If you’re not familiar, these types offer relief from a bad review on websites like Rip Off Report, Glassdoor, and Pissed Consumer — sites rife for abuse for anyone with an axe to grind against an individual or company.
But these “reputation management” services are almost as scammy as the review sites themselves. Often, they’re the same companies — we know a few of them, and some have been exposed in this racket not too long ago.
I have a lot of experience over the last 10 years in SEO– and know what techniques are legit vs. fluff.
They all charge exorbitantly and then keep charging you to “push the bad things back down.”
The only reputable player here that I know of is Vendasta. Instead of relying on outdated and shady SEO practices that no longer work, they provide tools to increase positive mentions and engagement to offset the bad.
Meanwhile, the snake oil sellers abound, like bottom feeders.
They’ll try to whiz-bang distraught business owners who got a negative review with the same old tactics, just rebranded.
You’ve heard the proverbial man in pinstripe crowing on the internet street corner:
“Step right up! We’ll post your website to directories! SEO! The Google! PR! Instant Raaaankings! We promise instant results!”
“I’ve kinda heard of these things! Sign me up!” says an alternate universe version of myself who doesn’t know any better.
And now you’re part of their game — a scammy descent into the abyss of the bottom feeders where they’ll tell you “Oh no, your enemies have fought back, we need more ammo (read: money).”
And at the end of the day, they’ll nibble away as much as they can before fleeing with your cash.
The only real way to deal with it is time and effort by building a personal brand that highlights your successes via accolades and endorsements — cast a light bright enough to dispel the shadows, while sharing your passion with the world.
Long story short, social and video posts now rank higher on Google and other sites. So, You can indirectly address any reputation issues by having clients produce great content and actually take care of their customers instead of trying to bury it (which won’t work).
Photo Credit: reviewmanagement1 Flickr via Compfight cc
This article was first published on Integrated Marketing Association.
Author:
Dennis Yu is the Chief Technology Officer of BlitzMetrics, a digital marketing company which partners with schools to train young adults.
Dennis’s program centers around mentorship, helping students grow their expertise to manage social campaigns for enterprise clients like the Golden State Warriors, Nike, and Rosetta Stone.
He’s an internationally recognized lecturer in Facebook Marketing and has spoken in 17 countries, spanning 5 continents, including keynotes at L2E, Gultaggen, and Marketo Summit.
Dennis has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, National Public Radio, TechCrunch, Fox News, CBS Evening News and is co-author of Facebook Nation – a textbook taught in over 700 colleges and universities.
He’s a regular contributor for Adweek’s SocialTimes column and has published in Social Media Examiner, Social Media Club, Tweak Your Biz, B2C, Social Fresh, and Heyo.
He held leadership positions at Yahoo! and American Airlines and studied Finance and Economics at Southern Methodist University as well as London School of Economics. He ran collegiate cross-country at SMU and has competed in over 20 marathons including a 70 mile ultramarathon.
Besides being a Facebook data and ad geek, you can find him eating chicken wings or playing Ultimate Frisbee in a city near you. Connect with him on Twitter and on LinkedIn.