Reputation Management Advice

[Rebecca Kelley]

We're doing some reputation management for a client, where we're trying to push an unfavorable search result off the front page of Google. The problem is that the unfavorable search result is from a site with only five links to that particular page, yet the result refuses to budge because it's ranking high due to the power of its domain. We've built loads of social media profiles, links to our client's sites, etc, but the page in question won't get off the first page.

Do any of you have any suggestions or tips on anything else we can try?

[SurfYourName]

Need more information. First step it to compare each site from top to bottom. Keywords, header tags, meta tags, etc. That’s the only thing I can suggest with this amount of information!

Erik Bledsoe
www.SurfYourName.com

[bhartzer]

It's tough to give specific recommendations without knowing the specific keyword search. I'm assuming that you're building links to the more positive pages so that they'll rank better than the one you want to push down?

[Chris]

report the other site as a spam site to Google or the duplicate content trick? perhaps a covert link bomb, done slowly as to not attract attention... of course, every thing i recommended is black-hat and unethical, except for the linkbomb but then you have the mighty Goog to deal with when it comes to these gems.

if they domain is indeed that strong, it sounds like only a influx of relevant links that wouldn't be discounted or penalized is the best bet - something from an authority, obviously - which kinda points the weaknesses of a SMO campaign. those kinds of links - while there are many - don't seem to "stick" as well...

captain obvious at your service.

[Ne0]

David Naylor found the best reputation management technique I think I've EVER SEEN!

Used to be a Google search for 'Brittney shaved' (returned some unfavorable pictures of Brittney Spears getting out of a limo, and she apparently had forgotten underwear)

Her manager said she should SHAVE her head!

Now a Google Search for Brittney Shaved returns Thousands of pics w/ Britney spears' shaved head! (I don't care who you are... that's FUNNY!)

And is this the SEOmoz chick that was teasing me about heelys? the username looks familiar....

A little more insight into what page your trying to have removed and what page your trying to replace it with would seriously help matters (you can send a PM if you want to keep the URL private)

DB

[brian.mark]

Personally, I like the link bombing idea, Chris.

There are lots of options. A few extra links to the social site profiles can rank them higher pretty quickly, but I'm sure you knew that already.

Without a url to look at, more specific information will be tough.

Brian.

[Rebecca Kelley]

Originally Posted by bhartzer

It's tough to give specific recommendations without knowing the specific keyword search. I'm assuming that you're building links to the more positive pages so that they'll rank better than the one you want to push down?

Yep, we're doing exactly that. We're trying to flood the front page with sites/pages having to do with our client in hopes of pushing the negative result off the front page, but so far we haven't been that successful.

The keyword is the client's name, which I unfortunately cannot share with you all. I know my vague circumstances make it difficult to dispense advice, but I figured I'd still ask you all if you had any recommendations/advice.

[Rebecca Kelley]

Originally Posted by Ne0

And is this the SEOmoz chick that was teasing me about heelys? the username looks familiar....

DB

Yep, it's the very same!

And I don't think I can get our client to shave his head... :P

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by Rebecca Kelley

We're trying to flood the front page with sites/pages having to do with our client in hopes of pushing the negative result off the front page, but so far we haven't been that successful.

Are you doing it on authoritative domains? More than the one that wont budge? Are you doing reverse linking building like suggested above?
Have you loked at Quixtar as a good case study for this?

Quixtar Caught in Search Engine PR Battle

Quixtar Spamming the Search Engines?

[SemAdvance]

How long have you been trying to move these pages off??

I think I might have turned down your client recently so if it's the same person I would say you are another month or two off for full scoring.

I would get out of the SMO method and delve into blogging off of blogger, yahoo360, msn spaces and wordpress hosted blogs, start updating and pinging.

Host free standing blogs on separate c class servers and under different domain registration information.

Extend domain registrations, do the links the right way and you'll own the page soon enough,

Beat the enemy senseless by thinking out side the box....

Go for some paid directory anchor links...grab a Yahoo Directory listing

Google doesn't know everything and wishes it could tame itself lol

blog ping blog ping blog ping blog ping...search engines will come crawling

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by SemAdvance

Extend domain registrations, do the links the right way and you'll own the page soon enough

True with the keyword being a "client name" should be easy by registering more domains and blogging away.

