Alan Rabinowitz

All posts by Alan Rabinowitz
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  Best Reputation Management Companies for 2026

  

  When your reputation needs a boost, a highly-rated firm in Online Reputation Management (ORM) can make all the difference. We feature some of the fastest-growing reputation management companies to help you create a good image. Some of these firms provide either a dedicated reputation manager or software solutions. Find the right reputation management services with our handpicked list of the 5 Best Reputation Management companies for 2026.

  The following shows ways in which you can identify the best companies for reputation management to help your brand manage its image. Online Reputation Management companies are involved in the provision of excellent services that aid in improving and protecting the online reputation of a business and an individual.

  Why 2026 Is a Defining Year for the Best Reputation Management Companies

  The reputation management industry is moving into a period where search behavior, review ecosystems, and AI-driven evaluations are shifting faster than ever. As 2026 approaches, companies are seeing more advanced sentiment analysis tools that can catch early signs of trouble before negative content gains traction. Search engines are now prioritizing authority signals, credibility, and structured information, which means the best reputation management companies must understand both traditional SEO and emerging generative engines. Review platforms are expanding across new regions, creating more complexity for brands operating in multiple markets. At the same time, executives and public-facing professionals are experiencing a rise in personal scrutiny online, which makes individual reputation just as crucial as corporate presence. These evolving conditions define what top reputation management firms will look like in 2026 and highlight why choosing the right partner matters more now than ever.

  How Leading Reputation Management Firms Measure Success in 2026

  Evaluating the best reputation management companies requires understanding how results are measured and tracked. Businesses should expect clear demonstrations of movement in branded search visibility, improvements in review quality, and reductions in negative rankings. Strong reputation firms will show how their work influences search behavior, branded queries, and overall sentiment. This level of transparency is essential because both search engines and generative engines increasingly rely on data-driven signals to interpret a brand’s trustworthiness. Companies that offer measurable performance indicators and transparent month-to-month reporting stand out as the most reliable and effective as we head into 2026.

  What to Ask Before Hiring a Reputation Management Company

  When choosing a reputation management partner, the questions you ask determine how well the firm understands today’s search landscape. Businesses should explore how a company handles search suppression, what strategies it uses to promote positive content, and how it manages verified review growth. Firms that operate at a top-tier level will explain how their team monitors issues in real time, how incidents are escalated internally, and how quickly they respond to reputational shifts. Asking for recent examples of successful client work also helps clarify how they navigate the current search environment, which is increasingly shaped by AI systems and algorithm adjustments. These conversations reveal whether the firm you are speaking with is equipped to support your brand in 2026 or is relying on outdated approaches.

  The Importance of Schema and Generative Engine Optimization for Online Reputation in 2026

  Structured data has become a core part of reputation strategy because both search engines and generative engines rely on it to understand what a page is about and whether a source is trustworthy. Companies that apply Organization, Person, Service, and Review schema correctly give search systems clearer signals about their brand. Generative Engine Optimization enhances this further by preparing content for AI-driven search experiences, conversational queries, and answer-based results. As more consumers rely on AI assistants for information, brands that ignore GEO lose visibility to competitors who have already embraced it. The best reputation management companies in 2026 will treat schema and GEO as essential elements of every client strategy.

  Real World Example of Effective Reputation Management Results

  One recent client success story highlights the difference a strong reputation strategy can make. A professional services firm in New York faced several negative articles and a series of unfair reviews that targeted branded search terms. By auditing their entire online footprint, publishing authoritative content across high-quality sites, generating new verified reviews, and closely monitoring sentiment, the agency was able to shift the narrative. Within ten weeks, the negative pages were pushed off the first page of search results, and branded traffic increased significantly. The client regained control of their brand and saw lasting improvements that continued throughout the following year. This type of result illustrates how thoughtful, consistent reputation management can reshape perception and restore trust.

  Why Specialized Reputation Agencies Outperform Traditional Marketing Firms

  Businesses comparing providers often discover that specialized reputation agencies consistently outperform general marketing firms. Reputation management involves more than producing content or improving search rankings. It requires a detailed understanding of review platforms, editorial strategy, crisis communication, and the legal and technical elements of search engine reputation management. Agencies that focus solely on reputation work have the experience, processes, and infrastructure to address complex issues quickly and accurately. They also approach reputation as a long-term asset rather than a short-term marketing tactic. This concentrated expertise is why niche agencies dominate the field and consistently deliver stronger results.

  What Reputation Management Services Typically Cost in 2026

  Pricing for reputation management varies widely because every situation requires a tailored framework. Smaller companies or individuals may need targeted efforts focused on reviews and limited suppression, while mid-sized organizations often require broader coverage and ongoing content support. Larger brands with national or global exposure must maintain continuous monitoring, editorial promotion, review growth, and crisis preparedness. These elements determine the overall cost, and the best reputation management companies in 2026 will outline clear deliverables with transparent pricing rather than vague ranges. Establishing this clarity from the beginning ensures expectations and results remain aligned throughout the engagement.

  How to Choose the Best Reputation Management Company for 2026

  Selecting the right reputation partner means understanding how they combine search expertise, content strategy, review management, and crisis handling. The best firms for 2026 will be equipped to manage reputation across both traditional search engines and new AI-driven environments. They will provide measurable performance indicators, direct communication, and clear strategic plans that align with business goals. A strong partner becomes part of the brand’s defense structure and works continuously to strengthen visibility, credibility, and consumer trust. Choosing a firm with experience across both search and generative engines ensures the brand is protected now and well-positioned for the future.

