Going back a few years, the internet was altogether very different from what it is today. With a negligible impact, its presence hardly mattered to the reputation of any individual or business and its revenue. However, the scenario has radically changed in the current times. The internet today has become so powerful, that it can make or break the reputation of any individual or business within minutes.

The negative links on the web are fatal and could kill the reputation of a brand/individual, therefore, affecting the popularity. One wrong move and Google search for a name could show some unfavorable content, requiring one to wonder how to quickly remove or push down these negative links from search results before it turns out to be a disaster. 

We have been managing online reputation for brands as well as individuals for years and have delivered more than 3000 successful Online Reputation Management (ORM) projects. With the experience of working on a number of Reputation Management projects, we have compiled the process of effectively suppressing/removing the negative links from search results. 

This post discusses the potential tactics that our team implements for brands and individuals who have derogatory and unwanted content in the search results on the internet.

Table of content:

• Suppressing negative links from Google Search Results
  Analyzing Links (Negative link analysis)
  Assessing Current Online Reputation
  Time Estimation
  Custom Strategy
  Content Development
  Executing ORM Strategy
  Building Digital Assets
• Removing Negative Links
• Monitoring Online Reputation
• Conclusion

Suppressing Negative Links from Google Search Results



1. Negative Links Analysis

The first step is to analyze all the negative links appearing in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). We conduct an extensive link analysis and check the domain authority and strength of these links as they are an important part of the search engine algorithm. Relevancy of the pages for the links also impacts the quality of the link and is an important factor in search rankings. We also check the TrustRank to separate the useful links out of all links and improve their ranking in SERPs.

2. Assessing Current Online Reputation

Determining the actual online reputation helps to check if the digital presence matches the reputation in the offline network and identify the strengths & weaknesses of the reputation. Assessing the complete online reputation will eventually help to create an integrated strategy for new profiles and existing profile updates.

3. Time Estimation

This is also an important step as it estimates the damage caused due to the negative results. The time estimation of pushing down the negative link depends on factors like:

• Current SERPs position
• Keyword density
• Content-type (User Generated Content or Admin Generated Content)
• Content-length
• Content language
• Country-specific 
• Website popularity
• Domain authority and nature of the negative links
• The popularity of search term(s)
• Existing digital assets and brand presence

Having said that, we see fruitful results in the initial days and most of our projects of removing/pushing the negative links are successfully completed within a few months.

We have covered all time estimation factors in another blog post, how much time it takes to remove negative links from top search pages?.

Also, remember this is an ongoing process that requires continued monitoring and creating positive content that can replace negative search results.

4. Custom Strategy for Personal and Brand Reputation Management

Reputation management of an individual and a brand might require different approaches to work efficiently.

• Factual Approach:

This approach is followed for the reputation management of brands as well as individuals. It involves building a reputation using the facts and content posted is based on the real identity of the brand/individual. This approach might be time and money consuming, however, is very helpful if one wants to be proactive for ORM.

• Fictional Approach:

 This approach is recommended & applied only for individuals who have negative links showing up for searches which include their name. We create random and multiple profiles of the individual with the same name and frequently post content citing his name. For individual ORM, this approach is cost-effective, gives instant results, and has long-term benefits.

5. Content Development

It is recommended to consistently create high-quality content that is search friendly. This builds a network of relevant & accurate content across the web which will start ranking higher in Google & other search engines when people search for your brand. 

This process not only pushes down negative Google results but also protects from any negative search results appearing in the future. This is actually a quite straightforward process and all that is required is patience and consistency. 

Creating positive content includes various activities like: 

• Creating blogs on high authority free blog-platforms like Medium, WordPress, Blogger,  and Tumblr.
• Optimizing the content for keywords.
• Guest blogging on high authority websites that are related to your line of work.
• Create powerful backlinks on top-quality blogs and news websites.



6. Executing ORM Strategy

Being a reputation management company, understanding the client’s business and their requirements is critical to ensure success. We take time to understand the full depth and breadth of our client’s requirements and build a comprehensive strategy to address the negative links. Leveraging years of experience and expertise, we develop a strategy that not only focuses to push negative links down but also on promoting the positive image of the brand. This is done by building digital assets that are achieved through business listings and social profiles.

7. Building Digital Assets

We focus to create and launch an asset-building campaign that will displace the damaging stories, comments, and articles. Asset building campaign can be executed in two ways:

• Business Listing:
  We submit the business details on listing websites for people to find the businesses easily. These sites are specially designed to help businesses get better exposure and reach their customers easily. Due to the high authority of these websites, your business can rank higher on search results. Popular business listing websites include:
  • Google My Business
  • Crunchbase
  • Yelp
  • Yellow Pages
  • Foursquare
  • Hotfrog

We select business listing websites to create your business profile on the basis of your location and nature of business.




• Social Profiles:
   Social profiles rank well in search results, and therefore, by not creating social profiles, you could miss out on a lot of searches. It is also advised to keep the posting and branding on social media consistent to build a lasting impression.
  Some top social media channels where we create social profiles to get maximum exposure on search engines are:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Removing Negative Links

Another approach is to completely remove the link from the internet which permanently dissociates it with your name, and makes sure the potential customers never see the link again. 

The process is quite effective, however, requires expertise in this domain. Since the owner of these links is someone else, which makes the process a bit more tricky. These links are in the control of someone else and are not as easy to remove as your own links. 

Below discussed are some ways that can prove beneficial in removing negative search links:

• 404 Error Page: 404 cases occur when a link is removed from the website but it is still appearing in the search results. You can enter the link in the Search Console and get it removed easily.
• Requesting Website’s Administrator: You can contact the webmaster where the negative content is published against your brand and request them to remove it. You will need to tell them how that negative content is hurting your business reputation and provide some evidence as to why these comments or reviews are baseless. Many times website admin rejects the request or asks for a huge amount of money for deleting the link.
  This approach is not recommended as it could backfire if the admin adds the request application into the same page which makes suppression of the page a more complicated task.
• Using Copyright Laws: You can request Google to remove the negative links by filling the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) form. Keep in mind that Google is strict when it comes to the removal of search results, so you should use it carefully. Include as much information as possible like why do you want to get it removed and what’s the reason.
• EU Privacy Removal Law: The law states that individuals have the right to ask for certain personal information relating to them to be removed from Google Search. One can submit a removal request, and then Google will balance the privacy rights of the individuals and distribution rights of others to decide whether to accept or decline the request.

