Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM) - Tips & Tricks to Outrank Sites Harming Your Reputation Step by Step from Search Engines

Hi Asif,

I do have a question. someone is piggy-backing off my corporate name, [Hidden Identity]. Though I don't know this person (I've just now found out her identity), she has put up several negative sites that are positioned fairly high in the search engines using my personal name and my company name. We are seeking legal remedies, but wondered if you had any ideas from your technical experience. We've put up multiple sites to have positive sites outweigh the negative ones.

My site is: www.hiddenidentity.com

She has put up: www.truth-about-hiddenidentity.com

And the contents are anything but truth.

Tim.

Asif Anwar writes:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the mail. Sorry for the late reply. However, I had plan to send you a long mail. So here it is.

You are actually talking about Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM). I have not faced any circumstances. On the contrary, for breaking a copyright of image of one of my friends, I have consulted in promoting my friends protest page.

But, I would not say that I am not aware about SERM. Because, for adding further value to the ongoing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) activities, I made many replica site in free website provider sites and individually promote the free site. Just try a Yahoo search on "Jute Exporter from Bangladesh". You'll find several results on GFTCL company, of which I was the E-Marketing officer.

To regain reputation, you are in the right track. However, here are my suggestions for even better performance:

Snatch the Ownership of the Hurting Domain

The www.truth-about-hiddenidentity.com site expires on 23 Apr 2008 (See the WHOIS info). Create a reminder in your calender in 22 Apr 2008 (a day before). Try to buy back the domain in a fraction of the second from the Piggy-backer. Please note that your Piggy-backer will also be notified by email prior to that date. So be more prepared than your Piggy-backer. Moreover, if the site is protected, then you would have the chance to snatch it within 45 days after the expiration. Add more 45 days to your calender accordingly, if it's the case.

Keyword Density Analysis of the Hurting Site

You have to do a Keyword Density Analysis and try to find out the keywords that are being used in www.truth-about-hiddenidentity.com to get Search Engine Referrals. This is crucial, since you would be outbidding these keywords in Search Engines.

Further Keyword Research for Growing Marketability

Along with the keyword sets in your Keyword Analysis, you can also add additional popular keywords that can help you to get target customers. I am suggesting you this because, I want you to create more value, i.e. add more marketability to your site, rather than solely concentrate in SERM.

Setup Blog for Outranking the Hurting Site

After compiling the keywords, generate many replica sites, either paid or free. The best way I think would be to create many blogs in Wordpress, Blogger, Typead, and VOX. Because, these sites have greater SEM functionality and performance. Since the www.truth-about-hiddenidentity.com doesn't have any Page Rank, it would be easy to kick the site out from Google, Yahoo, MSN search with the free blogs.

Optimize the Blogs for Search Engines

You have to do additional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works for getting the highest exposure on those free blogs. e.g. Optimum W3C Validation (For site functionality in all browsers), CSS Formatting Functionality (to reduce Code : Text ratio), Sitemaps (If you make paid site with FTP functionality). This is required for the installation of these blogs. However, you can skip these processes if you want to just concentrate on SERM, since the Piggy-backer has PR0 (PageRank Zero) site.

Assign Bloggers for the Blog Posts

And then it would be best for you to find low cost bloggers for some initial blog posts concerning your keywords you want to outrank. You can have them at low cost from Brazil, India, Philippines, etc. You can have them do the post as a limited invited author. Or collect the posts from various corners of the world and post them by yourself. However, you have to have a secured & payment payment system for that.

Parsing the Duplicate Contents for the Blog Posts

Please make sure that the posts are not duplicate contents. To have naturally altered versions of the same content, the best way is to provide them contents in French. And have the Bloggers Machine Translate through various Machine Translating sites like: Google Language Tool, Altavista Babelfish, AppliedLanguage, WorldLingo, etc. And let them refine the English through their own capabilities. This way, no two translation will be the same. I would like to call this "Natural Theme Versioning" or "Organic Theme Twisting", which is not yet followed by many SEO experts of today after the Google Algorithm Update for Duplicate Contents.

Build Inbound Links for the Blogs & Posts

After the Blogs are setup, you have to create many inbound links to your blogs for them. And it's always wise to have different people dealing with link building. Because, Google seems to outweigh links to a specific site and show the results from other sites. Rather, have the Blogs link to your site through Deep Linking, i.e. have them linked to your inner pages not the homepage. You can also create different versions of One page Introduction in your site and have the One page Introduction pages link to your homepage. Have the SERM Blogs link to your respective One page Introduction pages.

Setup Affiliate Marketing

Finally, find a some Affiliate Marketers that will be interested to blog for your site for your further marketing benefit. And hand over these blogs to these Affiliate Marketers. You can give these sites to them for free or just assign them as Invited Authors. However, I haven't got into the Affiliate Marketing Yet.

Philanthropists are the greatest marketers, and vice-versa