[Ne0]

Bad press for a client eh? Doesn't sound like a fun project... And this is one of those where I would invoke some black hat tricks to bump whomever is messing with you

.02

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by Ne0

whomever is messing with you

Probably not messing with client, just "real" bad press that for all we know could be true

[incrediblehelp]

Had more time to think tonight:

1. How about "employing" or offering other bloggers to step up and post about the client. Not so much PPP or Review Me style, but emailing or calling them one by one and doing it the right way.

2. Another idea is to join forums and other websites which require a user name and have a indexable profile page. For instance if you look up my name: "Jaan Kanellis" you will find MyBlogLog and many other websites that simply list a profile page. Of course your user name has to be the keyword/brand your going after, duh.

3. How about stock quote page? Is this client name/brand/keyword a public company? If so start linking to those stock quote pages from Yahoo and Google Finance.

4. How about getting Social Media websites to help like Yahoo Answers or Google Groups. Once the web page is created start getting some links pointing to the answer/group page and watch it climb! This really applies to any sort of page that allows you to author your own question/content.

5. How about getting news interviews, podcasts, etc on the subject of brand/keyword live online? Of course these will be primarily authored by the client and positive in nature. Getting the client to do them and making sure the interviewer posts them online is obviously important.

Basically the bottom line of my points above is to utilize already top ranking websites for your own brand benefit, while keeping the end user plenty happy with what they find in the SERPs.

More:

6. Buy, buy, buy domains around your target keyword/brand. Get them live with unique content and offer social interaction/Web 2.0 for visitors. They will rank faster than you can believe.

7. Create another controversy. Well this is very tricky, but rightly constructed it could over power whatever rankings are there now, that are in your way.

8. Make sure your ruling the PPC spots. This can only help protect your brand and will help influence visitors to see who is the real website that they should be visited.

Consolodated all of them into a thread here:

Top 10 Reputation or Brand Management Tips

Another decent article:
SEO as your brand watchdog

[bj]

6. Buy, buy, buy domains around your target keyword/brand. Get them live with unique content and offer social interaction/Web 2.0 for visitors. They will rank faster than you can believe.

blog ping blog ping blog ping blog ping...search engines will come crawling

These are the two best pieces of advice you've gotten. Combining them by building the new sites using WordPress, and setting them up to ping all the update services will help quicker than anything else.

The other thing I didn't see mentioned is the use of link text. The more times you have proper link text to point at this domain, the better it will be. This can be controlled through forum posts with a valid sig link (no use of nofollow!) and blogposts with links in the new sites you're building using blog software. Also make sure to use technorati tags on all posts and use that keyphrase as a tag as often as possible.

I'd also get a lot of press releases out there with whatever news about this company that you can come up with. Create a buzz to counter that negative.

And the Article Banks/Article Submissions can help as well.

This is all standard stuff, but obviously you're going to have to be pretty aggressive about it for awhile. Within reason, at least.

You might learn something by googling the phrase "The other White Milk". Catching the blog world's attention can create a HELLUVA buzz.

Do you know any WikiPedia editors? Does this company have a wikipedia article?

[Tig]

Rebecca,
Well, if all else fails, your client could offer to purchase the unfavorable site from the designers. It might be possible your client deserved the bad press and may have to make reparations.
I know if a client slighted me (such as taking my money and not completing the services that were paid for) and I created an unfavorable site of the company, reparations might soften me up.

Just a thought.
Have a great day!
Ty

[wige]

Just as a thought, although I am not sure how long it would take to implement...

You mentioned that the main reason you are unable to unseat this negative site is because the keyword is in the domain name, and that keyword is the company name of your client. This is often considered trademark infringement, you MIGHT be able to take control of the domain that way. Also, if you or your lawyer can find evidence of blatant slander on this site, or other examples of trademark infringement... media files, quotes, logos, etc... have the lawyer draft letters to EVERYONE... the hosting company, the registrar, the ISP for the hosting company, the major search engines. The threat of litigation may be enough get the site suspended long enough to drop out of the rankings so your content can fill the void, then when the site returns, they will have an uphill battle to return to the home page.

