Digital and Online Reputation Management by Chris Abraham of Gerris for The Social Media Monthly

@chrisabraham #smm #orm
Digital and Online
Reputation Management
Friday, December 19, 2014 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (EST)

Take Control of Your Reputation Online
About Chris Abraham
 Principal Consultant, Gerris Corp
Contact info
 chris@gerriscorp.com
 www.gerriscorp.com
 +1 202-352-5051
Social Media
 Twitter.com/chrisabraham
 LinkedIn.com/in/chrisabraham
 Google.com/+chrisabraham
 Facebook.com/chrisabraham
 YouTube.com/chrisabraham
 Slideshare.net/chrisabraham
 Pinterest.com/chrisabraham
Chris Abraham
Getting to know your presenter

Intro to Online Reputation Management (ORM)

What Is Online Reputation Exactly?
Your online reputation is
 What shows up in the search results
 What people say about your company on
Facebook, Twitter, and other social media
sites
 Any reviews of your company or work
environment
 Anything published in the mainstream
press
 Any academic or trade publications
 Any photos or videos tagged with your
name
 Public records connected to your business
 You are judged primarily by the first
page of search results
 Incredibly easy to find and access
this information
 No filter: everything is available all
the time
 No statute of limitations: the Web
is forever

How People Search
Key Stats
 53% of users do not go past the first
two results for any given search
 89% of users do not go past Page 1
for any given search
 99% of users do not go past Page 2
for any given search
 You are judged primarily by the first
page of search results

The Importance of Online Reputation
 More than 80% of
reputation damage
risks come from a
mismatch between the
buzz and the reality
(Digimind)
 Reputation risk is the
greatest risk facing
companies, with as
much as 75% of a
company’s value
based on reputation
(Economist Intelligence
Unit)
 92% of Internet users
read product reviews
and 89% of people say
that reviews influence
their purchasing
decisions (eTailing
Group)
Some key statistics…

The Importance of Online Reputation
Auto dealerships with few online reviews or negative average scores saw
their search referral traffic drop by as much as 86% when Google started
placing reviews under business websites (DealerMarketing.com)
A difference of one “star” in the average rating in a typical online business
profile can lead to a 5–9% difference in revenues (Harvard Business
Review)
72% of consumers trust online review as much as word of mouth (Local
Consumer Review Survey)
85% of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase and
89% trust online reviews (Cone Inc.)
Consumers are 25% more likely to research online reviews for high-cost
purchases such as automobiles (Cone Inc.)
86%
5–9%
72%
89%
25%

Online Reputation (ORM) Threats

Inflammatory Google Suggestions
Rumors can have a serious impact on your online reputation
Suggestions pop up because many people are curious about the rumor1
High search volume creates a feedback loop: Google thinks this is relevant2
New searchers see the inflammatory suggestions, giving criticisms more authority3

The Web Is Forever
Wells Fargo First Interstate Takeover
 Major blunders, such as the Wells Fargo takeover
of First Interstate Bancorp, live on in the search
results
 Critical articles from the 1990s continue to rank
prominently
 Becomes a permanent black mark for anyone
doing research on Wells Fargo

Search Results Are Not Chronological
Wikipedia (contains criticism)
Company profile
Critical news articles
Positive image results
Attacks by blogger
Third-party profile
Company profile
Critical news article
Third-party profile
Mark Hurd, former HP CEO, Google p.1

Results Reflect Old News
Example: D. E. Shaw Group
 A good reputation requires positive, high-quality
validations by third parties
 The D. E. Shaw Group has good control of the
top few results, but the rest are misleading and
give a poor impression
Google p.1 Results
Outdated news; No mention of D. E.
Shaw’s recent positive performance 6–8
No relevant third-party sites in the first
page, other than Wikipedia 9–10

Propagation of Misinformation
Example: Whole Foods
 A search for “monsanto” brings up the
suggestion “whole foods”
 Results strongly suggest Whole Foods was
bought by or supports Monsanto
 In fact, Whole Foods has been a vocal
critic of Monsanto for many years
Google p.1 Results