  ORM Services can Help Individuals and Businesses

  • Monitor your online reputation: reputation management services track what is being spoken about you or your business online. Their work starts right there by informing you whenever any negative comments or reviews come up. Responding to negative comments and reviews: ORM services can help draft appropriate and timely responses to negative comments or reviews to minimize the damage caused to their reputation.
  • Promotion of positive content: ORM services can uplift good content.
  • Respond to negative comments and reviews: ORM services can help draft appropriate and timely responses to negative comments or reviews to minimize the damage caused to their reputation.
  • Promote positive content: ORM services can help promote positive content about your business, such as press releases, blog posts, and positive customer reviews, to help improve your online reputation.
  • Remove negative content: ORM services can help you remove negative content from the internet, although this can be a complex and time-consuming process that is not always successful. Most sources will NOT remove negative news stories.
  • Review Management: ORM Services that focus on online review sites like Google, Yelp, Glassdoor, etc., to help manage bad reviews.

  If you are considering using an ORM service. Researching and choosing a reputable digital marketing company with a proven track record of helping businesses and individuals manage their reputations effectively is important. You want a seasoned team with proven success in online reputation management strategies.

  What are the factors to consider when choosing a reputation management company?

  • Expertise: Look for a company with a track record of success in reputation management. Look for case studies or testimonials demonstrating their ability to help clients improve their online reputation.
  • Services: Make sure the company offers the services you need. Some common services reputation management companies offer include online reputation repair, brand management, crisis management, and social media management.
  • Cost: Consider the cost of the services offered by the company. Reputation management can be a significant investment, so finding a company that offers competitive pricing is important.
  • Communication: Choose a company that is responsive and communicative. A reputable reputation management company should be able to clearly explain its strategies and keep you informed about the progress of its efforts.

  If you are considering an ORM service, it is very important first to research and find a credible digital marketing company that has an excellent history of helping individuals and businesses manage their reputations effectively. Be sure to choose a team that has extensive experience and success with online reputation management strategies.

  Who are the 5 best online reputation management companies?

  1. 1) SEO Image (seoimage.com): This company has been rated the best online reputation management company numerous times since 2002. One of the best companies for pushing down negative results in search engines. Considered the first Reputation Management agency in NYC, SEO Image works to promote positive reviews and online reputations for businesses and individuals.
  2. 2) Reputation.com: This company offers services in cleaning up online reviews with a suite of online reputation repair, brand management, negative review handling, and crisis management.
  3. 3) BrandYourself: Helping individuals improve and protect their online reputation, the company uses a self-service marketing approach. They help businesses and people take control by providing monitoring and improvement tools to manage one’s reputation.
  4. 4) ReputationManagement.services This company offers various services, including online reputation repair, brand reputation, and social media management for the business owner.
  5. 5)Rep.Agency: This company offers a range of positive reputation management services to improve your online presence, including internet reputation, online review management, brand management, and crisis management.

  In this regard, it is worth doing a bit of legwork yourself. There are different options, and you can find which one suits you based on your specific needs. Look at what other reputation management companies offer and their price package.

  A full list of reputation management services operating in town is hardly possible because there are so many.

  You should make this yourself by comparing services and prices from a variety of companies that enjoy good online reputations. In choosing a reputation management firm in New York City, success history, variety of services, pricing structure, and how well they communicate and respond to their clientele would be a couple of things you might want to consider.

  You can also use online business listings from the New York City Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau to find more New York City firms. You can also request references from other business colleagues or industry partners and read reviews from previous customers of the firms to determine their reputation and success, and confirm that they utilize the best practices in the industry for long-term success.

  What are the different types of reputation management?

  Reputation management involves several strategies that shape perception and, thus, affect how individuals, companies, brands, or organizations come across in public opinion. It is associated not only with online efforts but also with offline initiatives to create a positive image and, at the same time, address negative feedback or criticism. There are different types:

  1. Online Reputation Management (ORM):  This covers creating and maintaining a persona or brand online. It involves mention monitoring, reviews, and discussions via social media to quickly act on feedback, remedy negative reviews, and share positive content with others in order to reinforce the reputation online in general.
  2. Crisis Reputation Management: This involves the management of negative events or public relations crises that might affect the reputation of a person or company. It involves timely and correct responses, proper communication, and taking necessary measures to mitigate effects that would further deteriorate the situation.
  3. Personal Reputation Management: This aspect encompasses influencing and sustaining the reputation of individuals, public figures, CEOs, influencers, or anyone with a name, based on suppressing online negativity, negative content, or positive achievements and contributions of an individual.
  4. Corporate Reputation Management: This deals with the management of a company or organization’s reputation. It ranges from monitoring media coverage, customer feedback, and public sentiment to handling issues like product recalls, lawsuits, or ethical concerns that might tarnish its image.
  5. Brand Reputation Management: Brand reputation
  6. Review Management: This primarily deals with managing customer reviews and ratings. This includes encouraging positive responses from satisfied customers and responding to negative reviews professionally.
  7. Social Media Reputation Management: Since social media has a huge say over what people perceive, the management deals with monitoring audiences across different platforms and responding to comments, hence mitigating negative sentiments.
  8. Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM): SERM is the process of managing what shows up in search results when any particular person or brand is looked up. This includes optimizing positive content, eliminating negative search results, and correcting misinformation.
  9. Employee Reputation Management: This area concerns perceptions about employees. When employees’ work involves serving the public interest or taking prestigious positions, this becomes crucial. Employees will be trained on responsible social media behavior and will make sure their general internet presence does not go against the values of the company.

  Reputation management isn’t always straightforward; rather, it requires an aggressive line of action regarding the construction of a public image that is continuously nurtured over time. SEO Image effectively executes online reputation management through targeted activities specific to your business, optimizes your business listings to make outreach for 5-star reviews efficient, and so on. There are various forms of reputation management, and each can be implemented as seen fit based on circumstances and individual, company, or brand needs.

  What makes a reputation management company the best in 2026?

  The best reputation management companies in 2026 combine technical expertise in search engines with a deep understanding of generative engines and AI driven discovery. They balance brand protection, content development, review strategy, and crisis readiness while maintaining transparent reporting and measurable performance. These firms understand that reputation is no longer limited to reviews and search results but also includes how AI systems interpret a brand’s authority. Companies that excel in all of these areas stand out as leaders as the digital landscape continues to evolve.

  How do I know which reputation management company is right for my business?

