How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation
Chances are pretty good you Googled yourself and found some dirt ranking on page one of Google.
Then you freaked out and started worrying about how it will affect your business.
Now you’re getting proactive and are looking for answers on what to do about your problem.
If I’m right about your situation, you’re in the right place, my name is Matt LaClear and I can help you.
How to Clean Up a Negative Post Ranking for Your Name
When I found dirt in my name ranking on page one of Google my stomach went cold, and my heart started racing.
I was FREAKED OUT.
That was over a decade ago and the situation DID NOT kill my business.
At the time though, I was beside myself with fear and anger.
I’m guessing you can relate.
I was sure the Rip Off Report in my name was going to hurt my business and send me to the poor house.
It wasn’t true, but it felt like it was, and trust me, that’s real enough.
Step One: Don't Play the Victim Card in This Matter
You’re innocent of the matter, you say?
Sure, point taken.
At this point though, it doesn’t matter if you’re to blame for the dirt ranking for your name or not.
What does matter though is that it’s sitting out in the middle of the main street at rush hour for all to see.
That’s the problem you need to solve first.
If you did something that was wrong, make it right where you can and then use it to make your business better.
Then use what you learn on this blog post to start RIGHT NOW in cleaning up your online reputation.
That’s your best play at cleaning up the mess.
You don’t have to prove your innocence here. Save that for court.
Yeah, the situation stinks. That’s all the more reason to put your emotions aside so you can get it fixed.
One way or another you will get past this unfortunate circumstance. Not everything that ranks on page one of Google stays on page one of Google.
I promise you that statement is true so I will repeat it.
Not everything that ranks on page one of Google stays on page one of Google.
So please do yourself and me a favor right now and check your pulse. If it’s racing, stop reading until your nerves settle down.
Read your Bible. Pray. Do whatever you need to do to shed the negative energy.
A racing surge of adrenaline rushing through you IS NOT the response you need to solve this problem.
I won’t beat a dead horse on this but raw emotional fear or anger will hurt your efforts to clean your online mess up.
So let’s move on.
Don't Beat Yourself Up Over the Problem Either
Everyone in business gets dirty sooner or later. So don’t feel ashamed for having the problem in the first place.
It happens.
Feeling shame over your reputation problem is as unproductive as fear and anger.
Neither of the three will help you fix the problem. Save that for later once you get the situation cleaned up.
You'll Get Zero Judgment from Me Either
Please understand I hold no judgment against you for having the problem. So don’t be harsh with yourself.
Everyone gets dirty from time to time.
That is what baths are for, so keep reading to learn how to get the situation soaped up and rinsed out of your hair.
Step Two: Respond to the Online Dirt (If Possible)
Now that your nerves are calm let’s take a step toward solving your problem.
They are calm, right?
Good.
Now, go ahead and Google your name and your brand name right now.
Is the dirt still showing up on page one for either search?
If so go ahead and click it.
If it’s no longer on page one then close out this blog post because your problem solved itself.
It was nice meeting you. 🙂
Since you’re still here I assume you’re looking at the dirt right now.
Darn it!
You better stick around, we have work to do.
Figure Out If You Can Respond to the Dirt
Is there ANYWHERE on the dirt page where you can leave a response to the claim against you or your business?
Yes?
Cool, we can counteract the poison in it.
If you can’t respond to it, no big deal, you can skip down to step number three.
If there is a place where you can leave a response let’s spend some time crafting your reply to the dirt.
Let’s do that now.
How to Respond to Online Complaints and Negative Reviews
Wouldn’t it be great if you wrote a response so great that it causes the complainer to delete their dirt on you?
Yeah, it would be marvelous for sure, but forget about it.
That’s not your goal in writing your response to the problem.
Let me explain.
Your goal is not to win over the complainer in your response but to sway the opinions of people who find and read it.
Trying to win over the complainer WILL make your response confrontational.
In some circles that might even make you look guilty.
Your job then in this step is to repair your online reputation in the minds of the people who read the dirt.
Who is that you ask? Your current customers and prospects, that’s who.
Those are the people you need to win over.
With my help, you will.
Why You Need to Respond to the Dirt
Your current customers and prospects will find the dirt now that is ranking on page one of Google.
You can count on it.
It’s not going to look good for you if you have the chance to answer it but did not.
Be Helpful and Civil
Your response to the dirt isn’t an opportunity to attack the person who posted it.
Darn, again!
Such responses will make you look guilty, even if you’re not.
That means no name-calling in the response you write. It also IS NOT the time to show even a hint of your anger if that is what you’re feeling at the moment.
You’re calm and collected right now. Right?
Instead of writing, “there is no way any of this stuff listed here is true.” Say, “everything posted here is the EXACT OPPOSITE of how we run our business.”
The first response calls the poster a liar.
That looks confrontational and something a guilty person might say.