Want to know if Google might remove something according to the above criteria?

Get Expert Advice

Monitoring Online Reputation

Monitoring the online reputation regularly provides insights required into what the customers and stakeholders are saying about you. It does not refrain people from writing negatively about you or your brand, but certainly minimizes the effect of unfavorable content. 

Below listed are some tools that can help you proactively monitor your online presence:

• Google Alerts: This is a free monitoring tool offered by Google. It sends notifications when new content is added for keywords that you have specified. As the tool does not always pick up on all the new reviews, it is suggested to use this tool in conjunction with other tools that look for new reviews.
• Social Mention: This tool monitors the whole web and picks up real-time social media search and analysis. It categorizes the results according to strength, sentiment, passion, and reach to help monitor and improve the brand’s reputation. All you have to do is type the name you would like to monitor online. 
• Brand Yourself: It is a reputation monitoring tool that helps you audit what is said about your personal account online and eliminates almost all negative reviews. It builds a reputation report and puts the brand somewhere between Very Poor and Excellent so one can see how they look online.

What else you can do to manage your online reputation go through most recommended online reputation management tips for small business and white-collar professionals. 

It’s the Time to Take Control of Your Online Reputation!

We hope this post gave a clear idea of how the negative links on Google are damaging the online reputation of brands and individuals. These techniques of reputation management can help remove/push down the damaging content and improve your online presence. The longer you wait to act upon the negative links, the more harmful it becomes for your brand. Not only these techniques help to remove negative content from the web, but also adds a layer of security against any potential damage in the future.

Looking for a team of experts to repair your online reputation?

Consult us now!

The impact of digitalization is so vast that most businesses have their own website and presence on social media channels, they subsequently have accounts on 3rd party review websites.

Online presence is not only about having websites and social media accounts for your business but also about how the brand’s reputation is online.

It has become immensely crucial for small businesses and white-collar professionals to manage their reputation, as it affects their business directly. Managing online reputation involves social listening, actively participating in customer interaction, and includes proactive roles.

Therefore it has become necessary to have an Online Reputation Management (ORM) strategy or an ORM agency to handle your brand reputation online.  It allows businesses to look through a digital window, which evinces the avenues to improve and grow.

How to increase the reputation of your online business?

Ask your customers to write a review

What is worse than a negative review of you or your business online? Think! It’s not having a review at all.

Negative reviews are not always bad. If your brand has all the good reviews, the customer might not believe them at all. Negative reviews can be overpowered by positive ones.

Now the main question is, how do we encourage customers to write reviews for you or your business?

There are various methods to generate user reviews, some of which are listed below. Make sure you capture the attention of users to give you a review.

1. Email
2. In-App popups
3. Feedback prompt
4. Offline

An example of how an Uber Driver is encouraging customers to rate them. A message like this ensures that a customer rates the driver.

Expand your presence

Think extensively about your business and which platform people are more likely to use to search for you on the internet. You need to find out where your target audience is present and then leverage the power of social media channels. 

Most businesses and professionals have their presence on Facebook and thinking that it is enough, is a big mistake! Users rely on all types of websites to gather reviews.

• Yelp
• Facebook
• Google
• Trip Advisor
• Better Business Bureau
• Yellow Pages

Make sure you have a presence on all these platforms because it becomes extremely difficult to judge which platforms are trusted by maximum number of people.

Let us explain it by a simple example: A doctor did not list himself on Yelp, but customers still gave feedback and reviews on the portal. The timings and the phone numbers mentioned were all incorrect. Potential customers were turning into unhappy users as they were unable to communicate with the doctor.

In this situation, it would have been better if the doctor had claimed the business page and submitted correct information. Even if you received a negative review, at least potential customers now have a way to communicate with you. That is why it is important to spread out on all the portals where your customers might be present.

Encourage customers to upload the product in use

While you may be promoting your product or profession with high-quality pictures and videos, encourage your customers to upload pictures too.

77% of people say customers’ photos influence their buying decision more than professional pictures. The customer’s picture builds trust and gives authenticity to your brand which helps in improving your online reputation.

Find ways to get your customers to review your brand with pictures. A profitable giveaway, a chance to be featured on social media, are a few ways to get the customers to post pictures along with a review.

GoPro is benefiting from this marketing technique for many years now. They encourage customers to upload pictures that they have taken from their GoPro devices. It not only encourages customers to upload pictures on social media but also helps in increasing the conversion rate.

Respond to the public on social media

Social listening is a process that brands and individuals use to monitor social media channels for mentions, competitors, products or ideas which are relevant to their niche. This information is used to analyze the information for actionable insights. The action can be anything depending on the goal, like responding to a review or strategizing marketing for the future.

Customers will be talking about your brand on social media, make sure you notice. Thank the ones who have appreciated your business and maybe provide something extra which will keep them loyal to your brand. The ones who have left a negative comment are also important as this is where your customer service enters the testing waters. It is crucial as you want to defend your brand but would not want to start an argument with the customer.

Strategically plan your reply to a negative comment, address the issue at hand and provide the customer with a reasonable solution.

A restaurant received a negative review from the customer on Facebook. The restaurant apologized for the mistake but also moved the issue to another channel so that they can resolve the matter more privately.

Start working on your blogs

The best way to improve your online reputation is to build a domain authority which can be achieved by blogging.

A huge part of lead generation depends on blogging. Publishing quality content on a regular basis will help in SEO. Thus, helping in increasing inbound and outbound links.

Diesel cafe has a website and a dedicated blog section where they update their clients on new arrivals in the menu. This way the cafe is increasing their authority on search engines. 

Take advantage of tools that monitor your online reputation

How would a business know if their reputation in the market is good? Businesses can easily monitor reviews on their website and social media, but that is not enough to assess your online reputation. 

For example, a business has mentioned you in a negative light on their blog. Will monitoring Google and Facebook help? Would you ever get to know about it?

This is why it is important to take advantage of tools like Google Alert to monitor where your business name is being mentioned. 