  The right firm will demonstrate an understanding of your industry, your brand narrative, and your search environment. They will show how they plan to protect your reputation across traditional search engines and generative AI platforms and how they will build a long term strategy that supports business growth. A strong agency will also provide real examples of past successes and clear explanations of how they approach review generation, content publishing, monitoring, and crisis response. The relationship should feel like a partnership rather than a vendor transaction.

  Why is reputation management more important going into 2026?

  Reputation plays a larger role than ever because consumers now use AI tools, search engines, review platforms, and social channels to evaluate companies before making decisions. Brands that do not stay proactive risk losing visibility, credibility, and customer trust. The best reputation management companies have adapted to this environment by developing strategies that align with current search behavior and the rapidly growing influence of generative engines. As reliance on AI increases, the accuracy and strength of your online reputation become directly tied to your long term success.

  How long does it take to see results from a reputation management campaign?

  Every situation is different, but most brands begin to see measurable improvements within the first few months when working with a qualified firm. Search suppression, review growth, and content development all take time to gain traction, but when executed correctly they begin shifting sentiment and search visibility in a predictable and consistent pattern. Timelines depend on the volume of negative content, the authority of the sites that published it, and how competitive the industry is. A skilled agency will outline expectations clearly and show progress through transparent reporting.

  Are reputation management companies able to improve review ratings and overall customer sentiment?

  A qualified agency can help improve review ratings by implementing a structured system that encourages satisfied customers to share their experiences across the right platforms. They can also monitor and respond to reviews, address customer concerns, and identify patterns in feedback that can help a business grow. While no company can fabricate reviews or interfere with platform rules, a legitimate reputation management firm will use ethical and compliant strategies to elevate sentiment and build a stronger, more accurate representation of the customer experience.

  
  
  
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  6 Online Review Tips That Will Help You Rank Higher & Get More Sales

  The following online review tips we share with you below will help your website convert more traffic into sales.

  Sounds good, doesn’t it?

  Now with studies showing that 82% of customers read online reviews for local businesses, it’s always shocking when we come across business owners who operate without an online reviews strategy.

  And it’s true: Online reviews can make or break your business; they can determine whether new customers either buy from you or buy from your competitors.

  If you don’t know where to start, keep reading. Below we share a few helpful insights and online reviews tips that’ll help your business improve its overall online image while boosting conversion rates.

  Why Are Google Reviews Important?

  The majority of your customers are social creatures who need validation from their peer group and the general public.

  When they don’t know what to buy, they go online and look for social proof from an online community.

  Online reviews are essential for many reasons:

  Search Engines Love Online Reviews

  It’s simple: The more customer reviews your business publishes; the more search engines love you.

  Search engines want to show users what is most relevant to them.

  If your company is receiving a lot of online reviews online, that tells search engines that your business is attracting customer feedback; meaning customers have put trust in your brand.

  But this doesn’t mean that your domain will earn the top spot. Your overall reviews rating will determine whether or not you’re viewed as a trusted source online.

  Online Reviews Serves Fresh Content

  One of Google’s many algorithms is fresh content. It often ranks websites by how relevant and up-to-date they are.

  Google reviews also show that your business is still in business and is, therefore, fresh and up-to-date.

  Alongside encouraging people to review your business, you can also keep producing regular blog content on your website.

  Online Reviews Gets You On The Local Pack

  The Google Local Pack is the map section of the Google search results which is usually above the organic results.

  Google will generally show the top 3 local businesses for each query; featuring contact information and their 1-5-star ratings. Generally, the sorting of listings starts at 4.0 and higher.

  For example, if you searched for an SEO agency in NYC, the top 3 SEO agencies with Google My Business accounts nearest to you will appear in the local pack first.

  Online Reviews Make You Trustworthy

  Because people now have more options than ever before, they tend to do their homework before giving their business to a specific company.

  When you have online reviews from real customers, it shows prospective purchasers that your business is legitimate, has been validated by previous customers, and is trusted.

  Online Review Tips

  1. Sign Up For A Google My Business Account

  The first thing you want to do to increase your business reviews is to first make sure you can receive online reviews in the first place.

  For Google Reviews to be possible, your business needs to create a Google My Business account.

  The process is simple. Google even provides a guide to make sure any business owner – tech-savvy or not – can manage it.

  Once your business account is verified, any customer that is looking for your business will find all the information they need. Like the following:

  • What you offer
  • Service options
  • The address
  • Opening hours
  • Menu
  • Website
  • Phone number
  • Reviews

  It’s also worth noting that the number of online reviews and your current star rating is shown directly under your business name in the search results, which gives users an immediate first impression. A user will most likely click on a 5-star company over a 2-star company.

  2. Encourage Customer Reviews

  Most customers are aware of online reviews and that they can review businesses online; be it through Google, or another platform like Yelp.

  But most of the time, customers are not incentivized to write an online review or prompted to do so. Don’t feel ashamed to remind people that the option is there.

  It’s important not to make people feel pressured into leaving a review, but, planting the idea can be all that it takes.

  As they leave your store, or after they make an online purchase, you can say something as simple as, “thank you for your purchase, and if you’re happy with it, feel free to leave a Google Review.” See? Not complicated, not pushy, but can ultimately lead to more reviews and a higher ranking.

  3. Don’t Be Discouraged By Negative Reviews  

  The reality is, many people are going to look up your business with the sole intention of leaving an online review if they are not happy with their experience.

  That’s the nature of the beast. However, your aim should be to make sure the number of positive reviews is higher than the number of negative ones.

  Don’t be discouraged by disgruntled customers.

  Instead, use them as a learning opportunity to improve your products and services so you can prevent their issue from being one in the future.

  You can also reply to negative reviews as well, share your side of the story and give readers context.

  4. Don’t Be Fooled By All Positive Reviews

  If you’ve been looking at your competition, frustrated at how they managed to achieve a perfect star rating across hundreds of reviews, then don’t be concerned.

  According to research, a perfect score can actually decrease the trust of a business.

