In Part III of Online Reputation Management Guide, we had disclosed some basic tactics to fix negative search results and effectively kick-off your negative review management. In this article, we will be discussing advanced tactics to push down the negative content from the first page search engine results.

Read on…

Sometimes basic online presence and advanced SEO techniques are just not enough. You need advanced techniques to deal with the negative review content appearing on the first page of your search engine results. Here’s what all you can do…

Remove, Bury or Knock Down Negative Search Results

Remove

Removing the negative results is often the first option people take. In some cases it's worth it to try.

• Approach the concerned person, who is the source of posted content (author, social media account owner, website owner, etc.), professionally and explain why you need the content to be taken down. They may oblige.
• You may also approach Google and file a legal complaint giving evidence to prove that the content is defamatory or contains personal information. In genuine cases, such complaints are heard and attended to.
• Try to get the website removed by filing a formal complaint. It is possible if the content violates the hosting company’s Terms of Service Agreement.

What all might hinder success if you take this route?

1. These methods are time-consuming and, at times, expensive or not feasible. Because if the concerned authority doesn't intend to take it down, taking the legal action can prove to be a long & tiring process.
2. The results are always archived (or cached) by the search engines and might frequently show up, even after being removed.

Bury

Burying the negative results require that you have covered all the basic steps before divulging deeper. So ensure you have a basic online presence – registered domain name, website, social media profile etc. Additionally, make sure that content is search engine optimized. Next, you go on to adding content that shows up high or quickly get on the first page.

Here are a few ideas that may work in your favor.

• Comment on news articles and link back to your website. These are considered quite credible and is an effective way to get a high ranking result.
• Write a Press Release. You can write about any positive event or topic but do include links
• Plan an event, say on “MeetUp” because Google ranks these profiles very high. Use your name in the event title.
• You may also create profiles on your schools website, or local govt. website or write a guest blog post. Volunteering to do such things is an easy way to get a result on the first page. It is free as long as the content provided is informative and quality-oriented.

Knock Down

Search engines rank one result on the first page per domain. So knocking down a negative search result is entirely possible if concerted effort is made to knock down a negative review/article by replacing with another positive result in the same domain. It's going to be a lot of work and a lot of time but this target is attainable.

Let's assume someone wrote a blog on blog spot and it shows up as your number one result. To counter it, create a profile that is more relevant to your name than the bad article in blog spot only where the negative article appears and use it to post a positive blog.

• Keep that profile you have created – always updated & active.
• Include your full name and make sure this is included in the URL and the title-tags
• Link to as many other profiles as possible for ranking this keyword higher. Remember using “Full Name” in the link text.
• Fill complete information as this enhances relevance for search engines.