Reputology is one of the dedicated solutions to help you analyze reviews and comments. The tool algorithm identifies the emotion of customers and finds an appropriate reply to the same. Some other important tools are: 

1. Mention
2. Buzzsumo
3. SentiOne
4. Chatmeter
5. Social Mention

The above screenshot shows a tool called Mention. When searched for Swiggy, it shows all the results where the word Swiggy is mentioned. It also shows the influencers who are using the brand name. A must-have tool to keep track of your online reputation. 

Partner with influencers

Influencers have the power to convince people to buy a product or do business with you. Just like user-generated content, they have the power to create social proof for the business.

Brands need to find appropriate influencers according to the niche of the business.

Instead of brands promoting their own image on their own page, influencers can show the product in use. People follow and listen to influencers because of their expertise in a particular area and when they approve of a product, it highly influences the decisions of consumers.

Skinny mint collaborated with Kylie Jenner to market their brand on her social media profile. She uploaded a picture with their product on her Instagram profile with an engaging caption.

Showcase testimonials

As we have talked about it above too, encourage customers to write reviews and add pictures in their reviews. Gathering a lot of reviews is not going to help your business unless showcased on appropriate platforms. Wherever the potential customer might search for you, reviews and testimonials should be present there. Make sure you showcase the name and designation of the reviewer. The designation must be in accordance with your business functionalities. For example, for a restaurant,  a food blogger providing reviews makes it a credible source.

A local dietitian has a dedicated section of reviews on her website that showcases reviews of the customers who have benefited through her diet plans. Before and after pictures of customers make it more authentic.

Steps for fixing negative reviews:

1. Build good reviews to suppress bad reviews- While business owners can not control the feedback customers leave on your website, they can dilute negative reviews by building up positive reviews.
2. Read the review and check if you need to change something- A negative review surely does affect your brand’s reputation. Think, is there something that needs to be changed in your business? One feedback might have affected a lot of your customers. Analyze the review and your business strategically.
3. Respond to it professionally and with a solution- Only one customer leaves a review (good or bad), a lot of them read it. So respond to every review that your brand receives.
4. Dilute negative reviews in SERPs- Like mentioned above, dilute the impact of negative reviews by an overpowering positive development. What if you are not getting enough positive? Take the help of a global reputation management agency. Talk to the critic on a private channel- While you are dealing with the negative review on a 3rd party review portal, make sure that you also email or call the concerned person to apologize and give a valid explanation for the issue.
5. Turn them around- Keep in mind the people who review you online can become the most influential fans of your brand.
6.  On the whole, if you or your business reputation has been damaged, it can be reversed. Also, if you are trying to build a reputation on the internet, it can be done by following the points mentioned above. Through an efficient online reputation, you can create the utmost credibility and trust for yourself or your brand. A good online reputation can help create a good perception from existing or new customers; ultimately resulting in increased sales and revenue of your business.

Although good online reviews and reputation are equally valuable for all businesses and individuals of the modern age yet how online reputation impacts their businesses and professional/personal lives are completely different.

Likewise, the practices to brand reputation management and strategies to deal with negative reviews too differ considerably in different cases. This post throws light on the fact that everything that has a presence in the online world has to maintain an online reputation.

The strategies how every niche can maintain good reviews and control the damage of a bad review are different in many ways, like:

• The level of risk is different
• The ways of damage control are different
• After effects of good or bad review are different
• Strategies to maintain or handle review are different

Due to this diversity, it is important that we segment our article on how each one of them (individuals, small/local businesses and big brands) can handle and maintain a good online reputation. But before moving into that, let’s get a clearer definition of reputation marketing.

What is Reputation Marketing?

Reputation marketing refers to altering and controlling an individual, brand or corporation’s reputation. With the escalation of internet and social media usage, search results have become an integral part of reputation.

Reputation marketing is a perfect amalgam of reputation management and brand marketing. It basically involves scrutinizing and monitoring the reputation of an individual or a brand on the internet by addressing issues, content that could cause potential damage. However it is not just a means of handling negative reviews, it involves seeking positive reviews in order to attract new customers.

Building a good reputation is critically important as 3 out of 4 people prefer positively reviewed business than a negative one. Online reputation marketing should be aligned with other marketing tactics to deliver maximum results. This practice should be inculcated as the effectiveness of the efforts is increased by a good reputation and credit.

Know why Online Reputation Marketing is Important

Every industry from restaurant to computer software or any working individual or professional cannot afford to ignore online reviews about them. Online reviews or the user-generated content (UGC) have become the biggest factor for prospects to evaluate a business, product, service or even individuals they wish to partner with. The reviews have become a critical factor influencing the purchase decision.

Here are some facts highlighting why online reputation marketing is important:

1. According to a report (Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report), 64% of consumers trust search engine results when searching for news or information.
2. A research study by BrightLocal, 97% of consumers read online reviews to locate a local business.
3. In another study, Wikipedia has been found to rank more than 50% on the first page results. Wikipedia has a high ranking dominance, be it commercial queries or informational queries. Hence, greater consumer acceptance of Wikipedia’s information can distort the business’s image if there are any wrong or negative results.

For Individuals / Professionals

No matter who you are, a celebrity or a certified professional or a student, all are entitled to face one or the other criticism in day-to-day life if they are online.

For celebrities, they do not have to do much to build their brand image, as it’s created easily by fans, followers or haters. They just have to hire a good public relations (PR) firm to leverage the publicity they get online.

But for lawyers, doctors, and other such professionals, who won’t hire any PR firm to manage their public image, creating their online presence and keeping it safe is their own responsibility. And, avoiding it is not an option in this day and age, as people nowadays check places on Google before reaching there.

People check places to get directions, read user reviews online or just try to find social media profile, and Google names before going to a new doctor or a gym coach. When they Google you, they get to know pretty much everything said by anyone about you. Five things you ought to remember being a professional are as follows:

• Try and proactively place yourself on every business listing page or places where people would be searching related to your profession like LinkedIn, Healthgrades, etc. It is very important that you appear on select platforms when they make a query similar to your work.
• Even though you must be promoting yourself on different websites, business listing platforms or forums. It is immensely important that all the content distributed on varied platforms is available for the viewer at one place too (can be your own website or a social media page).
• Everything that you write on the internet matters, hence be very careful while commenting or writing about anything online.
• Assess search engine results for your name. Consider and take action against the negative reviews or any unwanted search results.
• In case you have already got a negative review, first reply to the review positively and afterwards put all your efforts to create more of positive online resources to push down the negative result in SERPs.