  It sounds strange, but with the prevalence of fake reviews, having an average score of between 4.5 to 4.7 can make your business seem more trustworthy than one that achieves a perfect 5-star rating.

  5. Reply To Google Reviews

  A Harvard Business Review study found that if business owners respond to a customer review (be it a positive or negative one), they can see a rating increase.

  Remember, you can learn a lot from all reviews that customers leave, so engaging with them on a public platform can have more of a positive impact than you might think.

  Be transparent about any mistakes you may have made, and, thank them for taking the time to leave the review.

  Ask questions if the information is unclear, and offer a solution to their problem. You can even humanize the response by putting your name at the bottom of it.

  Responding promptly is also quite important, for it shows your customer that you respect the decision they made to come forward and value what they have said.

  6. Advertise That You Have A Reviewing Platform

  If you’re struggling to drum up reviews for your Google My Business account, try positioning or marketing to your audience that your business has a reviews page.

  You don’t have to take out a full-page ad in the newspaper, but small, discrete links in emails and on your website can often be enough.

  Remember, you’re not trying to drum up a positive review, but a review in general. By providing a link for people to click, you’re making it easy for customers to leave an online review, which will help you improve your overall online image.

  
  
  
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  We’re Hiring – Remote SEO Sales – Stay Safe and Earn!

  Stay Safe and Earn!

  We’re actively seeking a remote salesperson who has what it takes to work with small, mid, and enterprise-level businesses. Selling of SEO and Reputation Management services for one of the nationwide leaders in both services. With 18+ years of experience. Our background sells itself.

  You will be responsible for generating leads as well as working on existing leads with the sales team.

  Details can be found here:
  https://seoimage.com/careers/seo-sales/

  
  
  
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  SEO Image on Instagram

  SEO Image is now on Instagram at /seoimage.

  

  Many thanks to the imageseo.io team for helping us with the account. imageseo.io is a WordPress image plugin (not affiliated with SEO Image) that optimizes elements of images for image search and worth a look if you use WordPress. Check out their Image SEO Guide as well. It’s worth the read and has some great info for helping you optimize your website images.

  SEO Image is not about optimizing images, although that is a ranking factor we optimize for with all our clients. We’re referring to our Brand. The SEO Image brand and motto is: Defining Your Corporate Image on the Web™. So we are using it differently.

  We have always been about branding through SEO and Online Reputation Management (ORM) hence the SEO of your business Image. Image Optimization is an important ranking factor and can be a great traffic driver when images are triggered in the search results. Also, Image search is a great traffic driver as well and for some businesses, it represents a great way to bring in relevant traffic…

  Why Optimize Your Images?

  There are numerous reasons why image optimization is important for any SEO strategy including:

  • Driving In traffic from image results
  • Helps your website scoring as a whole
  • Images can trigger for some searches and become clickthroughs and traffic
  • Elements of an image like “ALT text” impact overall rankings of pages
  • Image names correlate to site relevancy ranking factors

  So as part of any SEO campaign we typically optimize image alt tags and naming conventions to help overall SEO scoring.

  What Are Image SEO Ranking Factors?

  There are a few things you can do for images to help your image SEO:

  • Image SIze – Speed is important you need to scale your images for fast loading sites. In a day and age where speed is becoming (not yet) a significant ranking factor, we need to think ahead and make cleaner faster, more user-friendly sites. Google recommends using Imagemin to compress images. However, this requires developer expertise to use so it will not be utilized by a majority of the web until better supported. So WordPress plugins like Smush, ShortPixel, and Hummingbird will suffice.
  • Image Alt Text & Image Title – This is the invisible element designed for the visually impaired that Search Engines use for content. It also allows you to place the content of the image in the alt or “alternate text”. The title tag title=”Similar to Alt”… does the same thing but is a tool top and a long mouseover on an image will make the tooltip visible. Personally, I do not like the title tag usage in images. it is not necessary (unless the alt text is missing and you want to validate it) and not recommended by the W3C.
  • Captions or Content Around the image – Search Engines will use surrounding content as indicators of what the image may be about.
  • Image Name – simple enough? Name it appropriately and build trust by avoiding excessive use of keywords in the image name. Do not stuff it with keywords.
  • Link to Images – What!? That’s correct, multiple sites referencing an image can help it rank, links work for images too! Don’t go nuts. As it can be considered hotlinking if you reference it from another site, a direct link is different. Google does have rendering engines, however, the amount they can read in images is debatable. Good images such as infographics can get shares and links that help search engines see more value in them. Despite the lack of tools to determine social image links, ranking factors like this are helpful.
  • Format – For speed, formating can be important, and modern image formats that have little support from most image/photo/design applications are recommended for use by search engines in their speed scoring reports. Pagespeed Insights used to suggest using a format like .svg or .webp. It currently appears removed from the reporting. Modern formatting allows for Image Metadata which can also help images.
  • Schema – Schema helps search engines understand advanced layouts and since there is in fact schema for images, where appropriate, you can utilize it in BlogPosting and Article types. It is a property. Be sure you match your image SEO, so Alt Text and Object should be the same. Since Schema is not designed for Images, images are used in conjunction with other parameters, this is reserved to featured images, post images, social media images, etc. where the image is part of a specific schema, if you match your alt tags, your strengthen your SEO for keywords added. For example: <img src=”…./images/bestphotoever.jpg” alt=”Best Photo Ever”…
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://example.com/images/bestphotoever.jpg",
          "name": "Best Photo Ever",
          "description": "This is my Best Photo Ever"
  • Use an Image Sitemap – Let Search Engines know where all your images are. Sites maps ease the load on search engine spiders. This is NOT a ranking factor, sitemaps are used to help search engines and assure proper indexing of your website so we suggest you consider using them.

  According to 2017 Data from Jumpshot & Moz,2017 Data from Jumpshot & Moz, Google images represent close to 30% of online searches. So this is not an area to be missed. Optimize your images and the content that surrounds them. If you need help, hire a professional SEO Company like SEO Image!

