Anything online is pretty much fair game. Anyone can take potshots on anyone just for fun, and get it posted as the number one result. In fact, a couple of years ago, searching for „miserable failure“ online resulted in the Wikipedia entry of the former President George W. Bush as the number one result. Good thing that Google was able to defuse that bomb. This just goes to show that in the hands of a malicious competitor, the efforts you’ve been making in spicing up your e-commerce site and ramping up your SEO online marketing will not be enough. You will also have to be vigilant against threats on your person or company through reputation management online.
But lets face it, search engine results on your brand might not always churn out the most favorable results. In fact, there are even instances when search engines spit out websites that badmouth your brand. Whats worst is that most customers now do a search on Google or any other search engine before deciding to buy. Google results that give negative reviews in some or most of your top 10 results can definitely waste all your offline marketing efforts.
SEO experts have been known to use everything in their arsenal to beef up reputations of people online. Type the name Simon Cowell in Google and you get the sites with flattering or neutral content. Unsavory material is pushed down to the bottom of Google. In fact, celebrities have been known to retain SEO companies for reputation management. Political candidates are known to do the same.
Its hard enough to try to get to the top of Google. But is someone trying to throw you a curveball when it comes to your online marketing efforts? If you happen to suffer from unfair attacks online, take a serious look at your online reputation management options.
For one thing, you can choose to ignore them and hope that the results vanish in time without lifting a finger. Another way is to send a demand letter to the website owner or hosting to delete the offending content with a warning of pending litigation if not done immediately. If they don’t believe you, bring them to court with a civil suit for substantial compensatory damages. Lastly, talk to a third-party professional to bury the defamation slander under tons of positive or neutral ones through reputation online repair services.
Clearly, the first option wont get your anywhere and will only cause more damage to your already tarnished reputation. Negative publicity about you could linger in the internet for a long time, and a potential customer could stumble upon it and take it as a fact. As a result, your business could lose revenue due to all the defamation slander floating around the web.
What about litigation? The second option is the traditional big business way to scare website owners into pulling down content that is slanderous. For some websites, you will be able to get your way. For others, they will call your bluff and you will have to drag your butt to court. There are not only time and litigation expenses but it will also continue to take its toll on your brand because the content will not be pulled down immediately. In fact, you may have to wait until the court decides in your favor so you might as well just go ahead and do search engine reputation management.
Nothing beats proactive and aggressive counter-action to neutralize malicious online slander. Brand protection is as much a basic marketing function as advertising and promotions, whether online or offline. Doing so online will often require the right SEO professionals to manage online reputation.
Crush jealous assistant slander and libel from the search results. Get a FREE reputation management anaysis immediately by calling (800) 825-9500.