| One of the things that have kept people honest on | | | | being able to change the search results and that |
| sites like eBay has been a serious take on reputation. | | | | means taking advantage of those multiple |
| Doing business through that portal has required that the | | | | conversation channels you have been building up. |
| chatter about you as a buyer or a seller be good, | | | | Take Advantage of Social Media: Fighting Fire with |
| something like a credit rating. Too many "negs" on your | | | | Fire |
| record and you can be branded a bad risk. But what | | | | The goal is to either raise your brand name above the |
| happens when that reputation-intensive mindset | | | | troublesome search engine result or bury it-however |
| escapes the controlled, hot-house environs of eBay | | | | you look at it, it is the same thing. The more results that |
| and lands on the mean streets of Google, Yahoo and | | | | you can get between the page top and that awful |
| the other major search engines? Consider this | | | | review the lower on the page it goes. Then, if that |
| example: | | | | continues, the nasty thing drops off the first page |
| You are the Stan of Stan's Pizza and Goulash, an | | | | altogether. Whatever you call it, the complaint is gone |
| up-and-coming pizza and goulash place in a hip | | | | and you can move on to more pleasant things. |
| downtown area. Being the tech-savvy child of the '90s | | | | I think maybe Joe Pesci said it best in the movie, |
| that you are, you have a great website with all sorts | | | | Casino, "There are a lot holes in the desert; and a lot |
| of bells and whistles like online ordering, e-mail | | | | of problems are buried in those holes." You have to |
| reservations and even live chat to help work out any | | | | have a similar mindset when it comes to your |
| special problems. You have spent time and effort | | | | reputation: You have to bury the problems. I am not |
| getting to the top of the search engines and now, | | | | suggesting digging a hole and then inviting the offending |
| whenever someone types in "pizza and goulash," the | | | | blogger to a picnic, but I am suggesting that you bury |
| first listing is yours! | | | | their words. |
| Imagine your horror when you see the second result | | | | Unlike the release of the original piece that caused all |
| from some fairly critical blogger who wrote: | | | | this consternation, burial can be a time-consuming |
| Stan's Pizza and Goulash is Armageddon on a plate, a | | | | process. It could take hours, days or even weeks to |
| veritable dietary Megiddo in the heart of our city! There | | | | generate enough search engine results to push that |
| was nothing more disturbing than having the so-called | | | | problem into the hole and bury it. That is going to |
| pizza and goulash actually delivered to the table. You | | | | depend on how active you have been with the social |
| don't know which dish is which and the way it tastes, | | | | media sites, those multiple conversation channels that |
| you don't care! Stay away from Stan's and pray that | | | | you should have been cultivating since Day One. |
| his mother goes straight to hell for bringing this | | | | Burying the Problem |
| gastronomic anti-Christ into the world in the first place! | | | | This may sound negative, but the process of digging |
| Now anyone who finds your restaurant and may be | | | | your hole and burying your problematic search engine |
| interested in coming down for pizza and goulash will | | | | result is really a very productive one. It is all based on |
| see this blogger's end-of-days take on your food. True, | | | | generating as much positive material as you can. Just |
| it sounds like Jeremiah Wright on a bender, and the | | | | remember that whatever you do, use the same |
| temptation to dismiss it as such is very strong, but you | | | | search terms that brought up the negative result as |
| can't ignore it. The fact is that rational or raving, it's still | | | | the keywords for anything you create. |
| going to cost you business. Knowing that, what will you | | | | - Build on someone else's site. No, we are talking about |
| do? | | | | hacking into someone's website, we are talking about |
| The short answer is that what you do depends | | | | social networking sites, forums and other sites where |
| heavily on what you have already done. | | | | you can build pages with links back to your site, set up |
| Planning for Reputation Management | | | | profiles in the name of your website or company and |
| There was a time when a business' website was | | | | communicate with people. With these, you are trading |
| really little more than an online brochure with some | | | | on the authority and good name of the sites you are |
| contact information and a live e-mail link. Those days | | | | active on, such as twitter, mySpace, Squidoo or |
| are long gone. Today, a business' website is far more | | | | Hubpages. Just remember that if the offending blog |
| sophisticated. This is no surprise since the Internet | | | | came from one of the sites you plan to pursue, you |
| environment is also far more sophisticated and part of | | | | will need to drop that site since your entry on it will not |