Online negative reviews are unavoidable but it is important that the customer hears back from the professional as soon as a complaint goes live. Handling wisely may suppress the negative after effects of that review and save you from an unfavorable situation (potentially). Look below the example of an aptly handled comment.

Brands are no longer concerned with just promoting & selling their products/services. For a sustainable future, a brand must give undivided attention to post-sale activities as well.

Collecting feedback from customers through user reviews & testimonials is a key post-sale activity that helps brand in continuously improving their strategy and keep the business running profitably year after year.

A lot has changed about user reviews since they first began to get brands’ attention. Through this post, you will get to understand the concept of user reviews better, and will also learn different ways it is being used today for business growth.

Benefits of user reviews

Conversion

According to Marketing Land, 90% shoppers consider checking reviews before making a purchase decision. A lot of product related queries can arise in potential buyer’s mind and user reviews serve as the perfect content type to answer those queries. The product description present on the website is important, but in most cases it fails to gain the trust of the buyer. It is only the reviews left by previous buyers that improve the chances of making a sale.

Search engine optimization

Usually, customer reviews naturally consist of important keywords associated with the product. Thus, having such reviews on website also help in rank better on search engines.

For example, a buyer, who recently bought an iPhone 7 from your website, may write something like “This website offers the best price for iPhone 7”. Such a review help you easily rank better in search engines for queries like ‘Best price for iPhone 7’.

Brand Awareness

User reviews can be left on third party websites like social media, forums, etc. Such websites receive tons of traffic; thus, can improve the visibility of your brand.

Users who come across such reviews will not only become aware of your brand but will also get to know the value your products offer through others’ experiences. User reviews on social media sites can act as long-term source for generating good quality leads.

Product/Service Improvement

Once collected, analyzing user reviews will help you improve your product and make necessary changes to tune it to satisfy customers’ expectations. Furthermore, it will also help you make better pricing plans.

Methods of generating user reviews

Email

Email based method of collecting user reviews is perhaps the oldest & most used way, for it is highly effective and can be used by businesses of all sizes. Email is traditional medium that customers use to interact with brands. And this familiarity also makes it more effective.

In-App Popups

After making a purchase, most ecommerce mobile apps will display a pop-up asking the user to give a rating to the product and leave a short review. A good design practice is to include an ignore option as well, so that the buying experience is not hampered.

Feedback Prompt

After a sale is made, a prompt can be displayed to enable the user to leave a review. Since most buyers tend not to type too much, therefore, it is advised to use prewritten templates, which buyers can use to fill and complete the review.

User Reviews: Monitoring & Management

Social Media

Most products generate social chatter, which can be tagged as either positive or negative. Using tools like TweetDeck, one can set filters to improve the social listening process and easily address queries that people are discussing. Furthermore, third party tools like Buffer, HubSpot, etc., can be used for an in-depth analysis of various social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Also remember, positive or negative, you must reply to feedback on social sites.

Also Read – Social Media Trends That Will be a Game Changer in 2017

Forum websites

Forum websites like Quora, StackExchange, etc., are among the platforms, where people discuss products and services by asking questions. Apart from consumers, several industry professionals & experts also participate in these online debates. So, by keeping an eye on these websites, you not only get in touch with customers but also get ideas to improve the quality of your offerings.

Business Website

Displaying user reviews on your own website will help improve the buyer’s trust. Make sure these testimonials are easily visible to visitors, as well as are coupled with a call to action.

Best Practices in regard to User Review:

• • Ask customers to provide feedback after a sale is made
  • Feedback can be asked with each delivery or while handing the bill
  • Offer incentive for giving feedback
  • Use social media to collect user feedback and know your customer’s intent
  • Always reply to negative feedback and be thankful for constructive criticism
  • Landing pages can also be used for collecting reviews
  • Provide an email address or link to your website where buyers can drop their complaints  (to prevent negative feedback on social platforms)

User reviews play an important role in building long lasting trust. To harness the power of user reviews for the benefit of your business, above-mentioned tips should be followed religiously. Feel free to share any unanswered query of yours and we will surely get back to you with a solution.

From hiring a professional to meeting new people for business, personal branding has become a necessity for entrepreneurs to stand out of the crowd and achieve more.

Being an entrepreneur, it becomes important to invest time and effort in building a personal brand. However, if you don’t do so, competitors will take advantage and increase their brand value, which may hurt an entrepreneur’s image.

Building a personal brand requires research but if you bank upon the information available on the internet, it’s quite likely to get misguided or implement the wrong strategy to build a personal brand.

To help entrepreneurs take advantage of personal branding and enhance their brand’s value on the internet, following is a list of personal branding tips, which only a brand management company can tell you.

Specifying Goals

By being unaware of the long term goals, an entrepreneur may lose focus and not do the task at hand properly thereby wasting significant amount of time in the process. Personal branding goals can be about increasing the number of followers on social media, getting an article published in a business magazine and more. To achieve such goals, one must be aware of them and break those into small parts to work towards the accomplishment.

Showing Originality

A personal brand is about showing uniqueness and originality. People like those brands that stand out of the crowd and offer something different than what is already available to them. Before starting out, entrepreneurs should know their target market as personal branding strategy depends a lot on the type of industry and the type of target users.

Social Media

Social media offers different platforms for targeting different groups of people. LinkedIn helps one to increase the reach of his professional network, Twitter comes handy to get in touch with influencers, industry leaders, and more, Facebook is important to stay connected with friends and family.

Also, there are many social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and more, which can be used to grow a personal brand. To harness the full power of social media, an entrepreneur should keep exploring different platforms to find the perfect growth hacking strategy for social media.

Content Strategy

Applying a content strategy can do wonders for an entrepreneur who wishes to promote himself as a personal brand. However, before finalizing a content strategy, an entrepreneur must answer questions like:

• How does he want others to perceive him as a person and as a professional?
• How much difference is there between him and the person he wants to be?

Content marketing and personal branding go hand in hand, which can help an entrepreneur establish himself as a recognized expert. By building an effective content strategy, one can easily target the relevant audience as well.

