Advanced SEO: Online
Reputation Management
Presented by
The Search Guru
eMarketing Techniques
May 8, 2009
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What does it take to:
 build a great brand?
 Potentially years and millions of dollars.
 destroy a great brand?
 Potentially hours and one blogger.
 launch a new product?
 Hundreds of TV commercials, dozens of newspaper
ads, an ad agency and PR firm.
OR
 It can spread like a virus with the praise of just one
customer, at one message board or social media site.
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Online semantic attacks
 An estimated 75% of Fortune 100 companies
have experienced brand abuse on the Internet.
 disney-sucks.com
 oreilly-sucks.com
 peta-sucks.com
 ballysucks.com – famous early case
 AOL, McDonalds, American Express, Citibank,
Ameritech, Ford, GM, Allstate, Microsoft, Nike,
Prudential, United Airlines, Enterprise Rent-A-Car…
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The power of one to many
 Why entrepreneurs should care:
 Online research is king
 Not everyone judges for themselves
 Information published online can be
persistent
 Consumer Generated Media (CGM)
• Blogs, forums, websites, 3rd party complaint sites,
discussion lists, chat rooms, product review sites,
social media sites
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The power of consumer generated media
 Blogs: 200,000,000
 Online users who have read a blog: 73%
 Users who have started their own blog: 45%
 Bloggers who post opinions about
products/brands: 34%
 People who trust bloggers’ opinions on
products/brands: 32%
 Consumers who think highly about
companies that have blogs: 36%
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The power of consumer generated media
 Social networks
 Online users who have joined a social
network: 57%
 Millenials who have joined a social network:
a whopping 96%
 Consumers who trust the recommendations
of other consumers vs. advertising: 78%
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Goals and objectives
 The goals of online reputation
management:
 Grow good buzz
 Address bad buzz quickly
 Clean Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
 Grow your business
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Who’s talking about you/your firm/your
product?
 How to find conversations about
you/your firm
 Ego searches
 Technorati.com, Feedster.com
 Google/Yahoo! News Alerts
 Monitor forums, message boards
 Create custom RSS feeds based on keyword
searches
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Yet another way to grow your business
 Turning conversations into $$
 Plug in:
• Blogger outreach programs
• Start a business blog
• Create social media profiles
• Distribute press releases
• Forum participation
• Set a policy
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Ethical ORM tactics
 Creating profiles on other sites
http://twitter.com/autorevo
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Ethical ORM tactics
 Responding to negative comments
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/guest-post-the-
sandisk-story/
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Ethical ORM tactics
 Responding to negative comments
http://www.my3cents.com/
showReview.cgi?id=44707#response
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Ethical ORM tactics
 Contacting sites and trying to get negative
remarks removed
Dear Sir or Madam:
This is a request for the immediate removal of the following comment from [commenter] on
your website at [URL]:
[comment]
This person has made false, derogatory remarks about our company and owners. Please
confirm the immediate removal of this comment to me as soon as possible. If you have any
questions, please contact me. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Your name
Contact information
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Ethical ORM tactics
 Encouraging positive reviews
Dear [Customer],
Thank you for your recent purchase with [Company]. We hope you are
satisfied with your purchase. We would welcome any feedback you’d
like to share; please visit [URL] to post your comments.
We value your patronage and hope you will shop with us again soon.
Thank you!
[Company] Customer Service
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Conclusion
 ORM is a relevant issue for all companies in
today’s online world. Set a policy to decide who
will respond to negative ORM and
how they should respond.
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Free Reputation Management Resources:
 Free whitepaper
http://www.TheSearchGuru.com/reputation
 Articles at TheSearchGuru.com:
 Discover why you should monitor ORM daily
http://www.thesearchguru.com/internet-reputation-
management.asp
 Set up Google alerts to monitor negative comments
http://www.thesearchguru.com/internet-brand-
management.asp
 Learn ways to fight vicious comments online
http://www.thesearchguru.com/internet-brand-
management-2.asp
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Thank You from The Search Guru!
896 Arboretum Circle
Sagamore Hills, OH 44067
440-306-2418
www.TheSearchGuru.com
Results@TheSearchGuru.com
Twitter: @thesearchguru
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