5 replies to this topic

[htown]

First let me just say that I am not an SEO and know just enough about to know that this guy may be in for some bumpy roads ahead. I have a client that has some lingering bad press on a .GOV site that shows up as 2nd and 3rd in a lot of the search terms. The most important one being the name of the company, [removed]. He feels like he is loosing lots and lots of money over this and is looking for a solution to bury the bad press that comes up on a SERPS page. I was already told by another SEO that it would almost be impossible to bury the .GOV pages and that he would probably have better luck trying to call that department of the government and to see if he could have it removed.

Short of changing the name of their company, is there anything else that someone could suggest?


Thanks,
Houston

[nethy]

First of all (this is something you can do immediately to address the issue with your client) I would recomend you go to you client's site's analytics and find out how much traffic he is getting from the search terms that bring up the bad press in the SERP.

Since the company site comes up first, the number of visitors arriving from these SERPs is probably indicative (and larger) of the number of people seeing the 'bad press' in some way. Then try to assessthe likelihood that a searcher searchingforthese terms will click, browse andregisterthat this iseven bad press. This is a subjective matter but it is likely that what seems like scathing bad press is something that the average searcher would not even register one way or another.

It is possible that only those who are actually searching for bad press will actaully see it.

Your best bet is obviously having the content removed. If that fails it is important to note one thing. The online world makes it easier for people to publish & find bad press. It is very difficult to stop.

'Reputation management' in this context usually consists of trying to have the offending SERP listings replaced with prefereable ones driving down the bad press. This is not always possible or successful. It is not possible to stop bad press entirely from surfacing. Even if you do have reasonable success (say you succeed in adding 5 SERP listings that are benign aheadof the offending material), the searchers that are looking for bad press or researching thecompany in depth will probably still come across it.

[Randy]

What you're looking for is called Reputation Management or Brand Management. It's a special sector of SEO.

If the SERP in question only appears during searches for the company name it's usually not going to be very competitive, which usually means it's not going to be nearly as difficult to move the bad press farther down the SERPs. As a general rules the more generic the search, the more competitive it's giong to be and the harder it's going to be to accomplish. It's just a matter of getting some good press at quality locations so that those slot in above the bad press.

On the other hand, if the bad press is true...

[cline]

I just got one of these projects today. A consumer complaint blog entry has shown up in #5 on Google for the client's brand name. Project objective is to get them off page 1. What we're doing is link building for other sites in the results to move them up, and looking to create some content with other site owners that we think could get higher rankings.

Interestingly, the site in question runs Adsense, the client's ads appear on it, and so we actually have a good idea about how many people see that page. Hardly any. But the client is hugely upset by the situation and is committed to spending some serious $ to bury that site in the SERPs.

[Hyperformance]

Hey Htown and everyone else -

I recommend building some testimonial pages on your site as well as from other URL's if you are able. Done properly, they will not only move the bad press down in the serps, but it also helps offset the minds of all who DO see the negative page with a few pages (or links) of overwhelmingly positive exposure right in front of them as well.

You could also consider an online rebuttal, and face the music straight-up - this goes a long way with prospects as well... it's called honesty. I know, but you would be surprised.

I have been able to have some others removed altogether - and those spending big money have hopefully tried this first -

There is something that was not made right according to this person - and rarely have I found that once that is known, it could be a cheaper and a more complete solution (like the offended party removing the page completely...) or at least ammending their page with the statements or actions of how hard you (the Merchant) tried to make it right - even after all this time (if a great deal of time has passed since the original event). End all, your firm did everything you could to please THAT customer, and then there is nothing wrong with YOU saying so online (your honesty page). Most people have run into a disgruntled buyer or person in their life, and we know some just cannot be made happy, no matter what you do or propose.

Hope this helps everyone who finds themselves trying to combat negative material online.

- Scott

[nethy]

I just got one of these projects today. A consumer complaint blog entry has shown up in #5 on Google for the client's brand name. Project objective is to get them off page 1. What we're doing is link building for other sites in the results to move them up, and looking to create some content with other site owners that we think could get higher rankings.

I always wonder about this sort of issue. Who is likely to see the bad press in such contexts. I mean imagine a secenario where you are searching for the co. name & have come accross the bad press. Way I see it, it's often going to be a 'i want to contact them' search, or a 'I want to returnto that site' search, or a 'researching' search.
In the first two cases, your really worried about the snippet. If the snippet is bad news,you'll get incedental exposure. The last kind (the most dangerous) will probably not be detered by a p. 2 listing, especially if there are several. If someone is looking for critical reviews, they'll find them .