Also Read: Various Metrics to Measure Content Marketing Success

Online Networking

Online networking plays an important role in building a personal brand by helping an entrepreneur increase the reach of his network. One can implement a strategy, which enables an entrepreneur to communicate with other people in the same industry. However, to implement such strategies, it is essential to have knowledge about the basics of blogging, keyword research, search engine optimization, and more.

Offline Networking

These days most conversations take place online. Seeing such a trend, most entrepreneurs have shifted their strategies to digital-only and have completely ignored the benefits of offline networking.

However, by increasing the online presence through online networking, one cannot simply assume that the objective of reaching a wider audience is accomplished.

No matter how much effort goes into networking with people online, offline networking holds equal importance. Offline networking should be included as a part of improving personal branding that includes the following:

• Attending professional events
• Public speaking at conferences, and more

Offer Freebies

Offering freebies is an important tactic for improving a personal brand, which is derived from growth hacking. It helps an entrepreneur gain more followers and increase his professional network in the process. In addition to this, by offering freebies, more leads can be generated that can help an entrepreneur accomplish business goals. Common examples of freebies include the following:

• eBooks
• Case studies
• Whitepapers
• Online Seminars
• Subscription, discounts and more

Motivation

Knowing the motivation behind personal branding is essential as it will help an entrepreneur implement effective strategies for achieving goals. For an entrepreneur, there can be various kind of motivations behind building a personal brand, such as:

• Increase professional network
• Showcase industry expertise
• Gather more followers on social media, and more

Building Relationships

People tend to do business with those, who they trust and have heard about from genuine sources. This is where the role of influencers with regard to their relation with millions of followers come into play. Starting out as an entrepreneur can be difficult, but influencers can bring a difference to initial publicity. Entrepreneurs should embrace the power of influencer marketing by building healthy and professional relationships with them.

Also Read: 9 Growth Hacking Tips & Tools For Startups & Ecommerce Businesses

Be Consistent

Earning people’s trust and changing their perception about a brand is a challenge for every entrepreneur. If a brand is not consistent with its marketing efforts, then it may suffer greatly and eventually suffer financial loss as well. People prefer those brands that are consistent in their effort. With the continuous usage of social media strategy and content marketing strategy, brands can achieve a higher level of consistency that can greatly improve the branding efforts.

Do you have your own favorite tips on personal branding? Share them with us by leaving a comment below.

Last Updated: 4th August, 2023

Online reputation is an integral part of a business. It is essential for building positive public opinion and driving conversion. However, online reputation is significantly affected by consumer reviews on social media sites and feedback forums. The links of these reviews are indexed by search engines and are publicly displayed on search engine result pages (SERPs). They can substantially promote or tarnish the public perception of a brand or individual service provider. To state more precisely, statistical research by Glance, a popular CRM software development firm, has proved that it takes 12 positive customer experiences to undo the damage of 1 negative review. 

Therefore, to rebuild the tainted reputation of a brand or individual service provider, online reputation management (ORM) is a feasible solution. It refers to all those methods and techniques that are used in removing negative search results from SERPs. However, depending on the volume of image-tainting elements, such as reputation attacks (targeted negative reviews), false news, and common misinterpretations on the internet, ORM can become a lengthy process. 

The time taken to remove the negative reviews from SERPs depends on the following factors:

Types of Removal

Absolute Removal: The permanent removal of bad search results that sabotage a brand’s reputation is possible via convincing the publishing author. A major problem with this approach is that the publisher often demands money in exchange for removal. Neither is this method applicable in the majority of cases nor is it always possible to convince the publisher or even trace him in the first place.

Suppression: Pushing down negative reviews on SERPs in an effort to highlight and improve the visibility of positive ones is another approach to online reputation management. In comparison to absolute removal, which may require a brand to pay several publishers, suppression is a more accessible and affordable option. A reputation management company has several approaches to suppression, which render reputation attacks useless in future.

Factors for Removal

Existing Assets and Brand Presence

Positive inbound links from trusted websites and the ownership of subsidiary domains streamline the ORM process. As inbound links are a valuable ranking factor for search engines, they make it easier to push down the negative search results. Whereas, multiple domains that share a common brand name also support the suppression by contributing positive content and reviews.

Along with these, a brand’s social media handles on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are some other resources of reviews for search engines. By working on these social media profiles and linking them to the business account, an individual can also push down negative links.

The Keywords Factor

Keywords are the search terms that assist in the ranking of websites on search engines. They make it difficult to get rid of the results that display under a brand’s name in a negative search. For example, search terms like ‘company name’ + ‘incidents that ruined its reputation’ are difficult to suppress and require the most amount of time and effort. Similarly, negative links appearing under some specific keyword research are also difficult to suppress. 

Ranking on SERPs

Links appearing on the first page of a search engine result can consume a lot of time to go down because of two facts:

• They passed the various ranking algorithms of search engines to secure a position on the first page. 
• They require maximum suppression to go down on the second, third, or fourth page

Source of Negative Link

As covered in the first factor, it is essential to build a reputable social media profile as negative reviews coming from social media sites are diffusive in nature since they are easily trusted by social media users and shared over the internet. On the other hand, negative reviews coming from websites with high DA and PA are also difficult to push down as they are highly trusted by search engines. 

Another worrisome source for ORM is content coming from user-generated sites. Google ranks user-generated content higher than the one published via business accounts, making it more challenging to push down negative links from review and rating sites. 

Miscellaneous Factors

Along with these factors, the length of negative search results removal process also depends on the following.