   

  
  
  
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  SEO Image’s Alan Rabinowitz Noted as a Top New York Influencer by Metropolitan Magazine

  SEO Image’s CEO, Alan Rabinowitz is noted as one of the Most Influential New Yorkers by Metropolitan Magazine, In their 2019 Influencers Issue.

  Metropolitan Magazine is one of NY’s most respected luxury magazines which constantly features lifestyles of the rich and famous and hot spots and hot stars. SEO Image’s Alan Rabinowitz has been a marketing guru since the late ’90s. As a seasoned veteran of the SEO and Reputation Management services industry, Alan has helped numerous businesses and individuals gain exposure online and clean their reputations.

  Having an extensive art and design background, Alan helps them his clients understand what visitors see and how their eyes travel across websites. He utilizes this know-how, to help client websites capture more leads and sales by designing with conversion strategies in mind so that the full impact of the SEO services can be seen with constant form fills, phone calls and sales.

  Imagine having a website that has super-high conversion rates and lots of related traffic!

  Call 888-736-2667 today to get Alan and his teams, cutting-edge SEO services to help your business achieve success online. Let us use this Influencer know-how, to help your business grow.

  
  
  
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  How To SEO For Voice Search, Local & Near Me SEO Strategies

   

  With the rise of voice technologies like Apple’s Siri, Google’s Ok Google, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana, marketers today are only beginning to uncover the most effective voice search optimization strategies in marketing.

  The voice search revolution is around the corner and voice command is on the rise.

  According to Hitwise, nearly 60 percent of all search engine searches on mobile devices are made with voice.

  What’s more interesting is how we see voice search evolving passed our laptops, smartphones, and tablets; oozing into our speakers, TVs, watches, cars and even in our homes to just to name a few connected things.

  The good news?

  Voice search optimization is in its early stages, and early adopting search marketers have the opportunity to beat competitors to the punch.

  In this SEO voice search article you will learn:
  ● Why voice search matters to marketers
  ● How users use voice search
  ● Voice search strategies that optimize for digital assistants

  Why Voice Search Matters To Marketers?

  Hummingbird
  In 2013 Google released the algorithm update, Hummingbird. It splashed waves in the SEO community and marketers were forced to adjust their SEO strategies. Before, search was all about keyword strings and backlinks from other sites.

  Now with Hummingbird, Google went from “strings to things”; considering each keyword in each query, user intent and the overall relationships behind keywords; forcing webmasters to feed search spiders content in a more human manner.

  Instead of keyword stuffing, webmasters now must identify important keywords and also make connections to user pain points (points where conversions drop); increasing the chances that users will find a more semantically correct search result.

  RankBrain
  In 2015, Google introduced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, RankBrain. Which helps Google come up with accurate search results for queries that it technically does not know. It does this by depositing large amounts of written language into mathematical entities called vectors for computers to understand.

  Why is RankBrain important to search marketers?

  With all the different variations a query can be phrased, combined with all the meaning variations behind each word, whether it be typed in keyboard or with voice search, RankBrain AI uses mathematical guesses to connect unique keyphrases to related keywords. And because it’s AI, it gets better with time.

  With 15 percent of queries being 100 percent unique to Google every day, RankBrain not only provides users with the next best possible options but also inspires search marketers to create more content that can rank for the other 15 unique variations Google has never seen before.

  Google also goes on record stating that RankBrain is the third most important ranking signal in their algorithm – that’s huge!

  Search Market Pie

  Google dominates the search market, owning 74.5% of the search market pie. Search marketers have no other option but to cater to Google’s algorithm. Other notable search engines like Bing, Yahoo!, Baidu, and others together all hold only between 5% – 10% of the search market pie.

  
  To win the search war, marketers have to play on Google turf.

  Voice Technology Revolution
  
  Today it’s trendy to use voice commands. Voice search is already a popular gesture with users, and its growth rate is expected to increase as voice technology matures.

  At the moment, voice search market stats show:

  ● 50% of US households use voice search for online content;
  ● 62% of adults between 25 – 34 use voice search for online content;
  ● 75% of adults between 18 – 24 use voice search for online content.
  

  Also, with the internet of things coming around the corner, it’s expected that by 2022 the average US household will have at least one voice activated device. In total that’s about 70-million devices. Marketers need to pay serious attention to voice search and learn how to leverage voice search strategies to their advantage.

  So How Do Users Use Voice Search?

  There’s a difference between voice search queries and keyboard queries.
  Contrary to queries made on keyboards, voice search queries tend to be longer and are classified as being “more human.”

  For example, a typed query for a vegan restaurant may look like this: “best vegan restaurant.”
  On the other hand, voice queries are more likely to be more human and look like this: “where’s the best vegan restaurant near me?”

  It’s also worth noting that since voice search hit the scene, question phrase queries have spiked 61 percent yearly.

  Sitting at the top of the question phrase movement are “who” questions.
  “Who” phrases skyrocketed up 134 percent and “How” phrases up 81 percent.

  Voice Queries Tend To Look For Local Content
  
  Search phrase “near me” has grown more than 130% year after year.

  

  Users want digital assistants to know the best possible answer to their query nearest them. Whether it be “best cafes near me” or “best dentists near me” mobile users on the go want to know local content, whether it be in Manhattan or Los Angeles. Keep in mind that desktop searches and non-voice searches tend to type the region vs. using “near me” which is usually added to Google suggest as well as the region. Mobile users tend to say “near me” as noted by Google. 88% of “near me” searches are mobile and a growing trend on mobile as well. So optimize accordingly.

  Voice Search Strategies And How To Optimize For Digital Assistants

  Create Content That Answers Questions
  
  With voice search queries being more conversational and stacked with question phrases, you’ll want to tailor your content so that your website answers questions in a more human way.

  So how do you answer questions in a more human way?

  Well, a good place to start is to listen and note how your customers ask for products and services in your store. If you’re doing keyword research for answer optimization, use tools like Question Samurai, StoryBase, and Answer the Public. From here you can tailor your content for voice search queries and create original pieces like a FAQs page, blog posts, free eBooks, infographics and even videos.

