Take a look at a Google search results page. It's not just a listing of links. Consider it a digital portrait of a topic, idea, or keyword being searched. And how well is your brand illustrated in that digital portrait?

Blake Cahill, senior vice president of search engine optimization firm Visible Technologies, calls it "owning your namespace." He says that companies should think of a search engine strategy as more than just driving traffic to a website, and look at how it fits into the larger concept of reputation management.

According to Cahill, 90 percent of users only look at the first page of search results. If a company's website is fighting for placement against negative listings or irrelevant matches, it's hard to get noticed and stand out as a leading brand or expert within an industry. "Traditional SEO doesn't work if nine out of 10 search results are unfavorable commentary," Cahill says. "It can destroy brand reputation. The online space is so important, not only from a sales and click-through perspective, but also from a 'what do our results really look like in the search engine' perspective."

Take Starbucks, for example. A Google search puts the company homepage, news results, and Wikipedia entry as the top three results, but the fourth link goes to a non-sanctioned gossip site where baristas and other employees vent about poor experiences. In order to "own its namespace," Cahill suggests that companies like Starbucks create content and optimize their pages to drive negative links below the positive ones, deep into the search result abyss.

He defines positive content as anything that won't drive searchers to a competitor -- financial results, product reviews, community service activities, etc. "Positive content can be different for every company."

One company using search for proactive reputation building is Vumber, a start-up firm that offers multiple virtual phone numbers for one phone. The company considers its search engine optimization strategy a key part of its larger marketing efforts.

"A lot of marketing is about increasing public awareness of your business," says Richard Shaer, marketing director at Vumber. "We don't have the brand recognition of larger companies. Good website rankings give us the best chance to make a good first impression to potential customers." He adds that a comprehensive "namespace" featuring numerous links and mentions of a company can help drive positive word of mouth, as people associate the company with the keyword or phrase being searched.

Vumber only recently began its search strategy, and has taken the first step to optimize its site with keywords, alt tags, and relevant content. "We're seeing improvement and hope to see more," Shaer says. Its next steps are to incorporate more social media content, which tends to produce higher search results because of its timeliness and viral nature.

This holistic view of search is a trend that Visible Technologies' Cahill has seen evolve. "We're seeing a lot more integration at the enterprise level when it comes to search strategy. It crosses a lot of different departments, like brand marketing, e-commerce, public relations, and IT."

And as bloggers and other third parties become notable online, they can rank higher than company sites. This is why Cahill says it's important for companies to interact and proactively engage with these people -- not only for search engine rankings, but also for overall reputation management. "Wikis, blogs, consumer reviews -- all of that comes back as search results," Cahill says. "Brands should listen to and interact with customers…. Companies need to become more strategic in their approach to search and online customer interaction, and look at the concepts from an ongoing perspective."