Cut it in the butt! Cleaning your reputation, (ORM) Online Reputation Management, online is not an easy task. One thing that is for sure is that you want to cut the situation in the butt as soon as you realize your position has been tarnished online. The average person probably wouldn’t lose any sleep over supposedly false information online. However, there are many people who have spent years branding their name, reputation and could lose a substantial amount of money. In this blog post, you will get some great tips that we gathered from our experience in online reputation management.
Online reputation management
The only way to get Google or any search engine to remove a page from the Internet is through a court ruling. Other than that, you are on your own, however, there is still hope. If there is a will, there is a way. It will require a small investment in buying domain names, building microsites, and a little creativity to polish your online reputation.
There is a difference of opinion about the use of microsites (a one or two page website). We’ve seen plenty of microsites looking for spam, and we’re sure you will too. Microsites are perfect for ORM campaigns. The site must contain high-quality information that is easy to obtain and easy to share as a link. In addition, it includes a small and minimal navigation. For example, a home page, an about us page, and a contact page. There are several microsite options that you can choose from. The more the better.
The Way of Charity
It would be perfect if the person or organization you are doing the ORM for is involved in charity events or has a huge wallet for donation purposes. This gives your ORM campaign more options.
1. Buy a domain near the event.
2. Create a microsite.
3. No commercial content or ads.
4. Use as many photographs of charity events as possible.
5. Request a link from the charity to the microsite.
The importance of domain names
Get a domain that contains keyword terms that you are trying to rank high for. The trick here is to keep the domains short and simple. The better the shorter as they are easier to remember. The search engine optimization of the site will also benefit.
History of the company or the person
Create microsites using the history of the company or individual. This would ideally be a notable event from the past. Creating microsites simply for history may seem ridiculous, but the purpose is to fill search engine space. It is your reputation that is at stake, how far are you willing to go?
Emphasize employees
Sometimes the answers we seek are right under our noses. Employees of an organization are perfect for a microsite that highlights their accomplishments. If the employees are well diversified, as they should be, then you can also highlight that aspect. A brief biography of the person who excels in your position is a good start. You can even create microsites for each department. Be creative! Be smart! Have fun!
Think Contests. Think about prizes.
People love free stuff and if you throw in a little competition, like a contest, you’re in business! This is the easiest way to build links, but the trick is to entice people to share your submission URL. The more links, the higher your page rank and search engine listing will increase as your website traffic will increase significantly. You can create a microsite just for the contest and then link it to your main site. Fortune 500 companies do it all the time.
Viral content is key
Positive content always goes viral, negative content has a 50/50 chance. Content that evokes emotions such as anger, anxiety or fear, although it could be considered negative information, is contagious; people spreading your URL/link is exactly what you want. Viral marketing is the best type of internet marketing!
Keep a fresh website
Microsites are usually simple websites that shouldn’t require a lot of maintenance. Change the content at least once a year or you will find yourself with an outdated website. If those negative pages still exist, you should continue to fight and renew your domains until the first two pages in search results are to your liking.