  It’s nothing complicated, just write like a human.

  Search Engines Love Mobile-Friendly Websites
  
  With Google’s Mobilegeddon algorithm pushing the mobile search revolution into 2015, it’s never been more important for brands today to deliver mobile-friendly experiences. Sites that do not perform well on mobile tests like speed and responsive design will rank lower in 2018.

  You can use Google’s free mobile-friendly tool and also Google’s page speed tool as well to figure out if your website needs extra work. Most voice commands are made on mobile devices, so it’s without a doubt that Google will serve users the best possible mobile-friendly experience.

  The free tools mentioned above will provide useful insights that show you how you can improve your overall site speed.

  Local Optimization

  One of the most effective voice search strategies out there is local optimization. Voice queries tend to ask for local information. Start by brainstorming keywords that describe your niche industry and your neighborhood. Then create local pages that target those keywords. Be sure to also use the trending keyphrase “near me” in your title tags, meta descriptions, internal links and anchor text.

  Also, you’ll want to claim your My Google Business listing. It’s free, and with it, you’ll be able to show important information to searchers such as your business name, address, phone number, ratings, hours of operation, directions and your website. This will also help you populate Google’s prized Knowledge Graph.

  And remember: when you fill out your Google My Business listing, be consistent in how you use it on your website and in other local directories.

  Why?

  Google rewards consistency. Whenever you fill out any business information online with any listing make sure your business name, address, and phone number are all consistent. This signals to search engines that your business is legit. When businesses show inconsistency on the web, it makes their business look fake, spammy or even hacker-ish. Even the slightest mistake can lower your SEO score.

  Structured Data And Schema Markup
  
  Web pages with schema markup have an advantage over websites without schema markup. Pages with markup give search engines a better understanding of a webpage’s content and most importantly its context; pacifying to Google Hummingbird and voice search. When you markup content properties in your source code, you’ll get to take advantage of Rich Snippets and Rich Cards, which help with voice search and conversion rates.

  The example below shows you the difference between search results with rich snippets and results without.
  

  Conclusion
  The SEO world is on the cusp of a voice search revolution. The voice technology we have seen in sci-fi series’ and films is finally here. And yes, it’s hard to keep up with technology in the marketing world.

  The voice search strategies I mentioned above will give you a leg up on the competition. Remember to target local queries, create content and pages on your website that answer question phrases, and be sure to take users to fast and mobile-friendly websites that have marked up pages.

  If you can think of one or more effective voice search strategies that are not on our list, feel free to share your insights below and leave a comment in the comments section.

  
  
  
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  A Proactive Online Reputation Management Guide

  Did you know that all the time and effort it takes to build a positive brand reputation can be ruined by a single bad review on Google, Yelp, Rip-off Report, or Complaints Board? Managing your online reputation is no longer optional but mandatory for your company’s survival.

  First, Some Highlighted Statistics:

  • 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 14% trust advertisers.
  • 8 out of 10 Internet Users in the US say that negative information read online made them change their mind on a purchasing decision.
  • 86% of people would pay more for services from a company with higher ratings and reviews.

  The Importance of creating a positive reputation online has never been more crucial. Continue reading →

  
  
  
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  Rehab Marketing After the Google Adwords Drug & Alcohol Addiction Keywords Ban

  Now That Google Is Limiting PPC Keywords, How Do You Market Your Rehab Center?

  Advertising avenues for drug treatment and rehab centers seem to be growing narrower with time. The powers that be at Google recently implemented new restrictions targeting PPC advertisements for addiction and rehab centers after seeing rising cases of “misleading experiences” in treatment centers. The restrictions have been implemented as a preventive measure against drug treatment and rehab centers with aggressive paid search marketing strategies yet don’t provide the promised services.

  The soaring rates of drug and alcohol addiction in the US have led to a mushrooming of rehab centers. Addiction treatment has become a booming business with cut-throat competition for patients seeking for help. Addicts or their families always turn to Google and other search engines when looking for help in a rather discreet way. Unfortunately, some of these online searches lead the unsuspecting addicts or their loved ones to rehab facilities that don’t live up to their promises. Google recently acknowledged this problem and began limiting ads that show up when a user searches for addiction treatment and rehab centers on its search engine.

  According to Elisa Green, Google’s spokeswoman, the decision to restrict rehab PPC ads was reached after they found “misleading experiences” in a number of drug treatment centers advertising on their platform. The decision will, however, limit a majority of small-time rehab centers seeking to get a piece of the $35 billion addiction treatment industry. Facing Addiction’s co-founder, Greg Williams says the move by Google is a strong statement on the importance of people’s lives over the pursuit of profit.

  Google is now clamping down on any ad that shows up when a user searches for phrases such as “alcohol treatment center” or “drug rehab.” They are not even selling ads related to the phrases or the keywords anymore. So which other marketing options does a rehab center have after the recent Google’s restrictions? Where should rehab centers focus their online marketing efforts now?

  SEO is the Way to Go Now

  The delicate nature of drug and alcohol treatment centers demands a precautious approach in marketing. You cannot employ all-too-aggressive or intrusive methods in your marketing efforts but you still want to reach as many individuals in your locality and beyond who need the services you provide. It is a delicate balance between maintaining your fine reputation as a center that does not market aggressively and attracting more clients so that you can keep on doing the good work. Search engine optimization (SEO) provides a perfect solution to this marketing conundrum.

  SEO is more targeted than other forms of advertising. It helps you rank high for search terms or keywords related to your treatment center, giving you a good opportunity to immediately reach individuals who are actively seeking for your treatment and rehab services. With SEO you can market your rehab services consistently without appearing like you are doing it too aggressively. So far, SEO is still one of the most cost-effective methods of making sure your drug treatment and rehab center is found by potential clients via search engines.

  Get SEO for your Rehab

  Call SEO Image the Best SEO Agency in NYC based on reviews.

