online reputation management warfare

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Fighting The Online Reputation War

Presented by:Alan Bleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Brand & Reputation Strategies

• Reality Check• Be Proactive When Possible• Prepare For The Unexpected• Think Like Big Brands• Sustainability Is Vital

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Reality Check1 Page on a scam site can rank for your phrases or brand because of site scale

•PissedConsumer.com 500,000 pages•RipoffReport.com 1,100,000 pages•Scam.com 3,400,000 pages•Scambook.com8,100,000 pages•800Notes.com 1,900,000 pages•Yelp.com 11,600,000 pages

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Reality CheckScam Sites allow unsubstantiated complaints

•Competitors & disgruntled employees can post anything they want•No proof of claim required•No personal identification confirmation required•Legal process can take two years to get court order to remove false claims

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Reality CheckMalicious attacker Arsenal•Post to multiple scam & review sites blanketing SERP rankings•Employ teams of fake comment posters•Create fake “review” sites to attack your reputation•Interlink across scam sites as “proof” of scam claim

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Reality Check• The Reputation Team

– Project Manager– Designer– 1 Senior Content Specialist– 2 to 5 Content Generalists– 2 to 4 Content Marketing Specialists– 1 Social Media Specialist– 1 or 2 Social Media Generalists

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Reality Check• SERP Domination takes 2 to 6 months• $200,000 - $400,000 a year• Get buy-in from everyone on the team

– Explain the 5 Ws– Your Team is Your Front Line

• Let the team be additional eyes & ears• Take creative, strategy & tactical input &

suggestions

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Be Proactive• Get ahead of the situation• Take Action Before Problems Occur• Anticipate Future Problems

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Prepare for the Unexpected

• Grill your client/employer about skeletons in the closet

• Monitor News, Search, Video & Social Channels for:– Brand– Brand + Scam phrase variations– Key People– Key People + Scam phrase variations

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Sustainability Wins• Avoid crappy content sites

– Crappy sites cause trust doubt, can’t sustain•Squiddoo Lenses•Weebly Pages•Knock-off Domains •Blatantly useless Sites & Profiles

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Sustainability Wins• Don’t post fake reviews / comments• Don’t create fake news sites• Don’t create fake reviews sites

•$500,000 fine •Permanent .gov site record•Legacy SERPs from news coverage

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Think Like Big Brands• Create Multiple Legitimate Sites

– Niche relevance– Unique value– Serve a real purpose– Fully supported as stand-alone

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Think Like Big Brands• Every Site/Profile needs:

– High Quality Content– Unique focus– Quality Off-Site Signals

• Link Profile• Social Signals

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Big Brand SaturationAmericanExpress.comAMEX Wikipedia Entry@AmericanExpressMembershipRewards.comAmexTravelResources.comAMEX YouTubeOpenForum.comAmericanExpressVacations.com

AMEX FourSquareAMEX LinkedInAmexPub.comAMEX FacebookFacebook/OpenFacebook/MembersProjectServe.comAmexNetwork.comAMTTravel.com

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Go Further than Big Brands

Main SiteCorporate SiteCustomer Support SiteComplaints Resolution SiteCustomer Testimonials SiteDebunking Scam Stories SiteMember Services SiteConsumer Advocacy SiteProduct Return Policies Site

Company History SiteCommunity Outreach SiteGiving Back SiteTwitter CorporateTwitter Customer SatisfactionTwitter Member ServicesTwitter Consumer AdvocacyTwitter Community OutreachTwitter Giving Back

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Go Further than Big Brands

Facebook CorporateFacebook Customer SatisfactionFacebook Member ServicesFacebook Consumer AdvocacyFacebook Community OutreachFacebook Giving BackYouTube ChannelYouTube Customer Satisfaction ChannelYouTube Consumer Advocacy Channel

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Go Further than Big Brands

•Create detailed Complaint, Scam Report and Customer Satisfaction pages with forms on every site

•Or combine those into one single page and form on each site

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Don’t Over Optimize• Majority of pages unique to each site• No Site-Wide Cross-Site Linking

– NAV Links:• Only link to satellite sites from main site’s home

footer, About & Contact page• Only link to main site home page from satellite

site home, about & contact– Content Links:

• Only link from within appropriate related page content areas

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Don’t Over Optimize• Don’t hide corporate ownership of any

site• Vary Target Keyword Phrases across sites• Link Social Profiles only to the appropriate

site• Only Link to satellite site complaint forms

from customer satisfaction & complaint related pages

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Treat Each Site & Profile As Stand-Alone

• Add value with each new site & profile

• Press releases for each new site

• Press releases for each new social profile

• Build Quality Links to each site & profile

@AlanBleiweiss

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Takeaways• Think Like Big Brands & Do More• Shortcuts Will Bite You• Get Entire Team to Buy-In On

Vision• Avoid Over Optimization• Avoid Fake Reviews

– $500k fine if caught

@AlanBleiweiss@AlanBleiweiss

Alan BleiweissForensic SEO Consultant

@AlanBleiweissAlanBleiweiss.com