Reputation Armor

Reputation Armor (ReputationArmor.com) wants our potential clients to understand that your name is in all actuality a brand. Individuals identify you by that name when deciding whether to do business with you, at least as far as online. Your name is also what will be drawn on in order to search out positive or negative reviews.

Do you own your name online?

Do you own “YourName.com? For example, “ReputationArmor.com”. What about nicknames and product names associated with you and your company? Also, sub-domains are very important, for example, “ReputationArmor.net”, and “ReputationArmor.org”

Even if you by no means plan to construct these into real websites, having someone else own these sites can be disastrous. Someone out there may decide that they don’t necessarily like you. Or a competitor to your business  may fix on ruining your online reputation. They can put whatever negative information about you they like for millions to see? Reputation Armor has even seen instances were a malicious porn or hate site was built that is made to look like it is associated with r our clients name or business. What do you think the outcome of this was when potential clients Googled their name?

This is actually a bona fide problem that Reputation Armor observes more often than one might think. Owning all of the potential deviations of your domains goes a long way in proactively guard your brand and online reputation.

Reputation Armor takes things a step further for our clients. We utilize the domains by building actual web sites. When anyone searches their name/companyName, they find a Google results page filled with relevant, positive links.

Reputation Armor advises clients that it is best to take an “Own it before there is a problem” approach. Optimistically there problems would never arrive, but realistically they often do.

These days it seems to Reputation Armor that the harder that individuals try to be transparent online, the bigger target they become.

Reputation Armor sees it all the time, at first you receive out of this world reviews, you add yourselves to more sites and directories, set up google Alerts to receive emails whenever you’re referred to online, and all is good with the world, then comes the day that you receive a bad review. Reputation Armor finds that some reviews and complaints are warranted, while most are anonymous and false, and posted by competitors and/or ex-employees. In some cases reputation armor is able to have these complaints removed if they are unfounded. Most review sites allow anonymous reviews, and although it’s unfair, it’s not illegal.

Reputation Armor answers…how to avoid potential customers and clients seeing bad reviews of your service?

If you can’t fix it or refute it, and getting it removed isn’t an option, then reputation armor advises that you may want to consider burying it. Basically, this means you need to push the bad reviews off  at least the first two pages of Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. - so potential customers looking for you on the Internet find the real you before they find false reviews.

Here are few elements that reputation armor finds important:

Your company website, for example “ReputationArmor.com” Ideally, reputation armor finds that this will rank in the number one position, and have prominent links showing to the main areas of your website, including testimonials.

Your website is more than likely the first thing a client will look for, make sure it contains some great testimonials / reviews. Case studies, examples of work and quotes from happy clients are great for showing you in a good light.

Reputation Armor can’t say enough about the importance of blogs. Whether your blog is attached to your website, or a sub domain, it gives any potential client the opportunity to find company updates and news. A corporate blog (ex. blog.ReputationArmor.com) can often tell as much, if not more, than a company website, as a blog tends to be more informal and have more of a ‘personality’

Twitter profiles are also an important aspect of any Reputation Armor online reputation management operation. Of course, this is only a positive element if you want people to find it, and your company image and brand is well represented while posting tweets  If your Twitter profile is full of ‘Was out late have a hangover this morning’ then reputation armor advises that it’s probably not for you. However, if you use your Twitter profile as part of your companies brand then having it show up on the first page for your company’s key words is excellent.

LinkedIn and other professional online networking profiles are also recommended by reputation armor. These profiles, especially if very active and up to date, show that you’re not just a fly by night, and go a long way in representing your company’s online brand.

We also like to take advantage of articles that clients have written. Whether they are articles on your own site, or articles on somewhere authoritative, reputation armor notes that having your content easily indexable shows you spend time promoting yourself, and those articles could be the difference in standing out among competitors.

