Why You Need Google+ Business Pages For Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management is an important sector of the Internet marketing industry. At SEO Inc. we have been doing online reputation management since the service was invented, so we have really seen it all.

Perhaps one of the most important values to have in order to be successful in this field is good study habits. Given the nature of SEO, social media and online reputation management changes everyday, so it’s vital to stay on top of current day-to-day trends. One of the most recent factors, at least in the aspect of the Google search space, is Google+ Business Pages.

Why Google+ Business Pages Are Important

Google is slowly seeping Google+ content and pages into their normal search results. Due to this favoritism and the connection that is possible with the parent site, there are many implications for gaining more branded search space.

It has always been a common practice in online reputation management to work with the profiles, domains, subdomains, directories, blogs, article sites, etc. that rank well  in Google. The reason being that they allow the company to gain more branded search space and reduce the amount of negative listings.

With this in mind, Google+ Business Pages are ranking incredibly well, when configured correctly of course, for branded terms. Let’s take a look.

Here, we see what appeared in search results after a query for Toyota. The user was not logged into Google when performing this search. In this Toyota example, note that there is not only a listing for their profile, but also a listing of two of the most recent posts they have done on their Google+ page.

When taking into account their sitelinks as well, we see that they have successfully secured a great deal of real estate on the first page. You will notice here that the first page now shows more than ten listings. For those of you who are unaware, Google has been testing extending the first page results.

As Google+ becomes increasingly ingrained in the Google search space, the implication for online reputation management and overall branded search space is that marketing messaging will only increase.

As of this moment, Google+ Business Pages are only showing up for a limited amount of queries. In addition, with all of the testing and changes currently taking place ,we never know what tomorrow will bring.

Why Having A Google+ Branded Page Can Help Your Online Reputation

Posting favorable content to Google+ could quickly show up in your branded search space. Think of the implications. You can announce that holiday sale during Christmas or tell the world about the charity you just donated to.

Promote other items you would like to rank in your branded search space. Any great news that comes out about your company you can post to your page.

This will allow you to not only get it ranked in the temporary area, but if it is well received, it will generate external links and Google+1’s. This will increase the likelihood that it will rank well in a more long-term segment of the search space.

Summing It All Up

Online reputation management is a simple process of trying to remove bad reviews, deal with the ones that you can’t get rid of, and promoting the positive. Google+ Business Pages offer a tremendous opportunity for the latter, and businesses of any size should make sure to do their best to take advantage of this.

While the profiles are still new, they have demonstrated value for a select few brands at this point and this should be noted. If Google continues to bring emphasis to Google+ Business Pages and their posts in search results, while increasing the association of Google+ Business Pages and the website they belong to, this strategy will become all the more popular. Being an early adopter could pay dividends with respect to your online reputation.