360DigitalInfluence

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Jul 02

The 4 Elements to Search Reputation Management

John Bell

by John Bell
Category: Digital Influence

We don’t go to Web sites anymore. We go to Google results (at least in the US, we do). And Googling people has become a standard background check for anyone you are considering doing business with. Check your name in Google. Search for any likely variation (e.g. with and without middle name or initial, etc…). Then set up a Google Alert for yourself.

Some people have negative mentions of themselves in the first two pages of results. That can happen either because they did something negative that others are talking about,  public documents, again negative, are showing up  in results, someone is trying to damage  your search reputation and is publishing negative content or optimizing content that is negative such that it shows up higher in search results. The Washington Post features an article today that describes this practice in pretty objective terms. Specialty firms have sprung up around this practice which is essentially SEO 2.0 (search engine optimization for the search engine and social media set). We do it for our clients and I am guessing most PR firms do it for theirs.

If you have  bad search results there are 4 things you can do to manage your Search Reputation:

1. Create positive content about yourself on several domains

So, you create Bobsmith.com, Bobsmith.net,  Bobsmith.org, BobESmith.com, etc… And you publish your bio and background including, of course, your good works. Each one must have lots of cross links to the others and preferably lots of inbound links. Search engines like inbound links. They also prefer content from multiple domains. These can be blog format or Web site format. If you start a blog, make sure you maintain it following best blog practices. otherwise you might get dinged for faking it.

2. Create your profile in all of the major social networks

This is really  an extension of the same strategy. In this case you are creating profiles in Linked In, MySpace, Facebook, Gather, Mashable, MyRagan  and others. Again populate with the real story of who you are and what you have accomplished. All of this content has the potential to dominate the search results. You should, of course, check your Wikipedia article, but beware, if you go in and change the facts to your advantage they will find out. And that could become new content against you.

3. Get social & publish

Start reading blogs and message boards and then, when you are confident with what is going on, start posting and making acquaintances out in the Web. You don’t have to have a blog but it helps.  Some of these people may post positively about you, and those third party posts are even more valuable than the ones you create. Publish articles, create content under your name on third party sites (time to write that article for the Association web site you have been putting off.) Find old content and publish it somewhere.

4. Stop doing bad things

As the old adage goes, “sometimes you have a communications problem and sometimes you have a problem.” Whether its getting drunk and being photographed, doing a hatchet job on someone yourself, or some other sloppy or blackhat work, you might want to stop. Of course this is a naive statrement. Many people have controversial jobs that require pissing someone off to get a job done (campaign workers, for instance). Still, if you are a little more conscious of your effect on others and the risk of visibility, you might choose another course of action. And remember, not much ever goes away or expires on the Internet. The best you can hope for is to bury things in the haystack.

 

Search Reputation Management uses the dynamic of search engines to improve your results. Is it gaming the system? It is using the tools available to make an impact. If you are the victim of slander, if you have changed your erring ways, you have a way of telling your side of who you are. Whether you use a service like ReputationDefender or our own (we have our own approach including using the TruView  approach from our friends at Visible Technologies.) We are all trying to protect our reputation online.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 7:36 am and is filed under Digital Influence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


12 Responses to “The 4 Elements to Search Reputation Management”

  1. David H. Deans Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 8:56 am

    John,

    Regarding your point about stop doing bad things, ironically traditional PR firms seem to be some of the worst offenders — I’m thinking of the Edelman “Wal-Marting Across America,” fiasco as a prime example.

    A Google search for “Walmart blog” still lists numerous stories about Edelman’s now notorious attempt at “gaming the system.” It begs the question — what should an individual or company do if they are a victim of their inept PR firm?

    Do traditional PR firms, and their staff, really have the expertise in “authentic commentary” to be able to act as qualified Search Reputation Management advisers?

  2. John Bell Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 am

    I don’t know if all PR firms are as committed to the practice of “authentic commentary” as we are. We create programs that do not try to game social media (i.e. use it surreptitiously). That’s why we are super-active in WOMMA and embrace their ethics policies. If anything, I have seen some smaller firms skirting around the edges of what is best practice in ethical communications. Still, size has little to do with it. “Traditional PR” is actually a big, diverse universe complete with folks who sincerely want to build relationships with people based upon trust and some who embrace the spin-at-all-costs model. We do the former and are preaching it internally all of the time.

  3. Blake Cahill Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 11:02 am

    John,

    Thanks for mentioning Visible Technologies and the TruView service we provide.

    The points you make about the increasing importance of ones online reputation and ethical engagement are very valid.

    Blake Cahill

  4. VisInsights » Blog Archive » Thoughts from Ogilvy PR about Online Reputation Management Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 1:30 pm

    [...] John Bell, Managing Director, over at Ogilvy PR in D.C. had a interesting post today about “Search Reputation Mangement”. If you don’t follow John and his colleagues on their 360 Digital Influence blog you may want to. His post highlighted the growing importance of people’s online reputations in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. [...]

  5. Lee Henshaw Says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    That’s good advice, but what about when you share the name of Britain’s most prolific porn star, as I do? No amount of digital trickery can get me better results for anything that I’m involved with than his latest film, For Your Thighs Only.

    Confused,

    Lee Henshaw.

  6. Jonathon D. Colman Says:
    July 3rd, 2007 at 5:21 am

    What works for individuals can also work for companies and non-profit organizations. I agree with John that being open, honest, and accountable is of key importance. See the WOMMA ethics code @ http://womma.org/ethics/ for more info.

  7. Alison Byrne Fields Says:
    July 4th, 2007 at 11:27 am

    The July 9 issue of Business Week has an article that ties reputation to stock performance and which suggests that companies — because they have more effective ways to quantify the relationship — are willing to invest more in “image research,” including assessing what is being said about the brand within social media (inevitably, there is a focus on blogs versus other forms).

    Your recommendation to “stop doing bad things” can be be coupled with “start doing good things” or even, “start doing remarkable things,” which ties back to your #3 about getting social. The content that comes from third parties — including your customers and constituents — and displaces the negative improves your search results in the most organic and credible way.

  8. the intersection» Blog Archive » Letting Google Define the Issue Says:
    July 4th, 2007 at 11:46 am

    [...] John Bell, the Managing Director of Ogilvy’s global 360 Degree Digital Influence group, posted on Monday on Ogilvy’s Digital Influence blog, about the 4 Elements of Search Reputation Management. As John points out, search results have become part of a “standard background check.” [...]

  9. VisInsights » Blog Archive » Search Reputation Management: Is That All There Is? Says:
    July 10th, 2007 at 4:52 pm

    [...] My colleague, Blake Cahill, asked that I offer some thoughts and follow-up on the John Bell at Ogilvy PR’s ideas about Search Reputation Management. [...]

  10. Paul Sandschneider Says:
    July 25th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    Realy, realy nice work! I was impressed! My own are

  11. Addie Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

    what if someone writes something that is embarrasing about you, then the info is corrected later. the embarrasing thing still lives on the web and shows up high in a search results. how do you fix this without drawing even more attention to yourself?

  12. Andrew Ward Says:
    September 16th, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    The decision influencing power of the Internet will reward companies who have fewer problems and resolve them quickly over those who have persistent problems and ignore them. This provides a free-market incentive for businesses to always do the right thing.

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