Reputation Armor finds that the single most over looked aspect of online reputation management is Video Search engine optimization. Whether it’s own YouTube channel, or videos on your site, having videos show up in the search results for your company name is great. Not everyone likes reading tons of text about how great you are. Reputation Armor has observed that video about your brand can be one of the most convincing aspects of online reputation management.

Facebook profiles and / or Fan Pages are another important characteristic of reputation armor. Example, www.facebook.com/ReputationArmor. Again, this is only a good thing if you’re aware that your Facebook profile could be seen as part of a ‘fact finding’ mission by potential customers.

In summation, Reputation Armor wants clients to understand that search results for your company or individual name should provide a well rounded promotion of your company and services. When people see your website, your blog, your Twitter profile and Facebook Fan Page, several articles written by you, and videos, they see that you’ve been around a while, that you’re not going anywhere and that you’re the who they want to deal with.

For the above reasons Reputation Armor always recommends having up to date profiles in as many places as possible, and regularly updated blogs. The down side to this is that it can take up a great deal of time.

When it comes to burying bad reviews, the above methods alone are usually not enough, although a good start. Review sites and blogs, by their very nature, do well in search engines such as Google, and a more aggressive approach may be needed inured to ensure that positive results out rank the negative ones.

For more information about removing bad reviews online and managing your online reputation, contact ReputationArmor.com.

888-358-ARMOR

In today’s information driven age Reputation Armor (ReputaitonArmor.com) is aware that the protection of individuals’ digital privacy is vital. Reputation Armor provides a means for individuals to control what is see about them online. But unfortunately, the laws in place that protect the right of privacy of information are old and outdated. For this reason Reputation Armor is excited about the proposed reformation to the Electronic Communications Protection Act.

Reputation Armor notes that an alliance of the internet’s largest online service providers, including Google and Microsoft, are getting together with the top internet rights groups to demand Congress modernize the nation’s privacy laws.

They call themselves the Digital Due Process coalition and among the reformation they are pushing is a requirement that law enforcement get warrants from a judge when they want to compel companies to turn over your e-mails, documents and location data. Reputation Armor has supported this kind of reformation for years.

The coalition declared four principles that are at the heart of their call to reformation in a conference call with reporters March 30^th 2010. The group says they’ve briefed the White House, the FBI and Congress on the proposed changes and expect hearings this year. Congress isn’t expected to act before 2011, because of a jam-packed legislative agenda.

With the transformation in technology over the years, Reputation Armor has observed the need to modernize the nation’s electronic privacy law, known as the 1986 Electronic Communications Protection Act.

According to Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, “With the emergence of location services and the transfer of a huge amount of data to the cloud and our huge reliance on cloud storage of e-mail messages, the law has become outdated and needs to be updated,” Dempsey said in the conference call.

When the law was originally created, e-mail was almost always downloaded from a central server to a user’s computer. Any messages left after 180 days were considered abandoned, so the law allows police to obtain any e-mail older than six months merely by issuing a subpoena - meaning no judge is involved. Reputation Armor (ReputationArmor.com) finds this astonishing and irresponsible. If those e-mails had been downloaded to a user’s computer and removed from the server, the police would need a search warrant, based on probable cause, to get at them.

As Reputation Armor sees it, and according to Dempsey, in an age when Americans store gigabytes of e-mails on Yahoo’s, Google’s and Microsoft’s servers, those different standards make no sense and the law should be platform independent. Reputation Armor agrees.

The following information brought to you by Reputation Armor, can be found @ digitaldueprocess.org.

* Denotes an observations by Reputation Armor

The Principles of the Digital Due Process Coalition

Overarching goal and guiding principle: To simplify, clarify, and unify the ECPA standards, providing stronger privacy protections for communications and associated data in response to changes in technology and new services and usage patterns, while preserving the legal tools necessary for government agencies to enforce the laws, respond to emergency circumstances and protect the public.

These principles would not change, and are subject to, the current definitions, exceptions, immunities and permissions in ECPA.

