Online Reputation Management - It Pays to Keep a Good Reputation

Online reputation management begins with solid proactive crisis management and reverse SEO strategies.  A recent LinkedIn online survey about Online PR by Rostin Ventures brought a number of solid, insightful responses from respected professionals in our industry. The question: How important is SEO to Online Reputation and Brand Management for a company's Public Relations?

The survey responses were best expressed by Sarah Skerik, Vice President of Social Media at PR Newswire: "The role [search engines] play in influencing opinion is undeniable. [They] are the starting point for most Internet users, and surveys tell us that most journalists start story research with search. The results at the top of the search results page play a powerful role in shaping behavior and surfacing commentary from the social layer."

Author Victoria Ipri added: "The real breaking news is what people are talking about right now, today. This is the same information you’ll find at the top of today’s search engine rankings. And this is precisely where SEO, combined with online reputation management, plays a vital role."

Actions speak louder than words. When faced with a negative article or comment on the web, the best approach is an objective, tactful response to the situation. Remember, Internet content possesses longevity, and your company's positive and ongoing engagement in the worldwide community is a surefire safety net should any negative publicity knock on your door.

The strongest strategy behind online reputation management begins with proactive public relations before a negative event occurs.  How is your company proactively managing its public relations and brand strategy within search engine results pages? That's where Rostin Ventures comes in, providing professional, well-written, insightful content for Online PR, Reputation Management and Crisis Management strategies.

 

Best Practices in Reverse SEO Consulting for Brand Management

Why do companies need online reputation management? Julie Ross, President of Rostin Ventures notes recent SEO industry news,"After the New York Times story about black-hat SEO tactics for JCPenney broke on February 12th, more attention than ever has been directed toward SEO companies' practices in helping their clients' websites climb to the top of the search engines. The Times asked an SEO expert to research why JCPenney held ultra-high online rankings for nearly every category, who later revealed that literally hundreds of unrelated backlinks to irrelevant sites had been deployed to pull JCPenney.com to the top.

Google responded to the Times story by severely penalizing JCPenney's site, and subsequently changed their search engine algorithm. Although the improved Google algorithm initially affected 11.8% of the queries, its changes reward websites with high-quality, original content and links to related content -- and reduce the rankings of poor-quality sites with unrelated backlinks generated by link farms. This is great news for Rostin Ventures' clients, because that's precisely what we do: As part of our White-Hat strategy for bringing relevance and high online visibility for our clients, we produce quality online content and blogs with industry-related content that links to other industry-relevant sites."

Twenty years ago, negative press rarely gained traction. If a disgruntled customer or an irritated employee wanted to vent their frustrations, they were limited to writing letters to newspapers and magazines. Both were forgotten by the time new editions hit the store shelves. The Internet changed everything.

Today, social media profiles, blog and forum posts, and entire websites devoted to publishing negative commentary about others, remain online. They gain traction in Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and Bing, Facebook, Wordpress, Blogger and thousands of other social platforms and online sites. Once they do, they can gain momentum in your market. This is the core reason to maintain an online reputation management strategy.

By vigilantly monitoring every mention of your company’s name, you can identify issues that threaten to tarnish your reputation. If you discover a public relations disaster in the making, you can immediately respond. You might decide to open a dialogue to present the facts. Or, you might launch a reverse SEO campaign to remove bad press from the search engines. The goal of online reputation management is to prevent negative commentary from gaining momentum.

There has never been a greater need for using best practices in SEO for online reputation management. Angry customers, annoyed employees, and even disingenuous competitors can spread damaging rumors about you and your company with a few clicks. If the bad publicity gains traction in the search engines, it can spread quickly. Online reputation management is the most effective solution for controlling the message.

The question is, are you using online reputation management through effective SEO consulting practices? Others on Linked In answered the question. 

How important is SEO to Online Reputation and Brand Management in Public Relations Online?

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Five Questions to Ask Your SEO Consulting Firm

Hiring a SEO consulting firm can be tricky, especially if you don't understand the business. A lot of firms will promise certain things that may be impossible to achieve. Do some homework and ask around to ensure you are getting the best services, not just the cheapest. You want to make sure that your price matches your results and your desires match the value the SEO consulting firm promises.

Here are five questions to ask a potential SEO consulting firm before you hire them.

