Reputation Armor

ReputationArmor.com observes it all the time…you do a search (searching for your own name in Google or Yahoo), or maybe you were just doing some SEO homework to see how your website was ranking. Either way, you stumbled upon some negative information on a forum or service review website.

One that made you steaming mad…

Negative an false information about our clients infuriates us at Reputation Armor.

It happens, and when it does you have a right to be angry. You also have the right to defend your good name, jump into the ring swinging to defend your company reputation.

But don’t do it.

Reputation Armor advises not to react to those reviews like this because it’s going to harm you more than it’s going to help you. Let reputation armor explain to you how most of the search engine algorithms work. You see, they like to see action on a website. So when you attach new content to a forum, blog or review site, you are actually adding fuel to the fire. Google and the rest see the site as a hot news item, being updated frequently, so they rank it better in the search results.

That’s right, your retort makes their complaint rank higher in the search results. Reputation Armor has also found that it makes it harder for us to move when we get hired to clean up the mess. If you’ll consider action rather than reaction, you’ll make our job easier and the overall cleanup less expensive and faster overall.

I know it’s tempting to defend your good name. But reputationarmor.com asks that you to leave this to us.  We’re WILL fix the problem and we’re going to defend your name for you with positive content creation. But you have to let Reputation Armor do its job

Not that we can’t clean things up if you’ve already responded out of passion. It’s just easier to do if you haven’t added content to the offending site or sites.

An irate review can hurt you. A hurried response to an angry review can wound you even more. Instead of reacting, please contact Reputation Armor @ reputationarmor.com and let us launch a plan of action to remedy the problem.

SEO comes at a cost. Whether that is purely your investment in time or having to pay for a specialist SEO consultant or agency, it is far from being free. One thing it is though, is critical. You simply can’t have a thriving website without adhering to some SEO principles. Reputationarmour.com is here to help

Search engines don’t just bestow sites rankings. A website has to earn it. They have to show the search engine exactly what they do and persuade them that they deserve a position in the upper echelons of their listings. Without a decent presence within the search engines, you will struggle to find any meaningful traffic. While there are alternative marketing avenues open, SEO remains the paramount technique purely because of the power of search engines.

So when you come to budget for SEO you have to first make a decision on how you are going to implement it. If you are planning to do all the work yourself, then you’ll need to put aside a reasonable amount of time to do so properly. If you are looking to outsource it to an agency or expert , then you need to establish how much you are prepared to invest. Representatives at Reputation Armor can asses your issues, and find a plan of attack that works for your budget.

None of these is going to be inexpensive per se. Obviously some will be more cost (and time) efficient than others, but to do SEO right you need to invest. For example, every page of your website needs content. This isn’t a quick process, particularly if you have a large site. When you are starting from scratch, the amount of work required increases manifold, but don’t worry, reputation armor is fully staffed and ready to work around the clock so you don’t have to.

Learning SEO isn’t difficult, but perfecting it is not only a full time job but also an art. There are tutorials everywhere (you can find tips on reputationarmor.com) that can help you to hone your skills and at least gain an understanding of the fundamentals. Websites, blogs (like this one) and books are all available with useful, useable ideas to help get you up and running. But again, this takes time. While this may not involve any actual expenditure (unless you include buying books), it will take a number of days or even weeks to gain a basic understanding.

Search engine optimization is something that is perfected through practice. This is why the leading industry lights have all been active for years. In this time you come to understand the nuances of each technique and work out the best practices for achieving the best results. This is why employing a qualified company or individual can really benefit you.

Obviously, reputation armor already has the knowledge and experience to get started immediately. We can also present useful information that will help with the future development of the site. All of this information should be taken on board; but by employing an SEO, the main advantage is that you don’t have to waste time creating, implementing and adjusting the content yourself. reputationarmor.com will do this on your behalf, and  with greater effectiveness than a DIY effort.

If cost is no object, get a leading SEO agency. They will be able to implement changes on your behalf that will make a real change and leave you free to run your business. If you are on a tight budget but have plenty of time on your hands, you might want to consider learning SEO and beginning the process of implementing the copy, Meta and building your linking structure. For those with a relatively small budget and a little time available to optimize the website, try collaborating with a consultant.

Budgeting isn’t effortless, but don’t try to get away with spending too little. We here at reputation armor know that you get out of SEO what you are prepared to put in. So if you decide to cut corners, it may well show in your results. That isn’t to say that you have to go for the most expensive option, but you do have to be prepared to invest in your site.

Google has always maintained that the search suggestions that appear when you type in a company name or keyword are set algorithmically and they shouldn’t be required to make changes to these suggestions or remove words like Scam, Lawsuits, Fraud and Reviews from the suggestions.

It is common for people to make searches that include words like “scam”, and “lawsuit” in order to perform due diligence and check out a company. The Google suggestions algorithm just seems to pick up the search activity and, voila, you’ve got a nasty bit of potential defamation included in the suggestions box — even if there is little or nothing online about the topic.

I’ve seen this happen with “searches related to” suggestions as well, when clicking on the link sometimes provides only one or even no results! I’d say this is an algorithm in dire need of attention. Google should not be so academic as to ignore the effect that their Suggestion can have on a company’s reputation.

Even if it is automated, Google is still publishing the suggestion. That means they should be subject to all laws related to defamation, slander and libel. Google is working very hard and very cleverly to amass great amounts of power. They need to match that power with even greater amounts of responsibility.

When you type in your company name in Google search, do they suggest you also search YOUR COMPANY + SCAM or anything negatively similar?