• A governmental entity may require an entity covered by ECPA (a provider of wire or electronic communication service or a provider of remote computing service) to disclose communications that are not readily accessible to the public only with a search warrant issued based on a showing of probable cause, regardless of the age of the communications, the means or status of their storage or the provider’s access to or use of the communications in its normal business operations.

*Reputation Armor thinks this is a great point. The government would need a warrant to tap a phone in a residence or to read get access to U.S postal mail. Why not email?

• A governmental entity may access, or may require a covered entity to provide, prospectively or retrospectively, location information regarding a mobile communications device only with a warrant issued based on a showing of probable cause.

* Reputation Armor questions how in 2010 the subject of probable cause in relation to the privacy of information is still in question.

• A governmental entity may access, or may require a covered entity to provide, prospectively or in real time, dialed number information, email to and from information or other data currently covered by the authority for pen registers and trap and trace devices only after judicial review and a court finding that the governmental entity has made a showing at least as strong as the showing under 2703(d).

• Where the Stored Communications Act authorizes a subpoena to acquire information, a governmental entity may use such subpoenas only for information related to a specified account(s) or individual(s). All non-particularized requests must be subject to judicial approval.

Reputation Armor and its entire staff are adamant about privacy rights. The Reputation Armor staff also recommends that people become informed about these rights. For more information on this subject visit, www.digitalDueProcess.org.

Reputation Armor Reports: A New Online Review Site Aimed At Individuals Has Launched that Could Cause a Reputation Management Nightmare.

Does RipOff Report make you nervous?

You’re not alone. The site keeps countless business owners awake through the night. It takes just one discontented customer or malevolent competitor to establish an online reputation management nightmare for your company. Reputation Armor clients have had a trying time with RoRs  over the years.

Ok, so visualize a service that could do the same for an individual’s reputation.

No need to imagine it-it just launched!

Although the site is in invite-only beta, we do know it is pretty much LinkedIn meets Yelp meets Wikipedia. Yes you can claim your personal profile. Yes, there are some safeguards to avert flat-out defamation or mischievous reviews. And, yes, the reviews can be moderated by the community. What’s not present, however, might be the formula Unvarnished to grow to be the RoR of individual reputations:

You can claim your profile, but unlike LinkedIn, every post must be accepted. Also once the profile is up it CANNOT be deleted. When co-founder, Peter Kazanjy was asked, “Will you ever give users the option to take down their profile?” he replied “No, because if we did that, everyone would take their profile down.” Not exactly the answer Reputation Management was hoping for.

The fact that Reputation Armor finds most concerning is that reviews can be left anonymously. Reputation Armor is waiting for the day when reviewers are held responsible for their comments

With no moderation by the recipient, anonymous reviewers, pooled with an lack of ability for a resolved subject to be edited, is the blueprint that made RipOff Report reviled by so many.

The site is still in beta-and maybe Unvarnished won’t get the toehold it needs to have any impact on your online reputation. All that being said, if there was ever a doubt that individuals need reputation management, the mere fact that a site like this is on its way, may dissolve that doubt.

For more information about Unvarnished.com visit getUnvarnished.com

What is the Google dance?

Reputation Armor has heard the term “the Google Dance”, to refer to a couple different things. Although only one is actually correct. It’s a 3 to 5 day phase of time when Google is rejuvenating its rankings, and results ebb and flow widely.

How Often Does The Google Dance Happen?

In the past the name “Google Dance” was used to describe the period in which a key index update of the Google search engine was being executed.   Reputation Armor found on average that these major Google index updates occurred on every 36 days or 10 times per year. Reputation Armor observes that the easiest method to identify this was noting the significant changes in search results, and by an updating of Google’s cache of all indexed pages. These changes would fluctuate from one minute to the next.

Because Google’s users (including the Reputation Armor staff) rely on it to deliver authoritative reliable results 24/7, updates pose a serious issue. They can’t afford to shut down for maintenance or go offline for even one minute. Therefore, the Dance. Every search engine goes through it, some more or less often than Google. However, it is only because of Google’s prominence that we pay attention to its rebuild more than that of any other engine.

