Today’s guest post is written by Sean McGinnis.

Online reputation management (ORM) is most usually brought front and center when an executive, professional, or brand notices an unflattering item on the first page of a search result.

In reality, it should be carefully managed before you get to that point, but it’s fairly typical people don’t pay attention to it until it becomes a necessity.

ORM is a semi-specialized niche within search engine optimization; the goal of which is to gain control of the first page of search results.

As you’ll see, this discipline goes well beyond SEO to include aspects of PR and external communication, blogging, copywriting, and social media.

I’ve summarized below a list of steps to take when embarking on an online reputation management campaign. (more…)