Your prospects reading the dirt haven’t made up their minds yet if they believe the dirt.
If they read that you call the complainer a liar they may believe you are the one lying to save your hide.
So it will go better for you if you do not lob personal attacks in your response to the dirt.
Even if the poster is evil and a dirty liar.
Why?
It will make you LOOK GUILTY.
Your goal here is to repair your online reputation with your prospects and customers.
Not hurt it.
Guilty people use personal attacks when confronted in public by their victims.
Watch the news for five minutes tonight for proof.
Remove the Stinger from the Bee
Your goal here is not to vindicate yourself and your business to anyone who reads the dirt.
It would be best for you to show the readers you’re still the same person or brand they know you to be.
Why?
So they keep doing business with you, that’s why.
First, you cared enough about the poster to respond to their complaint against you.
They might be telling the truth. Things happen in your business sometimes that you miss.
Your customers and prospects know this.
Second, the situation described in the complaint against you is NOT how you run your business. So even if everything the complainer said happened did happen, it’s a rarity.
Your customers will come to this fast based on their own experience and how you word your response. Prospects who do not know you as well may take a bit longer to reach that point.
Third, your customers and prospects will sense your desire to get to the bottom of the problem.
Those are the only three things you need to do to neutralize the poison.
Sample Response to a Complaint or Negative Review
Let’s take a look now at the right way to respond to the dirt ranking for your name on page one of Google.
Fictitious Complaint (Sample)
Matt LaClear is a dirty rat who took all my marketing budget with no results to show for it. He promised lots of great things when he pitched me but when I paid him he fell off the face of the planet. I do not recommend you do business with him or anyone else affiliated with his marketing agency.
The first thing I would do if I encountered such a complaint ANYWHERE would be to figure out of it was true or not.
It wouldn’t matter to me if the complaint was ranking on page one of Google for my name either.
I’d deal with it straight away.
If the dirt was true, I refund all the person’s money back and apologize to them on the post. I’d tell how sorry and confused I was that I let such a thing happen, then I’d mention the refund.
That would solve my problem and let my clients and prospects know I was on top of things.
If the complaint was untrue I would write a different response of course.
Hi Carla, I'm sorry you ran into a problem working with our agency. You're busy enough as it is and for that I'm sorry. What you described in your complaint against us is the EXACT OPPOSITE of how we run our agency. Since 2009 we have helped over 13,277 companies with their SEO campaigns. Can you please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX so we can get to the bottom of this matter? I'm confused about how any of this could have happened and want to sort it out for you. If you call me I am very confident we can get things fixed or cleared up for you. Thank you, I look forward to chatting with you about the problem.
At this point, I would post that response word for word, and wait for the complainer to call me.
What I wouldn’t do is visit the page ever again.
That means if the poster replies to my response on the dirt page, I won’t see it.
If the complainer starts attacking me after I made that response it would make them look bad, not me.
I don’t fight with such people and it would go better for you if you didn’t either.
Instead, drive the conversation offline where it belongs so it can get fixed.
Template for Responding to Complaints and Negative Reviews
- Greet them by name.
- Empathize with her so you do not come across as a psychopath.
- Share that you’re confused and want to get to the bottom of the matter. Also, state that you operate the exact opposite of what the poster described.
- Establish your authority with the customers and prospects reading the dirt. Be brief about it though. A single sentence should do the trick.
- Attempt to move the matter offline where it can get resolved.
- End the response with confidence that the matter will get resolved if the poster calls you.
- Thank them and tell them you’re looking forward to resolving their problem.
- Sign the response in your name to show that you’re the one accountable for fixing the problem.
After writing and posting your response you can relax a bit.
If one of your customers or prospects comes across the dirt they will see you being polite and helpful.
That’s all you need to do in your response to the dirt.
Once you post it, quit responding to the poster online. Never visit the page again.
You did your part in trying to drive the conversation about the problem offline where it can get solved.
If the complainer spits poison on your response it paints them in a negative light to the people reading it.
If so they did you a favor.
But if you come back and answer rebuttals with more rebuttals you will lose the battle. The poster will only keep escalating his efforts against you.
Next, let’s tackle the next step in your efforts to clean up your online reputation.
Step Three: Figure Out If the Dirt Ranking for Your Name Has Backlinks
You now need to figure out if anyone is building backlinks to the dirt.
If someone is linking to your dirt it means they have a working knowledge of SEO and mean to do you harm.
When Google finds the backlinks it will drive your dirt even higher up on page one. It also means the ranking will stay MUCH LONGER as a result of the links.
Since that would be bad, you need to move fast to make sure it isn’t happening.
To do that, visit Ahrefs.com and enter the URL of the dirt ranking on page one for your name.
Once you do you will find out if anyone has been linking to the dirt.
Here’s a screenshot that shows you how to enter the URL of your dirt to check for backlinks.
If the dirt DOES NOT have links pointing to it give yourself permission to breathe a sigh of relief.
