| |
Archive for the ‘Reputation Management’ Category
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
I’ve talked about both SEO and reputation management numerous times on this blog, and a few times I’ve even combined the two. That’s why it is particularly gratifying when a magazine of the caliber of Search Marketing Standard agrees with me.
Exaggerations, lies, and malicious spin are all legitimate to the SERPs and it can take a comprehensive SEO strategy to combat them. Setting up corporate blogs, micro-sites, customer complaint forums, corporate social profiles, and sister sites are just a few ways to help control the top listings for a company’s branded terms in the SERPs. Properly optimizing a portfolio of web properties can help push down the fraudulent and irreconcilable pages that can bring a company to its knees.
The surest way to combat negative SEO campaigns against you is to go on the offensive with a multiple Web property strategy. No longer is wise to simply rely on a single website for all of your SEO and reputation management needs. But note that multiple properties does not necessarily mean that you have to own them all. You can use other sites that you do not own, for instance:
- Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook
- Blogspot and WordPress.com
- Associated Content and Helium-type sites
- Squidoo and HubPages
- Guest blogging on sites within the same niche
- Article directories
- YouTube and other video marketing websites
- Social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon
- Podcast directories
- Press release websites like PRWeb
- Forums
The list could go on.
When it comes to SEO and reputation management, there are often multiple ways to approach an objective. More often than not you should employ a variety of methods simultaneously, or subsequently. Diversification is key to online marketing. It always has been.
Tags: diversification, Reputation Management, SEO
Posted in Reputation Management | 3 Comments »
Friday, April 30th, 2010
If you do any business online, at some point you’re going to come across someone talking negatively about you or your company. Most of the time this negative publicity will come in the manner of anonymity. You won’t know who is attacking you or why and therefore have no way to redress the points in private. You’ll have to deal with it publicly.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to address the attacker’s points in any way. You most certainly should not engage him or her on websites that post his negative publicity. That will only help his cause, not yours.
If you find your adversary using third-party sites that offer a chance to respond to negative reviews then you may provide a short response – note, I said short – that attempts to invite others to discuss any issues with you in private. Don’t give ammunition to those who are against you. And you might also ask your good customers – the ones you know who will defend you – to counter with a positive review.
Beyond that, however, there are specific online tools that you can employ to wage a positive PR campaign that will combat negative publicity you find about you and your company.
Positive Reputation Management Tools You Can Use
I would recommend 5 primary online reputation management tools to help you defeat negative publicity about you online.
- A Network Of Blogs – Always start with your own properties. The more you own, the better off you are and the more secure your reputation is. One blog is good, but five blogs is better. Try to use blogs that use keywords associated with your negative publicity. You are trying to push the negative publicity pages down in the rankings. Blogs might take some time, but they can provide you with some ammunition to control the positive information flow about your company.
- Your Own Network Of Microsites – A tightly controlled group of microsites that target key phrases you want to defend can give you plenty of ammunition to combat negative propaganda about your company and defend your reputation.
- Press Releases – Press releases are good because you can submit them to third party sites. Often, those sites are authoritative websites that can get your well optimized press release some high exposure. Target the right keywords in your press release and you can gain a prominent position in the search engines for your keywords. Plus, you can drive traffic to your website.
- Social Networking – Use prominent social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Use them often. Set up a profile in your name and a Facebook page in your company’s name. Be active in your social networks. The more active you are on the networks the more they will start to rise in the search engine rankings.
- Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking is different than social networking. You are submitting your blog, social networking profiles and website pages to well trafficked sites like Digg and StumbleUpon. Sites with a high authority rating and lots of traffic will get you additional exposure and potential rankings. With many of these sites, the more positive reviews you get of your bookmarks the more chances they have of ranking well in the search engines.
You want to be careful not to spam the search engines, but you do want to defend your reputation with positive stories about you and your company. Use the tools effectively and you can win the battle over your reputation.
Tags: blog, Reputation Management, SEO, Social Media, website
Posted in Reputation Management | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Online review sites have both a good and a bad reputation. Consumers tend to like them because they’re allowed to air their views in public and potentially ruin a company’s reputation. Business owners tend not to like them because they allow anyone and everyone a chance to speak untruths without checks or balances.
Both sides of this argument are blessed with solid points as well as some misguided fears.
On the pro side, online review sites do offer small businesses additional exposure. Before you hit me, consider that publicity is what it is. Negative publicity is only negative if people believe it and most people are smart enough to see through thinly veiled veneers.
However, review sites often don’t allow small business owners a chance to respond to allegations and that can often hurt. One popular review site has started allowing business owners a chance to respond to allegations after being pummeled with its own negative reviews and backlash from the business community.
While one-side reviews with no chance to respond are a bad thing, keep in mind that as a business owner you still have the upper hand. You can always build more websites and conduct Internet marketing campaigns to act of positive reputation enhancements. You don’t have to let the bad apples spoil the pudding.
Tags: online review sites, publicity, Reputation Management
Posted in Reputation Management | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
You’ll hear the word “Authority” a lot with regard to online marketing. The gurus encourage you to make yourself an authority in your niche by marketing yourself in certain ways, namely, through you blog, articles and other content that establishes you as an expert in your field. But is that enough?
Simply writing articles, blogs and other content and putting your name on them does not establish you as an authority. You have to back up the first impression with impressive results.
Authority is a word that means you have power, a kind of power that involves influence. It means that you command respect for no reason other than your power to influence others to follow your lead. But where that come from? Your byline? Your name? Your reputation?