Around 2003 Reputation Armor found that the Google Dance became far less dramatic.

Now at some stage in any month there will be slight changes in rankings. This is because Google’s bot or spider is ceaselessly running and finding new material. It also happens because the bot may have detected that a website no longer exists, and needs to be deleted from the index. Reputation Armor notes that most importantly, the Googlebot will revisit every website, figure out how many sites link to it, and how many it links out to, and how valuable these links are.

Because Google is constantly crawling and updated selected pages, Reputation Armor has established that search results will differ slightly over the course of the month. On the other hand, it is only during the Google Dance that these results fluctuate wildly. Reputation Armor also considers that Google has numerous data centers, sharing over 10,000 servers. Somehow, the updates to the index that transpire during the month, and outside of the Google Dance have to get transferred throughout. It’s a steady process for Google. These constant, incremental updates only affect portions of the index at any one time.

What the Google Dance Means to Reputation Armor and Our Clients

Reputation Armor technicians spend a great deal of time studying the algorithmic nature of Google. Because a Reputation Armor online reputation management campaign relies so heavily on Google results, we pay close attention to every aspect of change in these results. Although an important aspect, our lead technician has advised the rest of the Reputation Armor team that “the dance” is not nearly as important as what takes shape when the dust settles.

Reputation Armor forecasts the Top 10 Internet Scams for 2010 - forecasted by Reputation Armor

1. Identity theft and phishing - The black market for economic data on individuals is well renowned. Criminals try to steal your personal data using diverse techniques; phishing, social networks, telesales, hacking into websites, setting up spoof websites etc. Reputation Armor strongly urges customers not to share superfluous personal data with websites. If they are adamant that you provide your date of birth, post code etc. - don’t use your genuine ones.

2. Viruses and spyware - They are all over the place. Reputation Armor advises that it’s not possible to discern if you are visiting a contaminated website. If you download a pdf, it may or may not be infected. If you view a YouTube video, watch a flash ad, they may infect your computer too.

3. Advance fee scams - Reputation Armor has observed Nigerian and lottery scams for years, but they are still effective. Although there are over a hundred deviations to these scams they are all essentially the equal. They offer a large sum of money, but there is always a fee to pay before you get it.

4. Work from home and job scams - Reputation Armor has also seen these scams for years, but increasing unemployment will mean that more scams will be targeting vulnerable job seekers.

5. Fake or spoofed websites - Phishing, domain hi-jacking, posting in forums are just some of the ways criminals gain attention to their fake sites. These counterfeit online retailers offer a great deal, or impossible to find items, to attract victims. They set up a site for a short time, and then shut it down and start from scratch.

6. Economy related scams - Loan and debt consolidation scams increased throughout 2009. Reputation Armor believes that there will be new ones look out for, including repossession assistance and unemployment insurance.

7. Classified ads and auction scams - Reputation Armor has seen examples of scammers using local online classified ads, CraigsList etc. to find new victims. Then they contact sellers with fraud check scams, offering to purchase something or rent a room. They send a check for more cash than arranged for, along with an explanation as why you should send the additional money back to them or their friend. The check is of course a phony and they hope you wire the money before you find out.

8. Holiday Scams - Can’t afford a great holiday this year? Well the scammers know the credit crunch has hit the holiday budget. So, they are advertising some incredible deals. Unfortunately, the deals aren’t real.

9. Ticket Scams - Reputation Armor has found that large scale ticket fraud took place during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Criminals have fashioned counterfeit tickets for festivals, sporting events, concerts, and basically anything that for which a ticket is needed for admission. They sell them on online auction sites, classified ads or by setting up their own website.