1) What has your success rate been with other clients? Reputation is one of the most reliable factors in regards to service. If an SEO consulting firm has done a great job for 10 clients, they will usually do well for 20, 50, or 100. It is better to trust results from previous clients and their successes. If an SEO consulting firm is willing to offer testimonials from previous clients, they are confident in their abilities.

2) Where does your own website rank? When looking for the answer to this question beware of their tactics. If an SEO consulting firm cannot rank high with their own site, how can they raise your rankings? That is not to say they do not know their own business, but you have to wonder why "the shoe maker's children don't have their own shoes."

3) What guarantees can you make? This will be a large factor in your decision. We all love guarantees, especially when we are spending hard earned money. However, there are no guarantees in this particular business. There are too many variables that can guarantee a top ranking for your company. So a good SEO consulting firm should answer with "none," a bad one will tell you whatever you want to hear.

That's because organic rankings take time to achieve, because they are constantly changing. Not only are there other companies and competitors who are trying to achieve a top ranking, but Google is constantly changing its search algorithm. So even if you did everything right this week, it could all change next week, through no fault of the SEO consulting firm. So make sure your firm doesn't promise a top page ranking, or you'll be left with broken promises and no money.

4) How will you measure our success? Success is the driving force, right? So we must know how to measure it. How will you even define success? Is it sales? Visits to the page? Time on the page? For a business site, the answer should always be sales and ROI. But even that has to be decided on. How much is not enough versus just right? It is important that your SEO consulting firm measures success the same way you do. You don’t want to be left disappointed, so make sure this is something you discuss early in conversation. It is also important that your goals and expectations are even achievable for your SEO consulting firm. Remember that these things take time — months, usually — and you're not going to see a positive ROI after a few weeks.

5) Do I need to make changes to my website? The answer is yes, yes, yes. How do you expect results if you keep trying the same tactics that never work? If your search engine optimization was perfect, you would have top page rankings and big sales already, and you wouldn't be talking to an SEO consulting firm. But since you're reading this article, I'm guessing that's not the case. Remember, Google even changes things from week to week, so what worked last year won't work this year. So, be prepared to change your website. If your SEO consulting firm says no, you don't, you might want to reconsider your choice.

Reverse SEO Strategy to Manage Your Online Reputation

Reverse SEO is a necessity in public relations online, given the recent search engine integration of social media comments within search engine results pages. Reverse SEO is an online reputation management (ORM) strategy. It protects companies and notable individuals from negative publicity and rumors that can circulate quickly online. Left unattended, this bad press can find a permanent home within the natural listings of the search engines.

Blogs, forums, and social networking sites have given millions of people the ability to publish their thoughts on a global stage. What's more, they can do so instantly and anonymously. Many companies have discovered that these community-based platforms can attract a groundswell of attention. If bad press gains momentum on such sites, reverse SEO becomes the only cost-effective way to control it in the search engines.

The search engines have given social media and community sites a bump in ranking authority. These sites tend to rank well in Google, Yahoo, and to a lesser extent, Bing. If a company or individual becomes the target of false rumors or negative publicity posted on these sites, the damage to online reputation can be substantial.

Therefore, a growing number of companies are launching reverse search engine optimization campaigns. Reverse SEO can push the bad press off the first page of search listings. Because few people explore past the first page, few will see the negative publicity.

Reverse SEO is an effective strategy for suppressing negative publicity about a company within the search results. However, once the bad press takes root, it begins to cement its position. As a result, it become more difficult to remove.

The grounded information is based on the age and number of inbound links. The longer a page stays within the index, the more authority it receives from the search engine. Meanwhile, the more exposure it receives, the more inbound links it attracts. Those links further strengthen its position. Reverse SEO techniques can push negative publicity from the first page of organic listings. But, it requires time and effort to knock entrenched pages from their ranking.

It is easier than ever for embittered employees, irritated customers, and deceitful competitors to post bad press online. If the sites on which they publish their thoughts gain traction in Google, Yahoo, and Bing, it will become more difficult to remove them. Public Relations Experts are incorporating Reverse SEO into campaign strategy to prevent negative publicity in search engines.

Reverse SEO delivers lasting results and strengthens with time. It is a key component in any online reputation management program. Given the potential exposure, it is arguably one of the most valuable.

Reverse SEO: What are they reading about you in search?