I came across an interesting post on Graywolf’s SEO Blog the other day. Apparently he is unhappy with the customer service at a web hosting company. Apart from voicing his opinion of the company, the page happens to be well set up to show up on search engines.
This page is a good example of why companies today are well advised to monitor their online reputation. It’s important to know who’s saying what about your company. While it’s true that you can’t control what other people say, it is also true that by knowing what’s being said, you have the opportunity to respond to them.
It is also possible to get a site to rank well for a keyword that they are not targeting on their website. This is called a Google-bomb or a link-bomb. What this means is that someone skilled in SEO will use off-site SEO to cause a site to rank high for a keyword the site is not targeting. You can see the results of a link bomb for liar (Tony Blair’s official website) and miserable failure (George W. Bush’s official biography). Which brings us to a side note: For all of you who believe that you can rank higher simply by adding your keyword to your site one… more… time… Remember that off-site SEO is a powerful factor in rankings.
What can you do if someone is using SEO against you?
Although it can be extremely dismaying to discover that someone is using SEO to harm your reputation, there are ways you can help minimize the potential damage. The first option is to deal with the problem at the source - contact the person and see if you can resolve the issue. You may also want to discuss ways that you can further foster goodwill and smooth out any misunderstandings. It may also be a good idea to publicly respond to any allegations that are made, if you can do so in a way that takes into account the feelings of the person making the claims. If you find that an undesireable site is ranking high for your brand name, you can work with your SEO company to increase the overall strength of your own online brand. This strategy can be quite effective over time.
There are many ways that a company can monitor what’s being said about them online. There is a good chance that basic reputation monitoring can be set up by your SEO company. This is a relatively easy way to keep track of your reputation online. After all, you can’t respond quickly to situations you are unaware of.
If someone were to do a search for your website today, what would they find?