Search engine optimization is all about getting yourself as high as possible in the SERP’s. Most people agree on that philosophy. What happens when you get to the top but the next 10 listings are for pages that heavily criticize your business?

A post by Jordan McCollum on Small Business Newz made for interesting reading. She highlighted an article from the Washington Post-owned Internet magazine, Slate, on search engine optimization and reputation management.

It seems one business had the quandary I mentioned in the first paragraph. Number one listing in Google followed by two listing that were highly critical of their site. Could search engine optimization help this web site. Jordan argues that what was needed was reputation management - and it seems - plenty of it.

The reality is that this business has probably let the proverbial horse bolt. I doubt whether reputation management could help out. Search engine optimization of new pages may eventually drive the two negative listings to page two of the SERP’s.

What I found interesting is that the comparison is done on the business name. These days, people who know the business name are more likely to enter that name directly into the URL bar of their browser. If they are going to do a search, then they will search on terms related to the business. If your search engine optimization programs are up to scratch then hopefully you will appear on page one of the SERP’s.

The site where the complaint about this business were made would be highly unlikely to have a search engine optimization program targeting those same keywords. Their business and keyword targets would be directed more towards those wanting to write a complaint about any business.

Reputation management needs careful attention before it gets as bad as this example. Search engine optimization can only do so much. However, sometimes you need to be looking at what is most important. The case highlighted needs some desperate reputation management strategies to improve their name and their image. In the mean time, the search engine optimization strategies need to continue to target the terms that people will actually use to search for businesses of this nature.

And why shouldn’t it be? Reputation Management has been around for many years in the bricks and mortar world, trading under the name of ‘Public Relations Consultants’. Online reputation management can be done in many different ways, public relations being one of the major components through the use of social sites, forums, blogs and press releases.

The issue surrounding reputation management online is whether or not it is ethical to use search engine optimization techniques to out rank negative comments or campaigns. By its definition, you should not always need to use these strategies if your reputation management strategies have been effective from day one. Going into overdrive when you detect a problem is like the proverbial bolting horse and the gate. Keep the gate shut and the horse wont bolt.

Reputations can be tarnished in many different ways. You may find your image or that of your product the subject of negative gossip throughout forums or through social media sites. You may find a well respected individual delivering negative statements through their blogs or websites. If they rank well then these comments may well appear on the first page of search results pages. Do you now commence a reputation management campaign to reverse or hide any negative impact?

I believe the question should be moot. Online reputation management should, in the first instance, be about developing a positive online image. If this is done successfully you are halfway to solving any negative publicity if it ever arises. If you have built credibility and trust, any statements made in response to negative publicity should be well received.

Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim, in his post reporting on BusinessWeek’s acceptance of reputation management as an industry, admitted that:

“The majority of inquiries that I get are from people who are looking to do a cover-up,……”

Andy went on to say:

“…..They’re not necessarily interested in trying to fix the problem. They just want to make sure that other people can’t find it.”

If you have developed a strong image and a good reputation, you are going to be heard when you deliver your response. If there is a problem with a product then it is your actions that should be examined. Do you do the right thing, perhaps recall the product and offer refunds or replacements. Or do you undertake a black hat reputation management campaign to try and bury the problem - invariably failing and making the situation worse.

I think the issues have become blurred. Reputation management is simply a form of online public relations. Trying to cover up problems with a product is unethical whether you use print media, search engine manipulation or any other media. Perhaps the biggest problem in this debate is not whether or not reputation management is ethical, it should be whether or not we call it ‘reputation management’ or give it its real name, ‘online public relations’ since this is what the work involves. Yes, search engine optimization strategies are used as part of these activities but is this any different to using radio, TV or print media to promote your bricks and mortar business? I think not.

Marketing, public relations or online reputation management they all strive to achieve the same goal and are ethical activities. Covering up a problem is the unethical activity whether it is through white hat or black hat reputation management activities. Oh and by the way, to add my two cents to the argument; online reputation management should be recognized as an ethical industry, at least, as ethical as the offline public relations industry.

Andy Beal is perhaps the foremost authority on reputation management online. He’s real big on reputation monitoring and I agree that it is very important. But I also believe, and I’m sure Andy does too, that taking a proactive approach to managing your online reputation before you need to is absolutely essential today. But how do you do that?