| that sophistication is what we now know as social | | | | out rank the problematic entry. |
| media. Through forums, blogs, chat rooms, instant | | | | - Build-up your website. You have the URL, you have |
| messaging and, of course, e-mail, people are talking to | | | | the relevance for the keywords. Build some useful |
| each other like never before. They are also sharing | | | | pages for your site that concentrate on those |
| opinions like never before. Whereas before, Stan's | | | | keywords. Make sure you follow good search engine |
| might have had newspaper and magazine articles to | | | | optimization protocols and this tactic can only help your |
| worry about; today the opinions that once took hours | | | | existing ranking while adding search engine results that |
| or even days to reach their audience now take little | | | | will push the offending entry down toward the bottom |
| more time than the time to write the piece in the first | | | | of the page. One interesting tactic that falls under this |
| place. Delivery is nearly instantaneous. That means if | | | | strategy is to create your own negative pages about |
| you don't plan ahead, you will find yourself playing | | | | yourself. I know, it seems a bit counter-intuitive, but |
| catch-up, doing your best to mitigate damage that | | | | people do tend to look for negative search engine |
| should have been prevented in the first place. | | | | results first, so if you create pages that sound critical in |
| This is where planning comes in. | | | | their keyword use, but are loaded with positive content, |
| According to Glen Allsopp, the author of Online | | | | you can diffuse potential issues. For example, the |
| Reputation Management: All You'll Ever Need to | | | | negative phrase "high prices" can be turned into |
| Monitor and Manage Your Reputation Online, online | | | | something like "High prices are no problem at Stan's!" |
| reputation management is the "process of monitoring a | | | | With a little work and creativity, you should be able to |
| brand online, knowing how to deal with any negativity | | | | head off many critical searches this way. |
| and understanding how you can pro-actively protect | | | | - Answer the challenge. This is simple, it is |
| your brand via conversation channels." Essentially, this | | | | straightforward and it will make you look good to boot. |
| means you will have to use the same social media to | | | | If the criticism is on a blog or a forum, then stand up to |
| repair the damage that the blogger in this case used to | | | | it, answer the critic as professionally as you can and |
| inflict it. | | | | try to help them. Why do this? You do it because |
| There are, says Allsopp, three steps to effective online | | | | anyone who finds that page will also find your |
| reputation management-management, monitoring and | | | | response. They will, in effect, get both sides of the |
| repair. You have to take each of these into account | | | | argument and will see you as concerned and |
| when you develop your reputation management | | | | professional. |
| strategy. | | | | Keep it an Isolated Incident |
| - Management. This includes a strategy to monitor | | | | Do you want to spend your time doing business or |
| your brand, having a solid understanding of how to deal | | | | acting like some cyber-Pesci digging holes in the |
| with issues, developing multiple conversation channels | | | | Internet desert? Churchill once pointed out that criticism |
| (a presence on various social media sites) so they are | | | | is like pain in the body, it tells us that there is something |
| available when needed, and actively building your brand | | | | wrong. When someone criticizes your company, it is |
| in a positive way. | | | | time to take a look-a good, hard look-at what that |
| - Monitoring. As self-evident as this may be, there are | | | | person is complaining about. This is your opportunity to |
| some specific things that need to be included in any | | | | improve your product, your service, maybe your |
| monitoring plan such as why you should monitor your | | | | internal procedures. If you are getting complaints about |
| brand online, what you should be monitoring such as | | | | certain things, then look at those issues and solve |
| keywords or phrases and what tools you should be | | | | them. Be open, communicative and above all honest |
| using to do it. | | | | and you will head off further reputation problems. |
| - Repair. The damage is done, now what? Effective | | | | The Bottom Line |
| repair can be accomplished once you know why the | | | | Even the best companies get negative feedback and |
| writer said what he did, can deal with the issue | | | | dings to their reputations, but they can rise above it |
| correctly, and can take ownership of the search | | | | because they can deal with the feedback and mitigate |
| results and change them. | | | | the effects it can have. That is a skill you need to |
| Taken together, these three parts can create a | | | | cultivate for your own business as a part of your |
| powerful reputation management strategy that will | | | | public relations effort. After all, it's your good name on |
| serve you well. The key to repairing damage, though, is | | | | the line. Protect it. |