Resolving Negative Posts on Google Page One

Business owners are advised to be check Google and Yahoo on a monthly basis to spot positive or negative listings on the first two pages of search results for their company name.  This can be automated by using a free service called “Google Alerts” or by manually searching for your company name.  Positive posts can be leveraged in company newsletters and company public relations campaigns. Negative posts that show on Google Page One have to be dealt with immediately.

There are a number of websites where consumers go to post their complaints or to report a scam. The most popular being: www.ripoffreport.com , www.dealerrater.com, and www.complaintsboard.com.  In addition to dedicated complaints websites, you should be checking consumer review sites like www.yelp.com , www.merchantcircle.com and www.insider-pages.com  on a regular basis.

The Pasch Consulting Group (PCG), Internet Reputation Management experts, recommends that business oweners periodically check the most popular complaint websites for posts about their company. Keep in mind that most dedicated “complaints” websites allow you to post a balanced commentary.  Depending on the post and the motivation of the person who created the post, different responses are suggested by PCG. The staff at www.RipOffReport.com is responsive to the concerns of businesses that are being accused on their website. They avoid getting in the middle of disputes.

Internet reputation management is one of the specialty services offered by the PCG.  When a client contracts us to review negative posts, we will do a thorough job of researching the complaint and try to reach out to the person who is upset. The best course of action is to resolve the matter directly but that is not always reasonable or possible.  If the matter gets resolved, the person who posted the negative commentary has the best chance of having it removed or edited.

In cases where the posts are outright lies, PCG will contact the websites where these posts are made and seek a retraction.  PCG has had great success with removing or editing posts where there are valid misrepresentations. There is no guarantee that posts can be deleted so you have to have alternative plans, which we can provide.  Keep in mind that these consumer complaint websites want to represent the facts and they do not want to hurt any specific company from slanderous or false accusations.

If your company needs help with negative posts on the Internet, please give the Pasch Consulting Group a call at 732-450-8200.  We will review your situation and discuss our plan to help remediate and mitigate these negative posts.

Tags: complaintsboard, dealerrate, google negative listings, internet reputation management, negative blog posts, riooffreport

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at 11:40 pmand is filed under internet reputation management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.