In today’s search-driven world, people no longer consult books or magazines or even their friends to find the answers they seek – they go directly to their favorite search engine. Whether it is Google, Bing or Yahoo, each search engine has its own algorithms for pulling up search engine results, and the million-dollar question is, “How do I get to the top of the first page?” An entire industry has emerged in the past several years in order to answer this question including online reputation management and search engine optimization companies (SEO).

Scottsdale Reputation Management Firm Reputation Maxx has been at the forefront of the online reputation management industry since it exploded five years ago. In order to assist both individuals and businesses in having their websites and content be more visible, the brand expansion consultants at Reputation Maxx are revealing these five tips.

1. Appear on Guest Blogs
One of the best ways to draw traffic to one’s own site is to appear on another blog that already receives a heavy amount of traffic. Doing so provides many benefits including: bringing credibility to one’s name as well as the website, driving traffic to that website or content and providing awareness that the content and/or website even exists. The best candidates for appearing on guest blogs are those people or businesses who are experts in their industry or who have something interesting and unusual to share with the world.

2. Start a Google Suggested Word
Another thing that both businesses and individuals can do is to start tagging their name with another word or words in hopes that it becomes a Google or other search-suggested keyword.

“If you tag Glenda’s Cleaning Supplies with Baltimore enough times, eventually, Google and other search engines will show ‘Glenda’s Cleaning Supplies Baltimore’ when people type in ‘Glenda’s Cleaning Supplies,” said reputation expert and CEO of Reputation Maxx, Walter Halicki. “It’s all about using the phrase enough times in enough different places that Google picks up on it.”

3. Start a Blog
As mentioned before, blogs get a lot of web traffic. By posting quality and interesting content on a regular basis, people and businesses can get noticed on search engine results. The more people that visit the site and share links to the content on the site, the higher the blog’s page ranking will be. Even starting a WordPress blog can become a great asset.