  SEO Strategies for Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers

  Due to the embarrassing nature of addiction, most people seeking for rehab facilities prefer to do it discreetly via Google and other search engines. It is therefore important to ensure that your website appears in the first few results that come up when a person searches for related key terms such as “rehab centers in [your city or region]. SEO provides the easiest way to get there. SEO is completely unobtrusive but ensures that your treatment center is easily found by people in need of your services.

  So how do you employ SEO strategies effectively to rank your center’s website on top search engine results? Well, SEO is a broad concept involving numerous on-page and off-page strategies to not only ensure that your site ranks well but to have an edge over your competitors too. However, some of the best SEO practices include optimizing for specific keywords that are related to your rehab treatment center. The strategies you use in optimizing for specific keywords depend on the services you provide. For instance, do you treat addiction to drugs, alcohol or both? Does your center have a holistic or 12-step approach of treatment? Where are you located and which words or phrases do people in your city or region use when referring to the region? The answers to these questions will determine the SEO strategy you employ, especially the keywords you need to rank for.

  Your Content Strategy

  Another key factor in SEO is the content you have on your website. Google ranks websites primarily on the relevance, value, and usefulness of the content they publish. It actually makes no sense to spend time and resources to rank a site that does not provide enough value to convert visitors into clients. In as much as your goal is to make people seeking for addiction help fill your contact form or call your center, it is important to have useful content that is convincing enough to make someone take the desired action. Publish different types of content targeting different types of addiction patients or their loved ones. Having a different page for each service that you provide is always helpful.

  Register With Google My Business

  Lastly, make sure your rehab center is registered with Google My Business. This helps you to reach users searching for rehab services in your area. Most people seeking addiction treatment for themselves or their loved ones are likely to use location-based searches for treatment centers close to them. Google My Business allows you to list your treatment center’s name, physical address, telephone number, and office hours from a single convenient location. Remember to connect your center’s Google+ page with Google My Business.

  Another advantage of using Google My Business is mobile search. Your website will easily be found by anyone looking for a rehab center in your neighborhood or city via mobile. Keep in mind that close to 50% of searches today are done on mobile devices.

  Conclusion

  With the right drug and alcohol rehab SEO practices, you’ll soon start seeing more website traffic, more phone calls, and an increased number of contact forms being filled by potential clients. SEO helps you reach more people looking for your help via search engines in a useful and unobtrusive way. When done right, SEO is significantly less expensive than PPC, which is no longer viable given the latest restrictions from Google.

  Get SEO for your Rehab

  Call SEO Image the Best SEO Agency in NYC based on reviews.
  
  
  
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  Managing Your Online Reputation – Webinar

  Our CEO, Alan Rabinowitz, will be a featured speaker for a BBB webinar on Oct. 4, 2017. Covering how your reputation is important for online sales. Learn the importance of managing your online reputation for any business and how to encourage happy customers or clients to give you a good review. This is an exclusive webinar for all BBB businesses. If you’re a BBB Member, check your email for registration information. Continue reading →

  
  
  
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  7 Strategies for Lead Generation For Drug & Alcohol Recovery Centers

  Marketing a drug and alcohol treatment center is a delicate issue. You don’t want to be too aggressive or intrusive in your advertising methods, but you still need to reach a wide audience of potential clients in need of your rehab services. There are many strategies you can use to generate leads for your treatment center without appearing overly aggressive including social media marketing, SEO, PPC, Reputation Management, and email marketing just to mention a few.

  However, we believe that the right combination of search engine optimization for your website and paid search or PPC (Pay Per Click) will provide the most cost-effective and natural way of generating quality leads. With organic traffic, you’ll reach more people who are actively seeking for assistance to overcome alcohol and substance addiction for themselves or their loved ones.

  A large majority of individuals seeking help for their addictions prefer to do it discreetly for obvious reasons. Most addicts will look for treatment through search engines such as Google and Bing. A recent survey showed that 49% of searches for alcohol and drug rehab facilities on Google are done on mobile devices. Over 33% of patients searching for addiction treatment via mobile devices will schedule an appointment. This makes Pay Per Call an effective option.

  Request a Quote

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  SEO: Why Your Treatment Center Needs It
  Conventional marketing and advertising methods such as TV and newspaper ads are no longer as effective as they used to be. They are not only more expensive, but they’re gradually losing popularity as the world becomes more digital, especially in the mobile sector.

  It makes no sense for a rehab facility to spend thousands of dollars on advertising when that money could have been used for more useful purposes such as improving the facility and treating patients. Digital marketing techniques such as SEO and Pay Per Call provide a more cost-effective way of generating rehab leads than traditional advertising.

  Google and Compete did a comprehensive study on September 2012 titled Treatment Center Study to determine what influences people suffering from addiction to seek treatment and how they choose a rehab facility.

  Some of the key findings of the report showed that:

  • 86% of individuals seeking drug or alcohol treatment used Google search before scheduling their appointment.
  • 76% of these patients checked websites of treatment centers while researching for the best facility.
  • 53% of them had visited more than two treatment centers before they made up their minds.
  • Leads generated from online search are two times more likely to convert.
  • Online research matters a lot to potential leads. So does Reputation.

  The numbers mentioned above show how effective SEO is in marketing your treatment center. If you don’t have a performing SEO strategy in your marketing efforts, you could be losing as much as 80% of potential leads actively searching for rehab services. Not all SEO’s can be effective in the recovery industry, it’s extremely competitive, and most sites ranking aren’t even treatment centers, but rather portals that sell leads only after they fill their beds.

  Benefits of SEO to Treatment and Rehab Centers
  The goal of SEO for your treatment center’s marketing is to increase website traffic, reach a wider audience of people in need of help, have more people filling your contact forms and calling your center for assistance. Instead of spending a fortune on untargeted advertising, or PPC for reputable recovery centers, you can rely on SEO to rank high on search engine results for keywords that are relevant to your services so you can reach a highly targeted audience.
  Here are a few more benefits of SEO for drug treatment and rehab centers:

    • Better rankings and increased visibility
  One of the key benefits of SEO is increased visibility of your website. With better rankings, you’ll benefit from increased organic traffic, leads, and more conversions. Many in-house SEO’s hired by recovery centers cannot perform at the same level as an experienced agency.
  