• Websites that frequently upload content and have gained immense popularity due to their consistency are also ranked higher by Google. It is difficult to remove negative links coming from these sites due to the sheer quantity and quality of their content.
• Prompt removal of negative search results is much easier as they take time to rank up in SERPs. By taking immediate action, brands can not only remove the negative link much easily but also prevent it from achieving a high rank in search results.
• The length of the negative content on a link makes it more difficult to get rid of it. Due to high keyword repetition, density, and LSIs, links with high word counts are able to secure a better position on SERPs. Also, lengthier content is more knowledgeable and shared, adding more resistance to the task.
• When a link arrives from a country-specific domain, for example, the domains ending with .sg, .uk, and .au, one needs to compete with the sites of that specific geographical region. Meaning, to remove a negative link coming from a .au domain, the entire suppression work must be conducted on Australian websites and domains, which are not easy to find for ORM.
• The more popular a brand or individual service provider is, the more damage it receives from negative links. Harmful reviews for a popular brand are not only shared easily, but they are also interlinked more and become the word of mouth on social media sites. The same goes for the negative links that come from popular websites.
• The auto-suggestion feature of search engines is quite problematic for ORM agencies. Even if an internet user is not aware of a particular negative incident or event of a brand, it can appear in the auto-suggestions when he/she enters the brand name in the search term.
• The language of the negative review is an important deciding factor in ORM. Language-specific websites gain prominence on the internet. If a website ranks higher for publishing Arabic, Mandarin, or Spanish content, it is difficult to displace it from the SERPs. Not to mention, to suppress a review written in a different language, one needs to be able to speak and write that language. He/she also requires to publish content on websites using the same language for ORM. 

A thorough analysis of the brand’s website and negative links is required to identify the factors that apply in a brand’s situation for removing negative search results and reviews. Several tools are available on the internet for auditing a website for ORM. If these tools are difficult to understand, then hiring an ORM company will help. After recognizing the factors that apply, it can take some time to remove the negative search results from Google. While the absolute removal of negative results is a faster process than suppression, it should be noted that it is not applicable in every situation. 

If you have any doubts or queries about the above-mentioned factors or ORM process, feel free to ask us in the comment section.

Tame Negative Online Reviews & Publicity with Social Media (B2B Special)

Social media works hand in glove with online reputation as most negative reviews on internet surface due to bad social monitoring. Though the trend is changing now, B2B companies particularly paid little attention to social media considering it relevant to B2C only. Reputation management experts however strongly disagree.

It is a sheer fallacy that social networks are meant for interactions between brand & individuals only. Platforms like LinkedIn & Google+ also prove this wrong by evolving as best sources of connection building for businesses.

Just like their B2C counterparts, B2B companies also need active social participation to maintain their online reputation and avoid negative reviews from surfacing for brand search.

Below points will help you create the best online reputation management strategy for your business;

Advantage of high domain authority

Social media sites have high domain authority and thus have higher probability to rank on search engine results pages. Your presence on such networks ensures defense against negative reviews. Company profiles on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc are highly relevant for search queries related to businesses.

If you maintain an “Active Presence” on such profiles, there is a high probability that no negative business or company review will be able to bypass these links for branded search terms.

Act fast & tell your side of the story

The hardest part about handling a negative review is sharing your part of the story. At times, the place from where the negative review comes provides no option of clarification. While replying to a negative review, avoid contributing a long thread of communication as this will only make the domain more authoritative. Negative review clarification is much simpler through social media platforms. You have complete freedom of saying what you wish to share. The CEO of Zomato did his best in sharing his point of view through Quora, when an ex employee shared a negative review about the startup’s work culture.

Focus on improving overall brand presence

Promote your good work and positive customer reviews through social media platforms. Feature your work and customer experiences through case studies, infographics, sales figures, CSR activities, etc. Share details about your work process, quality control, technology, product updates, new launches, etc through appropriate platforms. Try to share informative content so that you don’t sound promotional. The more positive content people come across about your company, the less likely they are to get influenced by negative reviews.

Become a socially active modern brand

Big B2B players have already started using social media platforms actively. Companies like HP, Microsoft & GE present a perfect example of B2B’s well-run social media strategy. Cisco is another such business that has second highest twitter followers i.e. 83,964 after Microsoft. American Express too has lately come up with open forums and Facebook page to improve their networking with small businesses & potential investors. A B2B company having a good online presence is perceived as modern and in sync with the changing trends. A brand with poor online visibility leaves a negative impression no matter how well it promotes itself offline.

B2B businesses indulge in more research before a deal is closed as most of their business decisions are based on reviews of referrals and brand reputation. Unlike before, brands are judged on social profiles like LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter

Consistent social media presence is very important to protect your online reputation. If you are already managing and monitoring your online presence, then, chances of negative online publicity are rare. But if you haven’t been paying attention, then, negative reviews and defaming comments from competitors can outbreak anytime. Protect your business reputation with these super tips.

Can negative feedbacks against a B2B brand be pushed down using social platforms?

Yes, you can push down bad reviews by using business specific social networks. If you have been shown in negative light by a client, critic or spammer, it is likely to show on first page. To push down such results, you need to maintain an active presence over equally or more authoritative domains like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. Other social sites and forums that can be used by a B2B company to push down negative reviews are:

• ukbusinessforums.co.uk
• businessadviceforum.com
• businessbiscotti.co.uk
• americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/explore/
• meetup.com
• ted.com/talks/browse

Posts on business networks with high domain authority are quickly indexed and appear on initial pages, pushing other results down. Because such websites have high potential of ranking on search engines, ORM agencies use them for suppress negative reviews in SERPs. You also get the added benefit of connecting with other businesses and potential clients through multiple platforms.

Dos & Don’ts of using social media to handle negative online reputation

Though there are no ground rules of using social media for handling negative reputation, keeping below mentioned points in mind will keep your brand on the safe side;

1. Focus on content sharing rather than just profile creation. Display your work and positive reviews on forums & social profiles to highlight the good things said about you. Few business networks like LinkedIn offer this option (LinkedIn Recommendations) that allows your clients to recommend your company/products/services to others.
2. Don’t respond negatively to any online review that questions product or any other aspect of your business. Instead try to resolve the issue without getting defensive.
3. Don’t choose a domain just because it’s authoritative. Pick the right platforms by keeping your target audience in mind. For instance, LinkedIn is a better option for interacting with professionals. Twitter and Quora are for casual conversations and relationship building with all age groups.
4. Target important keywords like ‘[BrandName] reviews’, ‘[BrandName] feedback’ etc through your profile description. This becomes important especially ifthe negative reviews appear for these particular keywords. This is called social media profile optimization and is necessary to get prompt results.
5. It is advisable to connect your various social accounts to each other to get the ranking benefit from Google.
6. Having too many accounts ruptures your social presence. Some SEO companies create multiple company profiles on the same platform, each to target a different keyword. Such accounts when appear in search results seem illogical and arouses more doubts.