The Reputation Economy
Example: Vodafone
 The Web gives powerful tools to consumers
to validate corporate communications
 Online reputation often more important than
brand
Consumer Generated Art
“I Hate Vodafone” Forum
Parody Websites/Social Media

Key People Affect a
Company’s Reputation
e.g. Commercial Estates Group Limited
 Gerard Versteegh has received criticism online for his
extravagant tastes
 Top of his search results is an inflammatory post on
CrazyBillionaire.org
 This result ranks on a search for his company too

A Note About Style
News articles appear in embedded
news feed more easily than press
releases
Google p.1 Results
Example: Forest Laboratories
 Critical news articles highlight tension between
company and Carl Icahn
 Public companies have higher coverage based on
performance, making losses more visible
 ORM is not SEO: Negative Content Is Also
Optimized for your Search Results
News page only shows negative information, company
appears silent in midst of turmoil
Waiting several days to respond gives negative press
more time to take over results
News

Online Brand Attacks
by Consumers
Company website 1
Attacks on forums and social media 2–7
Attacks on forums and social media 9

Defamatory Attacks by Former Clients
• One-star rating in the results is
enough to deter most searchers
Critical blog postings 1–2
Negative reviews 3
 Even if libel is proven, website likely
to remain online

Mistaken Identity
e.g. Timothy Thurman Lawyer
 Top 8 results are about Timothy D. Thurman, arrested
by the FBI for committing mortgage fraud against
Korean immigrants in Los Angeles
• Search results include negative reviews, news articles,
and blog attacks
 Timothy B. Thurman practices law in
Pittsburg and is unrelated to this issue
 Only about 10% of prospective clients would actually
get to the bottom of the page before deciding to try a
different lawyer

Armoring Your Online Reputation (Before a Crisis)

Google Abhors a Vacuum
Creating online content and dominating search is not
about filling Google with junk – but you need to fill the void
If you leave your reputation
to chance, online, Google
will fill the void that is left by
your inattention or fear. You
need to create fresh content.

Hiding a Needle in a Needle Stack
• Users typically retain their browsers default setting of 10 results/page
• Remember that 93% of people never go beyond the first page of
search engine results and almost no one goes beyond page three
• Online reputation management is akin to defensive SEO
• Controlling – and owning – your reputation online depends on
pushing negative content down past page three of Google, etc. –
owning all the beans

People Are Already Talking About You Online
Listen Before You Leap
• Get to know what people are saying about you
online
– Be specific
– Include your staff and executives
– Don’t make any assumptions
• Note Potential Allies and Enemies
– Collect a list of people who are already talking
about you
• Consider who you may engage
• Keep an eye on those who are critical

People Are Already Talking About You Online
Alerts
There are online tools that will let you know if you,
your brand, and your staff are mentioned online
– Google Alerts (free)
• www.google.com/alerts
– Sysomos Heartbeat
• sysomos.com/products/overview/heartbeat/
– SDL SM2
• sdl.com/products/SM2/
– Synthesio
• www.synthesio.com
– Radian 6
• salesforcemarketingcloud.com/products/soci
al-media-listening/

General Principles
Prevention is more effective and less expensive than treatment1
Aim to control as many of the search results as possible2
Empty search results create vulnerability3
Avoid clicking on negative/critical websites, which increases their relevance4
Be proactive with online reviews5
 (Almost) never comment on critical blogs or forums
 Avoid communicating with attackers
 Avoid discussing the defamation in online channels
 Diversity is important: choose several types of sites

Building a Good Reputation is Not Easy
Actions need to match words1
Pay close attention to public sentiment2
Proactive online reputation to protect against attacks or misunderstandings3
Ongoing, high-quality interaction with stakeholders4
Reputation Management for key executives or other prominent figures5

Do an Aggressive Domain Name Buy
• Misspellings Domains
– yourecompany.com, yurcompany.com, yourcompanie.com, for example
• Variation Domains
– xyzprogramme.com for the British, for example, rather than
xyzprogram.com
• Similar Domains
– Domain investors and marketers often steal traffic and harm brand by
creating similarly branded and named properties that succeed
parasitically off of common user error and intentional misdirection
• One example is bedbathbeyond.com, rather than bedbathandbeyond.com for
the home wares superstore
• Transposed Letter Domains
– youcrompany.com, yourcompayn.com, etc.