This is what I suggest for reputation management on your company, your name, your brands, and the other items Andy Beal says you should be monitoring;

1. First, subscribe to Google Alerts for every term that you want to monitor
2. Secondly, start at least one blog. You may need several blogs. You might want a company blog for your company then a personal blog for your name. You could also want a separate blog for each of your brands. In other words, if you are a company that manufactures men’s clothing and you have three main branding lines then you might want a blog for each branding line of clothing.
3. Social bookmarking is becoming a huge marketing tool. You should social bookmark every piece of content you produce and you should bookmark it in as many places as you can. Many social bookmarking sites appear in the SERPs for key search terms. You also get link juice for some of your bookmarks. Those links can serve to push your own content up in the search rankings, but even if they don’t then your content in the social bookmarking sites that you use could appear in the SERPs for your key terms. All you have to do is have your positive image outrank the negative things that people are saying about you. Get enough of them and the negative can’t rise to the top.
4. Article marketing is also a big help in getting your name distributed online. Write articles in your name, mention your company in your resource box, and link to your URLs. It works.

There are other avenues of online marketing and search engine optimization. The key is to get your name out in as many places as you can over time. Age is a big factor online. The more your name appears across the web over time then the more likely you are to maintain a positive image. Keep monitoring, keep producing, and keep on top of your reputation because once it goes out the window then it’s hard to get it back.

There has never been a better lesson in reputation management than that highlighted by the recent demise of Bear Stearns. Could they have been saved? We will never know. The one thing that is becoming clear is the lack of effective reputation management strategies to overcome any negative publicity.

Many business houses seem to feel that they are immune to any negative publicity or, at worst, they will only suffer minor bruises when a situation arises. Bear Stearns are not the only company to suffer from a negative rumor that became viral and they wont be the last.

I wont comment on the Bear Stearns strategy itself, that has been done to death already. Rather, I think this serves as a timely reminder to check our own reputation management strategies, if indeed they exist. Size has become irrelevant. Any business, be it online or offline, can potentially be crippled by a few careless words, or the inability to negate a damaging rumor.

Online businesses have a plethora of channels including social media sites, forums and blogs where they can develop trust and respect. When a negative story appears, these same channels can then be used to counter some of that negativity.

Whilst Bear Stearns was a complex issue, any company caught in this tide of negativity needs to be able to respond quickly, over a broad area and in such a way that every negative issue is addressed in a manner to restore confidence, and, ultimately, their reputation.

As business, website owner or blogger, have you thought about your search engine reputation and how to (a) manage and develop it now and (b) counter any negative attacks when they occur?

Reputation management is often but aside as something to think about later - until it’s too late. Plan now, don’t score an F in search engine reputation management when good planning can see you earn an A+ — and so keep your business.

I kept an eye on the SEMMYs to see if I might have magically been teleported from unknown status to finalist, but to no avail. I wasn’t there.

Nevertheless, there is some great material that made the finalists of the newborn SEMMY awards. In the SEO category, you have the following content titles:

• “Search Engine Ranking Factors Version 2″ by Rand Fishkin
• “Five Reasons To Aim Low When You’re Just Learning SEO” by Jennifer Laycock
• “Advanced Keyword Research - The power of understanding your visitors” by Hamlet Batista
• “SEO Linking Gotchas Even The SEOs Make” by Andy Beard
• “Sculpting Your PageRank For Maximum SEO Impact” by Stephan Spencer

In the Online Marketing/General category, the following titles were selected as finalists:

• “17 New Rules For Successful E-Commerce Websites” by Rand Fishkin
• “Why Testimonials Do (And Don’t) Work” by Holly Buchanan
• “How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away” by Bryan Eisenberg
• “See With Web Designer Eyes - 9 Evident Errors” by Miriam Ellis
• “58 of the World’s Greatest Offers (4 Part Series)” by Dean Rieck
• “5 Things People Want To See Before The Sale” by Mason Hipp

In the Search Tech category, the finalists are:

• “What To Look For In A SEO Friendly E-Commerce Application” by David Wallace
• “Which Is Better For SEO: Shared Or Dedicated IPs” by Lisa Barone
• “When Choosing An eCommerce System, Remember The Search Engines” by Bill Slawski

Reputation Management finalists include:

