Ross Kernez is Director of Search Marketing at HPOne, Mentor at Starta Ventures, and Founder of SEOMeetup.
No one wants to search Google and see a wall of bad press about them or their business. Unsurprisingly, many people want to fight back.
In my previous Forbes article, I outlined some tips readers could take to address this issue, and now I’m back with more ways to address bad press, negative articles and other undesirable stuff on Google.
The first thing to understand is that bad press on Google is rarely the product of just one thing. If that were the case, you would likely ignore the tiny bit and move on. The failure to bury negative search results in the first place tends to start with a lack of positive information about you or your business online. Your first step is to build a positive online presence. Your company should be producing positive news and content across a variety of channels.
There is a good chance that the reason you need to get rid of bad press in search results is because your online presence isn’t strong enough. Start generating a positive online presence by using the most cost-effective tools at your disposal: your personal website, your blog and social media accounts. Your goal here is extremely straightforward. Outrank the bad press by creating high-quality content about your name or your company that performs better in search. Your goal is to bury negative search results with positive ones.
But if building a personal website, launching a PR campaign or using advanced search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to push down negative press aren’t working, here are some additional tips that aim to go a bit further in addressing negative search results.
Tactic One: Google’s Removal Request Tool
Google maintains a removal request tool, and the search giant accepts plenty of reasonable explanations for why content should disappear from search results pages. A company may take down a search result if it is outdated, has personal information that should not be public, violates copyright rules or contains illegal content.
Note that the removal tool isn’t a magic wand. Google is well within its rights to decline the request. The main benefit of the removal tool is that it offers a fast and straightforward way to initiate the process of removing negative press. If Google grants the request, note that the removal tool doesn’t take the offending page off the internet. It merely removes references to the offending page from search engine results pages.
Tactic Two: Directly Ask A Site To Remove The Content
Many websites may remove content if it violates their terms and conditions. Using email or private messaging through social media, contact the journalist and ask if they will remove the offending content. State your case clearly and as politely as possible. If you’re having trouble tracking down the owner of a website, don’t despair. Start with the contact page for the site and see if any information leads to someone with decision-making power.
Tactic Three: Avoid Public Spats
As tempting as it might be to try to publicly correct the record, do not get into a spat online or elsewhere. Your goal is to remove bad press, not generate more with an internet fight. Under no circumstances should you write articles about the situation.
Likewise, do not publicly comment on forums or social media sites about the matter. Absolutely do not directly engage with offending parties on social media. All this does is risk creating a public squabble, and people love to talk about someone else’s spat.
Tactic Four: Bury Negative Search Results
Working with an agency that specializes in suppressing or burying negative search results is the most popular option since the agency could build your website, create positive PR campaigns and get more quality backlinks that will help you to drive down the negative search results to the second or third pages.
Tactic Five: Right To Be Forgotten
In the EU, a right-to-be-forgotten law has emerged. These are rules that require that older information about non-public figures be removed from the internet as it ages. While the right to be forgotten only applies to search results for those specific jurisdictions, it can be especially helpful if those are your main areas of operation. If you are in the United States, Australia, South Africa or any country outside the EU, this strategy will not work for you.
Keep Fighting The Fight
The quest to remove bad press is a process that takes anywhere from six months to a year. You could have a multifront strategy that allows you to remove and bury negative search results so you can reclaim your brand. The critical thing is to take action immediately and stay at it. By putting in the work to maintain good press and suppress the negative, you can sustain a positive public image for years to come.
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