    • Higher authority through link building
  Your site’s authority is one of the key ranking factors. Authority is determined by the number and quality of backlinks pointing to your site from other authority sites on the Internet. For instance, if your website has links from news and other high authority websites, Google considers your site as another authoritative source and will reward you with better rankings. However, in the face of recent Google updates, the quality of backlinks that you have matters more than quantity. For instance, 10 high-quality links have a higher backlink value than 100 links from low-quality websites.

    • SEO helps to improve your site’s user experience.
  Improving your website’s content is a key SEO factor in your marketing plan. Your content strategy should include relevant graphics and a high-quality design with faster and more efficient page loads. Great content benefits you in two ways. It gives your visitors a better user experience with faster page loads and valuable, relevant information, and secondly, it makes search engines rank your website higher in SERPs.

  Popular search engines such as Google have complex algorithms that can detect the visitor’s behavior on your addiction treatment and rehab site. If potential clients are leaving immediately after they land on your site, Google will drop your ranking on search results, but if your site is delivering valuable content and better user experience, you’ll be rewarded with higher rankings. When you improve your website’s content, you’ll make it rank higher in search results and generate more leads from organic traffic.

  Generating Leads from Pay Per Click and Pay Per Call Ads
  The fastest way to generate leads for your alcohol and drug treatment center is through paid search or paid calls. With paid search, your site will appear at the top of SERPs for relevant keywords in just a few days. PPC ads are very effective for most industries but using them to drive rehab center leads presents a few challenges. For instance, Google Adwords prohibits advertisements for drugs or alcohol which means, even though you are not promoting the use of drugs or alcohol, you’ll have to be very careful on how you use the two terms in your ads.

  With Pay Per Call, you get instant calls from our ads, so assuring you’re targeting good, relative terms is important, especially if you only take PPO insurance or out-of-pocket payments. This make it a harder target as it requires that your addict has one of the better insurance plans, or that he or his family will cover the costs out of pocket, and not all addicts are wealthy.

  The sensitive nature of addiction treatment services means that you cannot use remarketing strategies to follow people who’d previously visited your site as you would in other industries. Understandably, potential clients would not want to see your rehab ads everywhere they go online. Another key challenge you expect to encounter with rehab PPC ads are the high cost of ads in this category. Drug abuse treatment and rehab terms are in one of the most competitive industries with high bids for the best keywords. It’s common to pay $30 to $80 per click for most keywords. However, high competition proves that PPC not only works but delivers qualified leads as well. Using Pay Per Call can help turn these clicks to instant calls to your admissions or help center.

  Here are a few ways to ensure that your clicks convert to leads for the best return on investment (ROI):

  Build a mobile friendly site
  Research shows that 49% of drug and alcohol rehab center searches are done via mobile devices. 33% of mobile searches result in an appointment. So make sure you give them the ability to click to call from your mobile site.

  These statistics go to show how important it’s to make your website mobile friendly. Due to the sensitive nature of drug and alcohol abuse treatment, most patients find it easier to schedule an appointment on their mobile devices than desktop platforms. This means that mobile ads convert better but does your website provide good mobile experience? Is it easy for potential clients to click and call your facility straight from their smartphones or tablets?

  Ensure that prospects can click to call straight from the mobile advertisement. More importantly, keep track of your mobile PPC stats and analytics to determine your ads performance.

  Create relevant and compelling ads
  Ad relevancy is critical in PPC, especially with Google Adwords. You need to pay special attention to the keywords you use and ensure that they are both relevant and compelling to the visitors. Have the keywords in your ad’s title and body. If you analyze most rehab ads, you’ll notice that they include words like “rehab” and “drugs” in the ad copy to ensure relevancy. Strive to look for better keywords than the rest to reach an even wider audience at a lower rate.

  It is often difficult to create compelling ads with the tight character limit allowed by Adwords and other PPC companies. The trick is to be as concise as possible. You can also use Google Ad Extensions to get more online real estate to promote your treatment center. Take advantage of other options such as Call Extensions, Sitelink Extensions, and Location Extensions to get the most out of your PPC campaigns. All these elements can help to give you lower costs for each click and higher click through rates.

  Create Direct Landing Pages
  Attention spans are naturally short, and people easily get distracted. If an internet user searches for a specific topic and lands on a page that is too generalized or is not related to the keyword they searched for, then they’ll naturally disconnect, click the back button and probably go to your competitor’s page. Ensure that your landing page has information relevant to what the user is searching for. If your ad is targeting people seeking for alcohol addiction treatment, create a landing page specifically for alcohol abuse treatment rather than a page with generalized substance abuse treatment. Create specific pages for specific groups such as teenagers, men or women. Create relevant landing pages to avoid disconnects which could potentially hurt your ROI.

  Geotargeting
  Ensure that your ads are geo-targeted. People will always want to check into a rehab facility in their locality. Your ad copy should be designed to reach out to your local traffic for the best results. You can include the location in your ad copy or use location extensions. Geotargeting improves your ads relevancy and visibility to potential clients searching for treatment services with a local keyword. The more people who’ll see your ad, the more leads you are likely to generate.

  Conclusion
  When done properly, Pay Per Call, SEO and PPC will provide effective ways of reaching out to potential clients seeking for drug and alcohol treatment services. However, to ensure that you are generating qualified leads instead of throwing money down the drain, you need to work on your landing pages. If considering Pay Per Call, then you will get instant calls to your center.

  Pay close attention to your Call to Actions (CTAs). Put your contact phone numbers in multiple locations and ensure that you have contact forms on each page. Include Live Chat in your pages with active staff ready to handle any question that the potential clients may have. All these lead generation elements can be monitored and tracked to determine how good or poorly your campaign is doing.

  With the help of a good digital marketing agency, you can monitor the ROI of each campaign and make the necessary adjustments to drive more leads to your treatment facility.

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