Ever tried searching your name on Google? Well... Even if you have
not... Be sure other people are. They can be prospective employers who
want to examine your online presence or your Facebook friend who wants
to know what kind of a person you are.
Now what they see in the
Google result is going to determine how they perceive you. Now imagine
the first thing that they see is a Flickr link of your drunken prom
picture. Or a blog post that describes you as “a big fraud”. Same goes
for your business too. Before they do business, people usually make it
a point to research about the company on the web. And think of what
impression potential customers will have if they read negative reviews
about your products or services on forums and blogs? There ends the
chances of you getting the deal!
Information on the internet
about you can have a great influence on your personal as well as
professional affairs. And that is why it is important to ensure that if
anyone searches for you on Google they see only what you want them to
see. This is where Reputation Management comes in.
Effective
reputation management can change the way you are perceived online and
what information is available relating to you Here are some tips to
manage your reputation online and make sure that there is no negative
things said about you and even if there are... no one gets to see them.
Be Careful What You Post Online
Prevention
is better than cure! So be extremely careful while putting your
information online. Even though it may be appropriate for the context
then and there, search engines can make it very easy for anyone to find
that information. You never know who might read what you have posted
and without knowing the context form an opinion about you.
Remove Any Negative Comments from the Source Itself
If something negative about you has already been published on the web, you should take immediate steps to remove it.
One
of the common misconceptions people have is that since Google is
displaying the links to the website containing the false content, it
would also be able to remove the listing from its results. This however
is not possible. It is important to understand that Google doesn't own
the internet. Its simply delivers relevant links to the search queries.
So if the search query matches anything that is already present on the
web, then it would be reflected in the search results.
And even
if Google doesn't display the content, it would still be accessible on
the web be it through social networking websites, other search engines
etc.
Therefore, make sure you remove the content from the source
itself. If the content is on your own website, then its very easy to
remove it. Just drop the specific content and Google will know about
the change the next time it crawls your website. Even if you have
posted something on other information sharing websites, all you need to
do is log in there again and remove the content yourself. And if you
are not able to remove something yourself, you can contact the web
master and ask them to remove the specific pages or content.
Once the content has been removed, use Google's URL Removal Tool to expedite the removal of content from Google.
Publish Counter Information Against Negative Content
If
you cant beat the, join them! here may be certain instances where the
webmaster can deny your request and refuse to remove the particular
content. There are various forums and discussion boards where users are
free to posy reviews and complaints about products and services and the
websites may not be willing to remove any of the posted reviews. And
because the content is there, your audiences will be able to access it
through Google search results.
This is when you join in the
discussion and make sure that every negative comment has an
accompanying explanation. The idea is to make the information that you
want your audiences to see outperform the information that you don't
want them to see. If there are more stronger positive reviews than
negatives ones, the former will push back the latter.
Here are some tips to encourage positive content on the web:
Create Google Profile
Google
Profiles are displayed when people search for your name. You can also
include links to all the points of your web presence here.
Post Positive Reviews
If
someone has posted a negative review about your company and business,
ask your customers to write positive reviews so that visitors get to
see a fuller picture. Also, if customers have posted complaints
regarding your products or services, ask your employees to address the
issues. This will make visitors feel that you are a responsible company
and value customer feedback.
Follow these tips and make sure
that you have a steady presence on the web. Remember, how people
perceive you on the web ultimately depends on what information you let
them see and how!