10. Social Networking - Reputation Armor saw this sizzling scam really start heating up through 2009. A messages telling someone they are in a You Tube video or mentioned on Twitter. When they follow the link their computer gets infected. Dating scams, hacked accounts, and even imposters that make contact with friends and family stating that they are in trouble and require money - these are some of the most popular scams that Reputation Armor has seen associated with social networks.

“Reputation Armor” is an online reputation management firm that endeavors to continuously be on the cutting edge of any Industry related news in order to best serve our clients.

Reputation Armor designs content for people, not just search engines.

Never forgo quality content for the sake of SEO. This is a frequent mistake and can be very damaging to a company’ representation. Look at it like this, when the user finds your site, the objective is to engage, and intrigue them. Reputation Armor understands the importance of search engine optimization, but asks this question, why have a high ranking site that people who visit it can’t understand?

Choose the most relevant name for your Facebook Page - and don’t modify it.

Reputation Armor observes that selecting the correct name for your Facebook Page is imperative. With the lure to stuff your Page title with high value broad keywords - like Reputation Armor: Roanoke, Salem, Miami - ReputationArmor,  Online Reputation Management, reputationarmor.com & More” - this move will in fact injury your Page’s viral growth velocity inside Facebook more than it will facilitate it. For instance, if your page’s title comes out too spammed, fans will be unlikely to distribute it to their friends on their profile and more expectedly hide your updates from their News Feed. Facebook’s objective for Pages is that they accurately symbolize businesses and brands. Facebook will disable updates for generically named pages; effectively defusing the capability of attaining fans.

The bottom line: use your business’s real name as the name of your page. And once you pick your Page’s name, don’t change it. Facebook uses your Page name in the title of the Page, and since Google dings pages when their titles change, modifying your Facebook Page’s name will cost you SEO points.

Reputation Armor Online Reputation Management Tips:

Your online reputation is just as vital to your success as any other marketing tactic that you organize.

Online Reputation Management, or ORM as it’s commonly called, involves assiduous monitoring of your company’s brand and reputation on the web aiming to protect your business reputation and counteract any negative online content from parties not related to your company. Content can be posted on the web about your company in blog posts or comments, customer review websites, community websites, social media forums and so on. As the Internet becomes a progressively more essential part of people’s lives, online reputation has become just as important as offline reputation.

Here are some tips from reputation armor to defend and manage your online reputation and create good consciousness with anyone who searches your company or business:

Reputation Armor Tip #1

Optimize your Website for Search Engines -It’s important to get it optimized for search engines. This will not only ensure top rankings on search engines for your desired keywords, but it will also ensure that potential customers will be able to find your business effortlessly on the web. As positive comments about your business boost up the search engines, negative publicity will automatically be pressed down the.

Reputation Armor Tip #2

Set Up a Monitoring System - In order to monitor the presence of your company or brand, you need to keep an eye on all that is being said about your business online. Start by setting up Google Alerts, Yahoo Alerts and subscription feeds like Technorati and BlogPulse. This will give you a constant stream of content that references your business which you can then select to handle as a result.

Reputation Armor Tip #3

Start an Online discussion - In business, you will come across both positive and negative reviews about your company. It’s certainly not unusual to come across negative comments once in a while. If you see negative online feedback about your company or business, then don’t be afraid to address the situation.

Just don’t address it by commenting on the site on which the complaint originated. The fact is that Reputation Armor observes this all the time. Many times Reputation Armor s clients have already done this before contacting us; commenting on the site directly adds more “weight” to it and more often than not ascends the result.

Reputation Armor Note:

Negative publicity can have a significant wounding impact on your business. The best course to take for online reputation management is to be proactive. If you want more information contact Reputation Armor

888-358-2766

10 Twips from Reputation Armor

1. Select a Good User Name

2. Optimize Your Title Tag

3. Fill out Your Bio

4. Link It Up

5. Learn the Tweeter’s Lingo

6. Join the Conversation

7. Get Retweeted

8. Track Your Results

9. Get a Good Mobile App

10. Bring Your Twitter Account into the Physical World

Tips by Reputation Armor