When people think of search engine optimization (SEO) they often envision companies using the technique to make sure keywords rank high in search engine results pages to increase their sales. But the story of Andrew Sharman shows that using search engine optimization (SEO) can help everyday people take action when they are wronged.
Sharman, a UK native, recently took a vacation to Tunisia but says many of the things that were promised from travel agency Thomson were not delivered. Like any web-savvy 23-year-old, Sharman – who works for an online marketing firm – turned to the internet to voice his complaint after his letter to the company went nowhere.
Soon after writing a rant about the trip on his blog, Sharman says the post ranked number one in a search for "Thompson Tunisia trip" on Google.
He says that he told the company through Twitter that his blog was beating them on Google searches for a number of terms, which eventually got the attention of Thomson and led to the refund of £595 ($969) of a £900 ($1,466) trip.
Companies looking to avoid problems like this should be proactive about complaints and check where they rank for key terms regularly.
Writing for her IdeaHatching blog, Alicia Whalen, co-founder of Canadian-based marketing firm A Couple of Chicks Marketing, says companies should frequently Google themselves and see what’s being said about the firm on Twitter. With that knowledge they might be able to use search engine optimization (SEO) to prevent a problem from getting bigger.
