Maybe you have a new story you want to tell the world. But the Internet is telling an old one. You’re ready for more media coverage and interviews. But you don’t have a strategy in place for achieving that. Or your company’s online image is harmed by biased, untrue or outdated information. This could be from old media coverage and legal notices. Perhaps you know you need to update to a contemporary, digital-savvy online image. You also want to become active on the social media platforms that matter in your industry. You may not have the in-house resources to handle these projects, but you’re also concerned about your budget.
Here is what you need to know.
The Internet is the world’s best tool for promoting your personal and corporate brand. When you aren’t in control of that brand online, you have left it in the hands of the world at large. That is like leaving your car unlocked with the keys in the ignition.
Google values quality content. It wants to direct users to the best content…like well-written blogs. A strategically written blog can reduce your PR costs because, done right, it attracts journalists. (This blog, which began as a xeroxed online reputation management FAQ hand-out, has attracted interviews in Consumer Reports, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal and many more influential media outlets. Yours can, too.)
The Google results you hate don’t need to stay at the top of searches. The solution is a strategic plan to replace them with new material. If you haven’t been able to displace the old results, the new material isn’t sufficiently optimized.
Reporters now get as many story ideas from social media as from traditional pitches. Journalists are often introduced to organizations and stories on Twitter and other social media platforms. So if you aren’t using Twitter strategically, you are missing many opportunities for increased recognition.
“Suppressing,” “wiping” and “whitewashing” unwanted Google results is not always an effective approach. Early in the Internet’s history, online reputation management providers found ways to trick Google into hiding unwanted results. These tactics worked for a while, but now more often earn penalties for the websites benefiting from them. What does that mean? It means Google can drop those sites in search results when it recognizes attempts to game the system with poorly written content “dumps” and a multitude of fake links from meaningless sites. So if any provider tries to sell you on “suppression” techniques, learn more about what techniques they plan to use.
We publish comprehensive, free resources to educate consumers and help them to avoid such approaches. The Essentials: Online Reputation Management FAQs is the best one to start with.