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What is "Online Reputation Management" (ORM)?

Online reputation management involves managing the search engine results and protecting your company’s brand reputation from negative exposure online. This is very crucial since buying decisions are influenced by what is found on the web. Simply, an ORM strategy combines traditional marketing and public relations with search engine marketing.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost each day because of false, erroneous or misleading search engine results. Whether the negative listings are from a competitor, a news site, or a message board, the impact can be financially challenging at best and devastating at worst.

Visibility and high rankings for good publicity are the ultimate goals, which will in turn push bad publicity down the search engine listings and out of public view. Keep in mind that online searchers rarely view more than 2 pages of search engine results for any search. Online reputation management enables you to protect and manage your reputation and brand from becoming actively involved in the outcome of negative publicity online.

Why is ORM Important for Businesses in Today's Environment

As discussed, consumers use search engines to gather information. When they undertake a search for your company name or brand, your hope is that your own website is high up on the search results list. If your company name appears in the top 10 lists, hopefully your customers won’t be distracted by the other 9 listings.

Online customers searching for your company name will often look at all results provided not only your business website, but by review sites, discussion forums, etc. When their eyes skim down the list, what stands out about your company? Is it all good, relevant, up-to-date information? Are there any negative listings saying bad things about your brand or company? Are there sites with outdated information about your brand in the list? What are people saying about you on industry forums and blogs? People looking for your company in the search engine results will scan all this information.

People from all walks of life use search engines to research and gather information, so that they can make informative decisions. If the information they come across during a search relating to your brand is adverse, it can affect the decisions they make. Negative information can ultimately lead to problems in many areas including sales, investor relations, recruitment, financial, image and reputation. In other words - damage to your brand.

Domino's Pizza ORM Case Study

The below video attracted around 2 million viewers with many comments. This video was uploaded on YouTube by 2 employees of Domino’s Pizza showing themselves performing unsanitary acts while on the job. Domino’s Pizza employee (referred to as Michael) is seen spitting in food, putting cheese in his nose before placing it on a sandwich and rubbing a dish washing sponge on his nether regions.


To avoid such negative matters, an online reputation management control system is vital. ORM helps you maintain a fine reputation of your business, and an effective ORM requires three main processes.