Your problem will go away much faster since no one is linking to it.
So go ahead and do your happy dance. I won’t tell anyone.
Don’t freak out though if you find that someone is linking to your dirt to hurt you. It doesn’t mean you won’t be able to drive it off of page one for your name.
Instead, it means you need to put in extra effort to make it happen.
Again, don’t go crazy if this is the boat you find yourself in right now. There are things you can do to DRIVE IT OFF page one of Google forever.
Let’s work on helping you make that happen, right now.
Step Four: Build Social Media Accounts On All 11 Major Platforms
Your next move is to claim Internet real estate in your name.
Why?
To drive as many pages as you can to page one of Google for your name. This will drive the dirt down to page two if you’re lucky.
This means you need to set up accounts on all the following platforms you don’t already have accounts on:
- Set up a Facebook page in your name
- Twitter
- LinkedIn profile
- LinkedIn company page
- Truth Social
- Pinterest
- YouTube
- Rumble
- Instagram
- Tik Tok
- and Snap Chat
Getting accounts set up on all 11 is critical to you cleaning up this mess you find yourself in at the moment.
Given the popularity of the 11 sites, Google will start pushing the new accounts up in search results.
Most search results pages on Google only list 6 – 8 results. Right now your dirt is occupying one of those slots.
You want to flood page one of Google searches for your name with these social media accounts. Not all will outrank your dirt right away, but some will and that’s a start.
Note: The name you use on the social media account MUST be the name that the dirt is ranking on page one of Google. This could be your business name or your personal name.
Optimize Your Social Media Accounts for Your Name
Getting the social media accounts set up is only the first step.
Next, we need to optimize them so that Google wants to rank them on page one of their search results for your name.
Again, by name, I mean whatever name the dirt is ranking for on Google that has you concerned.
Our goal is to flood page one of Google with these new social accounts.
Why?
In the hopes, they drive down the dirt away from the sight of your prospects and customers.
Optimize the Handles – Make sure each of the accounts uses your name as the handle whenever possible. These URLs play a huge SEO role in how Google ranks each of the pages.
Here are two examples:
In the first example, the handle is in the name of our business, Your SEO Squad. As a result, it ranks on page one of Google for our business name.
In this second example, the account handle is in my personal name. As a result, it ranks on page one for my personal name.
This next step is as simple as this one.
Rename the Profile Pics – Change the file name of the profile pics you use the social media accounts to your name. So I would use “mattlaclear” or “yourseosquad” as the new file names for all my profile pictures.
Doing this will get Google to drive your social media accounts closer to page one of the search results.
Link to All Your Social Media Accounts from Your Main Website Using Your Name as the Anchor Text – This step is easy too.
Have your web developer link to all 11 social media profiles from the footer of your main website. Tell them to use your name in the anchor text. Here’s what that looks like on our SEO agency website.
This is what such a link looks like on our site:
Doing this will improve the rankings of the social media accounts added to your menu.
Step Four: Stay Active on All 11 Social Media Accounts
Use it or lose it.
It’s important that Google understand that all 11 of the accounts belong to you or your brand. We covered how to do that already.
Next, we need to convince Google that all 11 accounts are real.
The way to do that is to log in to each of them a couple of times a month and log activities on them.
These activities can be any of the following:
- Posting new content
- Shares
- Commenting on others’ content
Log in, make you’re presence felt, then log off. I’m not talking about posting “Atlas Shrugged” sized content every other day.
Instead, log in when you can, and interact with others to keep your accounts live.
Step Five: Build Backlinks to Your Eleven Social Media Accounts
Backlinks are a big deal.
At least when it comes to SEO and removing your dirt from page one of Google.
The more links your social media accounts get the faster they will zoom to page one for your name.
That means the quicker your dirt drops from public scrutiny.
When you do place links make sure to use your name in the anchor text.
Google does not like you buying backlinks. But you won’t be building any to your main website as part of this exercise. So you won’t need to worry about getting hit with a link penalty.
The search engine giant is not about to penalize any of the 11 social media platforms. They are too large to get hurt by them.
So this is a safe way to buy links to drive your dirt off of page one or even two of Google.
The more links you can build or buy to the 11 social media accounts the faster your problem is going to go away.
If you need help with the link-building side of things my squad is ready to help you get them.
Give us a call at (800) 423-9510 to get the ball rolling.
In Conclusion: What to Do If Your Dirt is Still On Page One Eight Weeks from Now
If you do the work listed in this post you will see results if you do the work outlined in this post.
Will it be enough to make your problem go away?
It might, especially if no one is linking to the dirt.
When it comes to your online reputation, time DOES NOT always heal all wounds.
If you need help I’d be happy to help you clear your name so you can get this unfortunate hiccup behind you for good.
Hit the red button on the top right-hand corner of this page to get the ball rolling in your favor again.