Also, if your client web site is in the #1 position, it should have a good amount of wieght to push the other page off and pull your other sites up. Create two or three dozen small promo sites - maybe the client has several current specials running, make a site for each - either as subdomains or companynameotherwords.com and link to them from the home page of your main site, which should be the highest ranked site for the keywords in question. These optimized links from the "authority" for that keyword might be enough to drag those other sites up to the front page. Do the same with the blogs and other pages you have created. Note, I have not tried this, and there may be other consequences resulting from a new block of outgoing links suddenly added to the web site. This is just an idea, someone else here I am sure can tell you if it is wise or not.

[DrTandem1]

Let me see, if I understand the problem. There is some domain, let's call it JoesWidgets.com. Your client's name is JoesWidgets, but his site is called xyzwidgets.com or something. So, when someone searches for "JoesWidgets," they see the result for JoesWidgets.com and that site is some how objectionable and you don't want it associated with your client. Is that the idea?

If so, the first thing I want to know is whether the other site, JoesWidgets.com has a legitimate reason for using that domain name. If your client's actual name or business name is being used for something else by the other site, your client may be able to get the domain using the resources of ICANN.

If the other domain name is ambiguous, or they have a legitimate reason to use it, your client may not be successful in wresting the name away from the other site.

A domain name by itself is unlikely to be the deciding factor in why it appears so highly in the SERPs. So, I’m not clear on what you mean by the “power of its domain.” If it’s a situation like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s boyfriend, Joel Rifkin, has the same name as the infamous New York serial killer, you may be out of luck. Infamous or famous will both attract high rankings in the SERPs. You may need to adopt Elaine’s solution to have her boyfriend change his name. In your case, your client’s name.

Objectionable material is in the eye of the beholder. If you were having the same issue with simply a competitor, your question is like asking “How do I eliminate my competitor from the SERPs for a specific search term?” In short, you can not. All you can control is your client’s site.

If the other site is truly objectionable in content, then legitimate visitors searching for your client’s site will move on their way. If the other site is disparaging your client, your only defense is a slander suit and/or a trademark infringement. However, be very careful in this area. Opinions (in the US) are protected by free speech as are parodies. So, seek legal counsel, if this is the issue.

[ash]

The unfavourable domain belongs to someone else, e.g. their blog/forum/consumer advocacy site.

The only thing not mentioned so far is a DMCA complaint if something has been "copied without permission" even if it their brand name. IANAL, so I don't know if that will stand up in court, or whether the client doesn't need more adverse publicity if it backfires.

[bj]

If that page is someone expressing an opinion about the company's product, and mentions the brand name, it comes under the "fair use" provision. Otherwise there would be no reviews ever allowed of recordings, movies, consumer goods, or anything else.

Using Trademark infringement or the DMCA can severely backfire, as TI backfired in the case of the Pork Board's attorney going after The Lactivist Blog for using "The other white milk" as a slogan, or like DMCA backfired in the case of Disney/ABC and Spocko's Brain.

[ash]

Excellent point, BJ. Strike out the DMCA suggestion, unless there are substantial slabs of content that exceed the Fair Use limits.

[se-survivor]

Personally, if I'm looking for muck on a product/service it's pretty easy to find it. There are just too many keyword combinations that one can look for that can't possibly be covered for the client.

Therefore I'd recommend the U.S. Government approach of misdirection or as is commonly referred to, "FUD". (Fear, uncertainty and doubt) http://tinyurl.com/2478pa

You have to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer when you're doing this. He/she goes out on the net and does their usual due diligence. If the only bad thing being said about the product seems to come from some shrill, axe-grinding, a**hole, then chances are pretty good that the consumer will ignore that particular report and go with the product that has an enormous amount of credibility and positive reviews.

So here's where your FUD comes in. If your axe-grinding, shrill target has skipped on his college tuition, has 200 unpaid parking tickets, and qualifies as a deadbeat dad, well...guess how long he's going to stay as a valuable source of information. Everybody, and I mean everybody has a skeleton in their closet...and even if they don't...doubt is all that is required.

That's how the gov't keeps the UFO guys at bay. Pretty easy to discredit them anytime they want to.