• “Buzz Monitoring: 26 Free Tools You Must Have” by Andy Beal
• “Own Your Google Reputation With These Ten Suggestions” by Andy Beal
• “Using Social Media To Help Manage Online Reputation” by David Wallace

The Link Building finalists are:

• “Andy Hagans’ Ultimate Guide To Linkbaiting And Social Media Marketing” by Andy Hagan
• “The Paid Links Economy” by Philipp Lenssen
• “The Relevant Link Myth” by Michael Martinez
• “Revisiting Your Linking Strategies For A Link Health Check” by Jennifer Slegg
• “Help! I’m New, I Need Links, What Can I Do?” by Debra Mastaler
• “Revealing Your Competitor’s FULL External Relevance Profile - One Of My Best Kept Secrets” by Hamlet Batista

This is just a small sampling of the articles available in the SEMMY awards. You’re encouraged to vote on them, evidently. It looks like users like you and me will be picking the winners. There are real gems here, I must admit. Enjoy! Now I’ve got a lot of reading to do.

Yesterday, I posted a post on reputation management. I just wanted to follow that up with a few pointers on actual delivery of a reputation management strategy:

• First, reputation management online is not for the light hearted. People can and will say nasty things about you. So what do you when it happens?
• Don’t retaliate. Seriously. Whether in a forum or a blog, think about it before you send that post and make yourself look like a wacko.
• Before going off the deep end, try asking a clarifying question to make sure you understood the post. Sometimes people say things in an innocent manner meaning no harm, but it just comes out wrong. That happens in person and it happens online too.
• If you’re sure that someone is out to destroy your reputation and you feel their allegations are out of line, especially if they are making false allegations or untrue assertions about you, then engage in a little bit of positive reputation management by starting a blog
• Don’t post negative comments about the other person on your blog
• Focus on the good things about you or your company that you want potential customers to know
• Also be sure to use the same keywords that your adversaries are using to destroy your reputation - the goal is to push their negative posts off the front page of the search engines and replace them with positive posts from you
• Your own domain name is better than a blog on a free blog host

The primary idea behind reputation management is to push negative comments about you down in the search engine rankings and push your own, or someone else’s, positive comments about you. Use all of the tools at your disposal, including social bookmarking and social networking, RSS, and other tools to disseminate positive information about you without making negative comments about the other party. If you keep your head about you then you can survive unscathed. It really isn’t too hard.

Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.

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If you’ve been in business on the Internet for very long you’ve likely run into a flame war or a battle of words on a forum. You’ve probably had someone try to ruin your reputation by making comments about you or blogging about you in some fashion. It happens.

In such cases, what do you do? Well, you to think through a reputation management strategy because if it hasn’t happened to you yet it probably will at some point.

Not all such cases are a truly serious matter, of course. Maybe you have professionals within your industry who disagree with a certain strategy of your as I have. Such cases may not be a matter of ethics, just a difference in professional philosophy. Such instances could maintain a level of professional civility and you won’t need to take drastic measures. All you’ll need to do is be able to present your point of view effectively in a professional manner so that others, including those who disagree with you, can still respect your character though they may not agree with your philosophy or tactics.

In other situations, however, you may need to take more drastic measures. I have recently run into some friends who are being attacked through a blog hosted on a free blog host by a former employee who is acting anonymously. So far, no real damage has been done, but this former employee has managed to successfully get front page Google rankings for my friend’s name. That’s when a little creative reputation management can come into play.

Reputation management can come in handy and you can successfully manage a positive image of yourself without attacking the other party. It’s really an SEO game. You identify the keywords and phrases that your nemesis is using against you and you blog or submit articles on those topics and using those keywords such that you push the “negative” posts about you down in the rankings while your own contributions rise higher. Depending on the persistence of your adversary, this game could continue for a while or they may tire and leave well enough alone if it takes too much energy. There are, however, a few other things you can do help protect your reputation:

• Report your adversary to their ISP
• Send out notices to their advertisers that they are harassing you (be professional and honest)
• If the blog is hosted on a free blog host like Blogspot, you can flag it with one click

Be sure to sign up for Google Alerts for your name and URLs so that you can monitor and stay on top of activity that is associated with your reputation. Be vigilant in stopping abuse of this kind, but be professional. Most people online are ethical and friendly, but a few bad apples will spoil the bunch.

Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.

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