Do an Aggressive Domain Name Buy
• Search String Domains
– Make a list of keyword search terms and phrases that one might use
to find yourcompany.com and register as many of them as possible
• Staff Member Domains
– Consider registering the domain names for your executive team, C-
suite, and board
• Unfriendly Domains
– It is important to make sure that any derisive domain names are
registered
– Competitors are not above hosting slanderous web sites and web
properties
– Even though yourcompanysucks.com may never be used or even
registered, the price of registering even dozens of domain names at
$9/year is cheaper than any crisis response or legal actions

Dominate the First Page of Google
Control all possible social media profiles
• One of the easiest ways of doing a quick
search results land grab is to secure as many
social media profiles as makes sense
– Be sure to spend some time filling out every
required section
– Links, bios, names, and keywords are essential
parts
– Be sure to include all keywords terms that are
apropos
• KnowEm.com can make the process easier

Review Sites
• Encourage your customers to say nice things
about you
• Make it as easy as possible to write reviews for
you
– Name the preferred review sites by name
– Include review sites’ names (Charity Navigator, Yelp,
etc)
– Suggest what to write (people have writer’s block)
• Don’t be shy to make bold requests for reviews
– Displayed at point of sale or in stores
– In a message on sales receipt
– As part of the official messaging via email, mail, or
newsletters
– Via social media

Social Networking Services
Social media is becoming an essential pulse point for
Google and other organic search engines
• Google+ Page – the least popular by arguably most
important for influencing Google’s organic search
results
• Google Profile – Google’s algorithm has changed;
Google requires that each contribution is backed by an
identifiable “author”
• YouTube Channel – The 2nd largest search engine
with results that come up in routine Google search
• LinkedIn Page – LinkedIn is a powerful and search
optimized
• Facebook Page – SEO optimized and a powerful
platform to prepare in case you need to message
during a crisis
• Twitter – Ditto

Become Your Own Publishing Empire
• Blogging – as long as it’s on a separate domain
• Publishing – many online magazines accept articles
– Huffington Post, Medium, BuzzFeed, Forbes, etc
• Aggregation – some sites aggregate “best of”
content
– Business2Community and others repurposed good
content
– Many feed their content to Google News and Yahoo
News
• News Source – apply to become a wire service
– You can apply to be a source for Google News
• Cross-Pollination – many hands make light work
– Sharing up – GII can aggregate best of content from
regionals
– Sharing down – regional Goodwills could share GII
news
– Share laterally – cross-pollinating across regional

Influencer Marketing
• Online Engagement – people collect and self-organize – find them!
– Facebook & LinkedIn Groups, Pinterest boards, Flickr groups, online forums
• Blogger Outreach – if it exists, there’s a blog about it
– Include the long tail – reach out to hundreds of bloggers and not merely top-25
• Content Marketing – creating stories others will post and share
– Guest Blogger
– Infographic
– Videos
– Events
– Pledge Drives
I have been doing earned media marketing for over seven years, including
blogger outreach and influencer marketing for Alzheimer’s Association,
The Fresh Air Fund, Greenpeace, Habitat for Humanity, International
Medical Corps, and Miriam’s Kitchen – bloggers and other influencers are
willing to bend over backward to help out – for free (that’s what earned
media means)

Evading Long-Term Damage (After a Crisis)

When a Crisis Occurs: Don’t Panic!
• Don’t click
– If you find anything bad online don’t click on it (Google tracks building interest)
• No, do not speak to the media
– Take time to prepare your response
– Your response has consequences
– Rely on your crisis managers
– Stay off of Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Alert your chain of command
– You’re probably not properly trained
• Call Communications & Public Affairs
– They can give you guidance
• Prepare (or activate) talking points
– Do not wing a response
– Prepare in advance if possible
• Initiate online reputation management plan
– ORM is about keeping the crisis off of permanent search results
– Just because something’s in the news doesn’t mean it’ll end up on search