There are various other technical and non technical ways to bring down negative online resources. Here is an online reputation management guide to help you make much-needed additions in your online reputation management plan.

There was a time when only travel or hospitality companies used social media for traffic generation and brand building. Today, even business-to-business companies are making social media part of their marketing strategy for added business benefits.

3 out of 4 online users will click on negative search result rather than positive one if the prior ranks higher. So, whether you are a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer, reviews about you are bound to appear on web in near future.

As reputation advisors to international brands, our suggestion would be to go proactive.

Real estate companies and investment firms often complain about bad online reputation and defamation with words like fraud & scam. Realtors dealing in complex investment plans and ventures are also bombarded with negative reviews.

As a web services brand that has spent almost a decade in the industry, FATbit understands what negative links & resources can do if left untreated. Hence, it started offering online reputation management services to offline brands like real estate agencies and investment firms.

The most recent reputation case handled by FATbit experts is associated with a US based real estate investment firm.

The reputation issue

The company wanted to get rid of an unsavory negative review from an authority site that raised questions on its business model and exposed the brand to negative publicity through comments section.

Because the comment was published on a reputed site and the firm had a weak online presence, the negative review appeared on Google’s first page for brand name related search.

Previous efforts to combat negative reviews

The company hired a reputation management firm to neutralize the negative link. Following a traditional approach, the US based reputation management agency published press releases and blog posts but was still unable to furnish desired results. The real estate company discontinued its services and discussed the project with FATbit Technologies.

Initial study and approach to bring down the spam review

After gathering project details from client, FATbit team undertook extensive research to study reputation damage and work undertaken by the previous reputation partner. Initial study stated that most work done to push down the negative link was based on traditional reputation management techniques.

Further analysis confirmed that the bad reputation link was appearing on brand name search. This meant that people were making searches to learn more about the company but were being introduced to negative post.

So, we created our online reputation management strategy around what people actually want to see when they search for a brand name.

Also Read: Reputation management challenges for corporate and big brands

If you too are facing loss of business due to spam reviews, fraud search results, consult FATbit professionals for friendly advice.
View our reputation management packages

FATbit’s reputation management strategy

Online reputation management has become more challenging with complaint boards, industry focused forums, general acceptance of ‘open comments’ and social sharing. Even if you managed to push down the negative link by creating some positive posts, it would again jump up if activity starts in the comments section.

FATbit understands this and thus focused on creating social & content resources that can be updated regularly. The team worked on following points while undertaking the work;

1. Social profile creation

Most real estate and investment firms are happy with just a business website & LinkedIn profile. The thought of maintaining active social media profiles rarely occurs to them. FATbit team created business focused social media profiles and optimized them for brand name. We also updated the dormant social profiles to make them appear on Google search results.

2. Video & Media promotion

The real estate firm regularly created business videos & digital media to share information about new projects and ventures but rarely promoted them. We shared these video, property brochures, and image content on multiple platforms, and optimized them for keywords. We separately used the script of videos for promotion. So, we generate results from old resources rather than spending time in creating new ones.

3. Actively Shared Slideshows:

Just like video content, slideshows when shared on authority platforms rank very well on search engines. FATbit being a professional presentation design and marketing company started promoting presentations under the brand’s umbrella and saw the desired results almost instantly. This helped push down the negative reviews even further on Google.

4. Regular updates

FATbit regularly pushed fresh content on all the new business profiles to make them relevant for brand searches. All the content updates were firstly approved by client. We make such provisions for realtors and corporate clients that are extra cautious about what is being written about their brand.

The reputation management strategy was shared with client before implementation along with detailed cost estimation. Our affordable reputation management packages helped client make huge savings.

How long did it take us to push down the negative review?

Depending on project complexity, FATbit Technologies usually requests 6 to 12 months for reputation projects but results start appearing quite early. For our client, we generated reputation results in just 3 months.

The review now peacefully hibernates on the 4^th page for branded search results.

Our unique reputation management strategy not only helped the brand get rid of misleading search result but also created authority business resources and impressive social media presence.

Just writing blog posts and publishing content doesn’t generate reputation results. Understanding project technicalities before starting work is very crucial.

FATbit has solved bad reputation management cases for realtors, business tycoons, and corporate bodies. The team also shares frequent blog posts to educate businesses and organizations about dangers of online reputation attacks.

Do you want to protect your online reputation on your own? Read this blog post for expert reputation management tips and hacks.

If you are under reputation attack from competitors and online trolls, then, we are here to help you.
Discuss your online reputation issues

Last Updated: 17th Feb, 2021

It takes a few unsatisfactory customer experiences to overthrow a startup’s conversions. It doesn’t mean that large enterprises are invulnerable to reputation threats. When the bad reviews and experiences are intentionally targeted at a brand to tarnish its public image, it can expect some damage. Also, on the internet, it isn’t easy to maintain a positive brand image especially when the number of independent publishers is in millions. 

In view of this quandary, the practice of online reputation management (ORM) has gained significant popularity in the recent past. The basic analysis for ORM does not require any professional skills, and you can carry it out easily with the following tips, or you can also check our beginner’s guide to ORM for small businesses for more knowledge.

How to Build Online Reputation: Personal & Business Reputation Management Tips

From a sales point of view, online reputation can be compared with brand value. Millions of consumers in the fashion industry consume products from Zara, Gucci, Arrow, Vans, Under Armour and more. The sales of these brands will witness a significant decrease if they lose their brand value. On the internet, every rating, review, link, news article, or blog that includes you, define your brand value and drives sales. Thus, all our approaches to fix or build your online reputation will focus on these elements. The image tarnishing content from online media and competitors will require the most attention.  

Try the Proactive Approach

Working on your online reputation after denunciation isn’t a feasible approach. Whereas, when you have already built a formidable reputation with the help of valuable content, bad reviews aren’t going to bring a severe downfall. Your critics will also require strong evidence to support a false claim, which is not the case in the non-proactive approach. 

To maintain an image that is not so susceptible to bad reviews and events, try to capture the top 20 results on Google with positive content for your brand name. A few methods for achieving this are:

• Create a Twitter profile and upload content regularly. Active social media channels are ranked higher by Google, especially Twitter handles. However, creating a business account on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram will also help. 
• Distribute press releases to dominate the results in Google News.
• Create video content for YouTube. Professional business videos not only increase engagement but also deliver the brand message accurately. 
• Start posting informational content in a subdomain or a blog page. Ensure that your brand’s name appears in the subdomain’s URL if you select that option.

