Search Engine Reputation Management Services (SERM) – A New Tool in Healthcare Marketing

The saying “it takes years to build a reputation and seconds to destroy one” is even more relevant to online reputations. With newspapers and television, bad news stories frequently fell out of the limelight—especially if a newer story took center stage. After a while, most negative press was long forgotten. Now, thanks to the internet, negative news can be pulled up years—and even decades—later. Whether a bad review was deserved or not, the internet opens the possibility for someone to anonymously launch an attack against your company. If that happens, you’ll need the services of a search engine reputation management (or SERM) expert to suppress the destructive press and restore your company’s good name.

What is a search engine reputation management service?

As one of the newest tools in digital marketing, search engine reputation management services go beyond just utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) to gain results. They specialize in positioning positive press or positively-worded reviews in Google and other search engines.

What does a search engine reputation management service do?

A SERM service can reverse negative press by making sure the first few pages of a returned search will reflect positive information about your company. Or, if your company hasn’t been damaged by any negative comments online, then the search engine reputation management service can front-load search engines with a substantial amount of positive material and reviews about you or your business for prospects to find.

Why do I need my online reputation managed?

According to a February 2014 survey from the Journal of the American Medical Association, 65% of of patients are aware of online physician ratings and 40% of those surveyed said physicians’ online ratings were very important to them. 37% Avoided doctors with bad online ratings, while 35% selected their physicians based on good ratings, with nearly 60% reporting that they felt physician ratings sites were “somewhat important.”

How is this beneficial to my bottom line?

A search engine reputation management service will create high-quality web page content for you, then use its expertise to spread the material over multiple major websites while making certain that your pages are the first to be seen in Google. In the same way that strong content and inbound marketing drives prospects to your site, creative content and reviews spun in a positive light can create sales and viable prospects from your first page results.

Where do I go from here?

Correct misleading or inaccurate search results, stand apart from similar businesses, and add positive credibility to your search results. A solid reputation is a priceless commodity in a time where customers quickly choose who to spend their money with (or not) based on the opinion of others, many of whom they don’t even know. A search engine reputation management services team can fix a broken reputation or enhance an already good one. As a cutting edge digital marketing tool, it is results-driven and will have a positive effect on your sales.

Written by David Kaufer

David Kaufer is Founding Partner and Chief Dynamic Office in Kaufer DMC. He’s also a huge Oregon Ducks & Microbrew nut, Dad of awesome 8 year-old twin boys, husband, and big Sustainability and Autism advocate.