SEO Reputation Management Tools
Fight Negative Publicity with Online Media Training Ideas and SEO
Oct 3, 2007
Manage a company's online reputation with a few easy-to-follow SEO tips. Whether it’s it's the owner or CEO who is the victim of online slander, or an entire insurance agency or company that’s fighting negative publicity, there are some easy steps for damage control.
In the old days, insurance companies provided media training to public-facing board members and senior-level members of staff. Today, traditional media training continues, but with a twist: it’s focused on managing reputations and developing media training geared towards online customers using SEO (search engine optimization) reputation management tools.
Fight Negative Publicity
Online reputation management tools are useful when fighting negative publicity for something that’s surfaced from the past or a current problem that’s receiving negative attention online or in the media. In the past, a story might be run on the news that negatively affected an insurance agent's reputation, then after a while the story died out, becoming yesterday’s news. With the Internet, solid online media training and reputation management tips are needed to fight negative publicity, because the stories never really go away - they’re on the Web forever.
Online Reputation Management Tools Improve Public Perceptions
SEO and reputation management tools help because they push the bad publicity back in Google results. Instead of the showing up on page one of Google results, negative press, negative comments in forums and customer complaints are moved to later pages in Google. And, studies show that most people only look at page one results, few people click through to page two results, and even fewer people click through to page three search engine results or beyond.
Online Media Training Ideas
Don’t get into an online war of words with someone who’s trying to make trouble for you. It makes you look bad, and worse, it makes you look guilty. There will always be unhappy customers- disappointing people is the downside of working in insurance or in any industry. Ignore online comments in forums or on websites, or file them away for when the company hires a reputation management agency.
Negative publicity about a company online shouldn't throw employees into a panic. There are many options for fighting back with reputation management tools. And, it’s inevitable that something negative will be printed online about almost every company at some point in time. Accept it, and decide if the company needs SEO reputation management to correct the damage that’s been done.
Reputation Management Tips, Ideas and Tools
- Build up a website to fight negative publicity. Reputation management tools often include creating additional websites to give victims more rankings in Google.
- Insurance agents and companies looking for ideas to manage their reputation online should consider blogging a powerful tool. However, a blog is only useful for SEO and reputation management if it is frequently updated. Have a dedicated reputation management / SEO professional prepared to post dozens- or hundreds- of blogs to make an impact online.
- Online reputation management tools often include public relations. Press releases sent out to fight negative publicity for a company work but only if used appropriately. Sending out a press release for every new hire or every website update won’t get the company noticed, and won’t affect an insurance agency’s Google rankings. A qualified online media training professional can help companies unearth creative ideas that amp up insurance agency SEO efforts.
It will take a month or longer for reputation management tools of choice to start working. Have patience - with professional advice, and making reputation management a priority, it will happen.
Learn more about SEO ideas for your insurance company or agency including starting a blog, generating internet sales leads with Google Tools and business website development.