Remove Negative Coverage from Independent Online Media

You might be investing a hefty amount of money in electronic and print media but the internet adheres to a different set of rules. If your content or policies offend a small independent news website, a single post can be quite detrimental.

This happened with one of our clients, which is a new financial advisory company that follows a unique business model. When a media firm represented it in a bad light, it secured the top rankings on Google for all the wrong reasons. . A single negative link tainted its brand image on Google and other search engines.

Most suitable proactive approach (Monitor Online Brand Reputation) – To monitor your reputation on the internet, appoint a team of professionals to keep a regular check on your online search results. This way you will be aware of the presence of any such content that is harmful to your reputation.

Check the first three pages of a search result for negative links/feedback or reviews for your brand name. Set alerts on your brand name for early detection of negative links. Online tools such as Social Mention can help you in online reputation tracking.

Business reputation management tips in case something bad happens;

• Respond to the post through the comment section to clarify your position
• Answer questions and comments with patience.
• Send a personal mail to the publisher explaining the situation, how you are working to correct the issue (if there is any)and request to take down the post
• If such negative reviews or links come from authority websites, they will be harder to get rid of. In a crisis situation, invest in PPC to place sponsored positive links above it. British Petroleum carried it out very well after an oil spill situation.

Prevent Reputation Attack from Competitors

In instances where your business rivals have used foul tactics to soil your reputation, you may discover low-quality back-links from adult websites, anonymous defaming posts on forums or blog posts with words like SCAM, SUCK and FRAUD.

Here is an entire domain dedicated to the hate group for Yelp by the name of yelp-sucks.com.

Google gives an upper hand to discussion communities and blog posts in its search results.

Recommendations from online reputation management companies;

• Buy domains associating your brand name with suffixes such as reviews and testimonials (yourbrandname-reviews.com) to post testimonials and comments from satisfied clients.
• Set alerts for negative words in blogs and reviews. This will speed up your reaction time.
• Proactively promote creative and positive content for negative branded keywords. Such content should preferably be shared on authority domains so that it always appears above negative links.
• Keep a regular check on your company’s backlinks. If at any time you find an inappropriate website sending traffic to your website, disavow them with the help of Google’s webmaster Tool. If your team does not have the required expertise, consult an SEO expert.

Heat on social media between business giants is the new norm these days. The brands who indulge in online feuds are well aware of their consumer strength. Not to mention, their spats pass as sarcasm and humour in history. For brands that are not widely recognizable, small online arguments in Google reviews or anywhere on the internet with an individual or a brand can be misinterpreted and become a stain on the image. 

For example:

Check out the following social media feuds between some popular brands:

• Old Spice vs Taco Bell

• Wendy’s vs McDonald’s

When the tweets are as broken as the ice cream machine. https://t.co/esdndK1iFm

— Wendy's (@Wendys) November 24, 2017

• Oreo vs KitKat 

The fight for @Laura_ellenxx's affections is on. @oreo your move #haveabreak http://t.co/EN8YAfnNMZ

— KITKAT (@KITKAT) March 13, 2013

Instead of sabotaging the reputation of these brands, their humour-filled arguments ended up making them more popular. These feuds worked for the above-mentioned brands but it does not mean that they will work for SMBs and startups as well. Meaning, it is wiser to formally treat any social media arguments instead of planning a revengeful comeback.

Control your Social Media Vulnerability

Social media channels also make companies vulnerable to online criticism. LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the most used channels of any organization. Though the control always resides with the brand as it manages the profiles, online criticism can still tarnish a brand’s image. To deal with criticism, social media marketers do not suggest the impatient deletion of posts and comments; instead well-thought and formal replies.

Recommendations from brand reputation management agencies:

• Guide employees on how to interact on social media. What they speak about your company’s policies and work culture through formal and informal channels affects your company’s image.
• Create a protocol for handling social media communications and interactions.
• Be careful while voicing opinions on LinkedIn communities.

Converse with Your Audience

Many companies fail to clear their bad image due to the lack of communication with their consumers. When a company does not resolve a customer’s queries or fails to provide customer support in time, it counts as incompetence on the company’s end. The customer whose query the company failed to address, establishes a prejudice in his mind and ignores purchasing from the same dealer again. In the future, he shares his bad experience with his peers, which becomes a word of mouth and affects sales. 

If that same customer tends to upload the issue online on social media, there are chances that the company’s bad reputation can escalate.

To prevent that, a company can:

• Start replying to comments on its recent blogs.
• Clear customer queries and doubts that arrive on its every platform. 
• Use chatbot integration on its website and social media handles.
• Send formal replies to derogatory social media mentions. 
• Train its customer service executive to be smarter and efficient.
• Create ‘how-to’ videos and content that directly addresses its audience like social media announcements and press releases.

Track Employees for Negative Mentions

The reputation of a brand is also associated with its employees and management. Instead of directly targeting your brand, an attacker can also target your employees and accuse them with false claims. By tracking the mentions of its employees in search engines, a brand can find out if it is getting indirectly targeted by another brand.

Offline activities of management can also create online disasters for a brand. The Coca-Cola pesticide issue is the perfect example. For such occasions, a combination of PPC and SEO works the best. It is best to consult online reputation experts for such occasions.

In Conclusion

While we have listed the most important web reputation management points for each category, here are some more for the best results:

• Don’t focus all your optimization energy on your website’s homepage. Smartly optimize inner pages like the ‘About Us’ and ‘Contact Us’ page to appear on first page results.
• Don’t forget to check Google image results. An expletive image or defaming graphic might be attached to your brand name. Image Raider is an online tool that can alert you when your images are being used inappropriately online.
• When in doubt, consult professional online reputation companies that cater to corporate and businesses.

Online reputation management can require weeks or even months to bring the desired results. The timing depends on various factors that are impossible to analyze by a single individual. The tips mentioned above will only help you to maintain your reputation at the basic level and some of them might be difficult to implement without adequate guidance. Therefore, hiring a professional reputation management company is a sensible option if you find yourself stuck or unable to consolidate a proper plan for ORM.