase public visibility and traffic, it can only be considered a success if that increase in traffic is converted into sales while maintaining a healthy ROI (Return on Investment).

The primary purpose of an SEM campaign is to advertise your business and target a specific market in order to increase traffic to your site. These goals are generally achieved through a variety of methods which may include:

• PPC (Pay Per Click) – this type of text based ad is typically written by the advertiser who then chooses a bid amount that they are willing to pay when the ad is clicked through.  Generally speaking, the ranking will increase according to the amount of the bid.
• Pay-for Inclusion – This option can be very tempting to business owners as SEM providers generally guarantee that your site will be indexed by search engines in short order.

What Your Reputation Means

Whether you are a huge corporation, a small business owner or an individual with a promising career, your reputation can make or break you. Today’s technology has created an environment where we are all in the limelight for everyone to see; for good or for bad. As a business person, the quality of your product and dedication to your customers is crucial in building a solid reputation that will be the catalyst for sustaining and growing your company.

Today’s consumers are more demanding than ever before. Thanks to the internet, they have an enormous range of options when it comes to researching and purchasing products and services they need. Successful businesses understand the need to protect both their reputation and their brand. When the average consumer is in the market for new kitchen appliances, a quality pair of running shoes or TV, they automatically seek out specific companies because they have proven to be the best and most reliable over time. It is not uncommon to hear of large corporations pulling the endorsement of a famous celebrity from their products due to negative publicity over an unpopular incident or point of view. They will go to any lengths to disassociate themselves from anything that can tarnish their reputation and are ever vigilant about what is being said about them in public and specifically over the internet. They understand how one slanderous comment (whether true or not) can take hold and very quickly become viral. Even a well established and solid reputation can change overnight and have a huge effect on one’s bottom line.

Web Designers and SEO Professionals

Understanding what the goal of your website is and ensuring that goal (or goals) is met takes a dedicated team of professionals who are able to work together. A website developer may have mastery over the layout and imagery that must be present in order to attract customers and convince them to buy your product/service but without close consultation with an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialist, a sufficient number of the right people may never even get to see your site. Three of the most critical elements that must go into any website in order for it to be successful include:

1. Users (people conducting a search) must be able to find your site quickly and easily using commonly known words and phrases
2. Once they are directed to your site, it must be directly relevant to their search with meaningful content
3. The site must be easy to navigate and take as few steps as possible to complete a transaction