In essence, authority comes from perception. People perceive you to be a knowledgeable expert. To establish that perception in the minds of your audience you need three things:
- Knowledge – Yes, knowledge is important and you can demonstrate articles with a byline, but that is only the beginning.
- Skill – You must possess a definable and valuable skill, one that people need and that you have. The must be marketable and valuable.
- Sales Panache – You need to have an ability to sell yourself. All perception is based on the perceived having the ability to sell the perception. If you want others to view you as an authority on a subject then you’ve got to be able to present yourself as an authority. Knowledge and skill and alone will not do that.
Being an authority is important to being successful. It takes creating a perception and that involves sales work. Knowledge and skill are only the beginning. The wrap up in the sales process.
Tags: authority, content, sales
Posted in Reputation Management | No Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Online reputation management consists of three things. That is, is falls on the intersection of three specific disciplines, which are:
- Public relations
- Marketing
- SEO
Where these three disciplines meet is where online reputation management hangs its hat.
First, public relations. This is the discipline that involves courting the media to engage them in a conversation that you hope will cast your business and brand in a positive light. Note that there are no guarantees. You are trying to persuade media – general and specific – to portray your business in a certain way, but they have their freedoms and you must respect that. Nevertheless, working on your relationship with media personalities can go a long way to casting your reputation in the best manner possible.
Marketing is different than public relations. Marketing is customer relations and market positioning. It doesn’t traditionally involve the media unless it includes paid advertising. The point is to build a brand and communicate your brand’s values to the market using communication strategies that tell your story.
SEO, or search engine optimization, the practice of writing online content in such a way that search engines favor it over your competition’s.
When you position these three disciplines side by side, you have online reputation management. Don’t leave it to chance.
Tags: marketing, online reputation management, public relations, SEO
Posted in Reputation Management | No Comments »
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
One of the most important principles in business is to always be improving. Whether you are discussing bottom line concerns, marketing, product development, or customer service, continuous improvement should be your motto, or at least on your mind.
Companies to seek to improve their services and their processes while focusing on the customer are the companies that seem to make it in the marketplace. That’s not to say that these companies achieve perfection. In many cases, they are far from perfect. Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Dell just to name a few. We can all point to their weaknesses, but we know that these companies are continuously striving to be better. That’s how they come out on top and stay there for a long time.
Small businesses can learn from their larger counterparts when it comes to a strategy for continued improvement. Have you talked to your customers lately? Know what they want?
There are a variety of ways to stay in contact with your customers and to solicit feedback on your products, services, and processes. Especially online. But if you hope to be a leader in your field then continuous improvement needs to be on your lips every day. Don’t just speak it. Do it.
Tags: continuous improveement, small business
Posted in Reputation Management | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
You know how important SEO is. Rankings, traffic, etc. And credibility. There is no substitute, right?
Essentially, once your credibility is shot, it’s hard to get it back. You can lose your search rankings and regain them. Sure, you hate to lose to the competition, but wouldn’t you rather your customers know that you are credible and trustworthy?
You hope you never have to choose, but if you do, make sure you choose credibility. You can’t trade your integrity for a ranking. Well, you can, but you shouldn’t. Rankings are temporal, they change. But your reputation is a near constant. It can change, and often does. Your credibility can grow in the eyes of your target audience, but it can shrink at as well. You hope you’ll always be seen as credible and you should strive for that as a goal. And in the meantime, work on those rankings. But don’t let them control your life.
Tags: credility, reputation, SEO
Posted in Reputation Management | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
The king of online reputation management, Andy Beal, is now turning on Dave Carroll, a musician who used a viral video to teach United Airlines a very important lesson in reputation management and the use of social media in customer relations.
Says Beal:
The follow-up doesn’t teach us, or United, any new lessons, but obviously Carroll’s not going to give up his 15-minutes of fame so quickly.
Could this stint backfire on Caroll? It well could. If the music listening public thinks he is simply trying to milk his situation for fame and to advance his career then there could be a backlash, or people could simply not buy his albums or attend his concerts. Viewers of the popular TV show “The Bachelorette” this past season got a sense of this when a musician by the name of Wes Hayden lasted for a long time on the show even though he had a girlfriend back home. His only interest in joining the show was to advance his music career.
Fans of the show were not endeared to Wes even as he carried out his charade. They were happy to see him go. I’m sure his music career didn’t take off like a jet plane when it was all over.
What’s the point? If you have a legitimate complaint and you’ve tried to work it out with a company through their customer service channels, feel free to badger them with social media. You’ll likely meet with success. But once the company has responded and given an indication that they’ve learned their lesson, it’s time to leave well enough alone. If you take beating up on bad customer service reps too far, you’ll end up needing your own brand of reputation management. Then you might as well just be a scumbag – like Wes Hayden.
Tags: music, musicians, Reputation Management
Posted in Reputation Management | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 31st, 2009
The New York Times features a great article on reputation management for small businesses. To summarize, the key points made in the article are:
- Start by monitoring your reputation
- Use local search sites to manage your reputation
- When addressing negative feedback, don’t get emotional or take it personally; respond only after you’ve had a chance to cool off and reflect on it a bit then send a professional, courteous response to your critic
- Promote yourself through local search sites
Online reputation management is an ongoing activity, not a one-time reaction to negative feedback. The place where most people make the biggest mistake is in responding to negative critics. If you are professional and courteous you’ll find that many critics will soften their critique of you. You could win them over. Site like Citysearch, Yelp, and Superpages are great for local small businesses that want to be proactive in managing their reputations.
Tags: negative criticism, Reputation Management, small business
Posted in Reputation Management | 2 Comments »
|
|
|
|
| |
|