You can possibly take control of this and trick Google in to suggesting other words like News, Jobs or Pictures. The process can take months to accomplish but is possible. For more information on Google Search Suggestion manipulation contact Reputation Armor at 888-358-2766.

Only one day after its launch, major privacy concerns have been raised about Google’s new Gmail-based social-networking tool, Buzz.
The issue is a feature that compiles a list of the Gmail contacts who users most frequently e-mail or chat with. Buzz automatically starts following these people and makes the list public, meaning strangers can see who Buzz users have been in contact with.

The issue was noted by the Silicon Alley Insider on Wednesday. “Imagine … a wife discovering that her husband emails and chats with an old girlfriend,” the Web site said. “Imagine a boss discovers a subordinate emails with executives at a competitor.”
Buzz only shares information about other people who are using Buzz and have set up public profiles in Google. So currently, most Gmail users are not publicly listed by the service. Users can also “unfollow” people who they don’t want to be linked to.
And while Buzz requires users to set up a public profile before they can post messages, it does give them an option to hide who they are following and who is following them.
However, the default setting is to make the information public, and only users who click on an “edit” tab can see the choice to opt out. That means many people who start using Buzz may be publicly linked to other users without realizing it.
Reached Wednesday afternoon, a Google spokesman had no immediate comment.
Google introduced Buzz as an alternative to popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which are increasingly being used to navigate the Web.

Reputation Armor urges clients and readers to use social networks when trying to build or repair your online reputation. Social networks like Twitter are powerful and Google will in most cases rank them high on search results. Read the entire article on the Reputation Armor Blog

Recently our company ReputationArmor.com has received several calls from businesses that have ALL had very similar and alarming experiences with Yelp.com. I used to like to read yelp and the reviews on their site based of the fact that they showed good, fair, and poor reviews about a company and Yelp seemed not to be concerned with the ratio of good vs poor reviews.

As of recently I feel that Yelp MIGHT be doing something a little fishy behind the scenes. 9 out of 10 businesses that contacted us claimed that Yelp.com removed positive reviews about them from their Yelp account. The businesses also claimed that yelp is not allowing new positive reviews to be published or approved when submitted. One dental company claims that they had a client leave them positive feedback and the feedback never showed up on Yelp. The company them mentioned this to their loyal client base and others tried to leave them reviews that never showed up. Other companies are claiming that this is happening to them as well.

Some even claim that yelp is using these tactics in order to force them in to a paid account or advertising account with yelp. There is a great article that talks about the Yelp Sponsorship program located at: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/11/business/fi-lazarus11

Yelp is an online business directory that allows user and consumer reviews of businesses that have a listing on their directory. Sometimes negative Yelp reviews and complaints can appear high on Google for your business name. Yelp rarely will remove complaints from their site. The only way to manage a negative Yelp review or complaint is with online reputation management. Online reputation management is the process of removing complaints from the top of search results and normally the top of Google. Google seems to like to show negative complaints and reviews high within their results for business.

Reputation Armor can help you remove yelp.com reviews from Google!

CompanyNameSucks.com is a review site that does not require a name, email or registration to file a complaint or write a business review. CompanyNameSucks is starting to show up very well on Google and other search engines. If you find yourself listed on CompanyNameSucks.com, you will most likely notice that the complaint about your company ranks very well on Google when people search your name.

CompanyNameSucks.com is a newer online complaint site and is making it’s way up the ladder as a very problematic website for some businesses and reputations. Keep your eye on this site and if you find yourself listed on CompanyNameSucks.com we can help you. ReputationArmor.com can help repair your online reputation and help you deal with websites like CompanyNameSucks.com

Facebook won a victory for social-networking users everywhere. The U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., awarded Facebook $711 million in damages against Sanford Wallace, aka the spam king.
Facebook said Wallace, Adam Arzoomanian and Scott Shaw broke the law by sending unwanted messages and wall posts to people on Facebook, violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the California Anti-Phishing Act, and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM).

“While we don’t expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals,” said Sam O’Rourke, general counsel on the Facebook legal team. “Most notably, the judge referred Wallace to the U.S. attorney’s office with a request that Wallace be prosecuted for criminal contempt, which means that in addition to the judgment, he now faces possible jail time. This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers.”

Not the First Time

Wallace is the self-proclaimed spam king — and it’s not the first time he has targeted social-networking sites. In 2008, MySpace won a $230 million judgment against Wallace in what was then thought to be the largest-ever spam case. Wallace and Walter Rines organized a phishing scam that harvested MySpace usernames and passwords and blasted out hundreds of thousands of messages for pornography and gambling sites.

“What is shocking to me was that Wallace has already been sued by MySpace previously. So it’s great to see the justice system trying to remove the temptation for people to spam social networks — but evidently, it’s worth the risk,” said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. “Obviously since Wallace has done it before and is willing to take the risk of doing it elsewhere, it’s a very lucrative practice to phish and spam people.”

This also isn’t the first time Facebook has gone to court to battle spam. Last November, Facebook won its first victory against spammers in the form of an $873 judgment against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital for sending unwanted messages to people on Facebook. This was the largest judgment ever for an action brought under CAN-SPAM.

Recent surveys of online Internet users shows the amount of time people spend on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is growing, and it may be costing employers time and money.

In the U.S., 77 percent of workers who have a Facebook account say they check their updates at work.

In the United Kingdom, a similar survey of workers shows 57 percent regularly log on to social networks, resulting in 40 minutes of lost worker productivity per day.

Studies show the amount of time people spend on social networking and blogging sites has tripled since last year. Employers are fighting back. A recent survey shows 54 percent of U.S. companies have already banned social networking and blogging while on the job.

Read The Rest Of This Story: Here