The Technique
• SEARCH – Actively seek out
positive and neutral content about
your brand that already exists and
aggressively “promote” it to all of
the search engines
• CREATE – Create additional
positive and neutral content about
your brand
• LEVERAGE – After positive pages
and content has been identified and
created, leverage established
Google mojo
Online Reputation Management (ORM) Briefing

The Effect
• NEGATIVE RESULTS BURIED –
Those pages we promote climb past
the negative pages, and push the
negatives down to a point in the
results where very few people are
ever going to stumble across them
• POSITIVE RESULTS KEEP THE
SEARCH ENGINES’ ATTENTION –
We compare this strategy to the sort
of countermeasures – called soft-kill
measures – that aircraft use to
evade missile attacks: chaff-decoys,
flare-decoys, and radar decoys
Online Reputation Management (ORM) Briefing

Online Reputation: First Steps
Claim www.yourcompany.com and as many useful variations as possible1
Fill out profiles on industry listing sites, review sites, social media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter)2
Create new content: start a blog, publish information of relevance to the business, generate
positive press, get involved philanthropically3
Be a part of the conversation: the Web is going to say something about you
whether you like it or not4
Engage in social media, communicate regularly with your stakeholders, respond authentically to
their concerns, share information of value5
Keep tabs on all of the websites connected to your business, especially those you don’t control:
forums, review sites, social media6

Common Mistakes

Mistake: ORM Isn’t SEO
Example: Com Hem
 One of Sweden’s largest telecom providers
 No amount of SEO spend can fix an ORM issue
Company website is optimized 1
Critical websites/forums also optimized 4–5
Unrelated travel site 10

Mistake: Relying on Litigation
 Success rates are low (although sometimes litigation is
appropriate)
 Weigh the pros and cons: litigation can make the
problem worse
e.g. British Chiropractic Association
 In 2008, the British Chiropractic Association sued science
writer Simon Singh for criticizing them
 Provoked serious backlash
 Even 4 years later, half of the Page 1 results for
the BCA are negative portrayals of the case

Mistake: Will-Not-Review Agreements
Why not?
 Ethically questionable
 You may end up on the “Wall of
Shame” of review sites
 Unlikely to hold up in court:
 Coerced agreement
 First Amendment violation
 Alienates clients and prospects
 Encourages searchers to go
digging for negative reviews

Mistake: Threatening Litigation
Why not?
 Most attacks by clients fall under the
category of opinion, not considered libel
 Negative information may be reposted even
if successfully taken down
 Litigation tends to attract a landslide of
negative reactions
 Even if you win, your reputation may have
already been irreparably damaged
 Search for “gelareh rahbar dds”
 Google p.1 #4, 2 years later
 Seen by >50% of potential patients

Mistake: Posting Fake Reviews
Why not?
 It’s illegal
 Can be detected algorithmically
 Short-term, ineffective solution
 You will get caught up in the review authenticity
“arms race”
 Review sites and researchers constantly
refining approaches
 You need to keep buying into fake-review
services forever to one-up them
 Savvy reviewers can spot fakes and read up to
10 reviews before making a decision
 If people see a lot of fakes, you risk an online
backlash
FTC Guidelines on Fake Reviews
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

Mistake: Commenting on Attack Blogs/Forums
Why not?
 Places emphasis on the unwanted
content, pushing it higher
 Search engines will think this content is
more important than it is
 You probably won’t change the visitor’s
mind
 Likely to attract additional attacks
based on your comments
 Search for “edward dove dds”
 Google p.1 #3, 1 year later
 Seen by >60% of potential patients

We would be happy to help
Do You Have
Any Questions?

Take Control of Your Reputation Online
About Chris Abraham Chris Abraham
Feel free to get – and keep – in touch with me!
 Principal Consultant, Gerris Corp
Contact info
 chris@gerriscorp.com
 www.gerriscorp.com
 +1 202-352-5051
Social Media
 Twitter.com/chrisabraham
 LinkedIn.com/in/chrisabraham
 Google.com/+chrisabraham
 Facebook.com/chrisabraham
 YouTube.com/chrisabraham
 Slideshare.net/chrisabraham
 Pinterest.com/chrisabraham

Digital and Online Reputation Management by Chris Abraham of Gerris for The Social Media Monthly

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