3 replies to this topic

[cdruler]

So we have a potential client who is having some trouble with a website that is basically slandering them. Their main problem is that the companies website shows up in first and second on most engines, but then the negative website shows up right below them. While they handle the legal side of the situation they wanted to know what we could do from an SEO standpoint in order to help them out. Since they are both on page 1 this tends to cause a problem because we can't just out distance the negative site.

However so far here are some ideas we have:

Create a community site that is on a separate domain/server that will deal specifically with helping clients and what the company has done to help dissatisfied customers.

Do massive press releases from a positive PR standpoint in order to get back links and attention pointed at what the company is doing right.

Setup the customer relations section of the website as a sub-domain to be ranked separately.

Use the community site and sub-domains, and other sites with articles to push the other site off of the main page.

Have some of the higher ups start up a company blog specifically dealing with their PR related issues and how they plan to solve them.

All of this with the purpose of creating a positive PR outlook and to try to push the other link off of the front page not to mention possibly discredit them by surrounding the complaint site with tons of positive PR that makes people wonder why the complaint site would stay up in the face of all the company is doing in order to fix its problems.

Can you guys think of any other options in this scenario, or have you dealt with something like this before?

[Bernard]

Publish testimonials from happy clients on the corp. site.

It's important for folks to see that there are lots of happy customers. It puts the lone angry one in better perspective.

[qwerty]

I agree with Bernard, and with most of the ideas you've listed, but I don't think the goal is realistic. If the negative website has a decent number of links and pages -- that is, if it's significantly more than just a "don't buy from these guys" page I think it's highly unlikely you're going to push it off the first page no matter how many new domains you create.

The blogs and the community site will help you improve the image of the company and counter the image the complainer is trying to put out, but it won't make him disappear. Assuming the client has a real libel case against them, I expect that will move the site out of sight much faster than SEO efforts would.

[Randy]

The very first thing I would do is sort out who their hosting company is and approach them very matter-of-factly. Get beyond the first line and speak to someone who can actually make a decision.

Let them know that Legal is already fully engaged and that all of the above, including the host, will be listed as defendants should it ever gets Suit to stage.