Dealing With Negative Search Results: How To Get Rid Of The Bad Stuff

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How to Remove Unwanted Search Results

As a business owner, discovering a negative search result associated with your company can be a frustrating experience. In today’s digital age, online reputation can significantly impact consumer behavior. Research shows that over 90% of consumers read online reviews before making purchasing decisions, and just one negative search result can deter potential customers from engaging with your business (BrightLocal). It’s not just negative reviews—any type of unfavorable content, such as personal information leaks or defamatory blog posts, can damage your brand.

To combat these challenges, businesses and individuals alike turn to Online Reputation Management (ORM) strategies. ORM is a multifaceted approach that focuses on influencing public perception of your brand by controlling what appears in search results. This guide explores key ORM strategies, including removal of negative content and Reverse SEO, which can help bury unwanted results.

Removing Negative Content from Search Engines and the Internet

When a negative search result appears at the top of Google’s search results, your initial reaction may be to attempt to remove it completely. While this is the most effective method for erasing a damaging link from public view, removal is not always straightforward. Depending on whether the negative content is hosted on a website you own or a third-party site, different methods apply.

Removing Content from Websites You Own

If the negative content is hosted on websites you control, such as your business's Facebook page, Yelp profile, or Google My Business listing, the removal process is relatively simple:

1. Update Your Profile: You can update your profile to reflect recent positive changes, improving the overall impression.
2. Respond to Negative Reviews Professionally: Address negative reviews with professionalism and transparency. This may not erase the bad review, but it demonstrates that your business values customer feedback and takes action to resolve issues (Richards, “Managing Your Online Reputation”).
3. Delete or Hide Content: In cases of severe damage, you may choose to delete your page entirely. However, note that some platforms, like Yelp, might retain reviews even if the business page is deleted (Yelp Support).

Removing Content from Third-Party Websites

More commonly, the negative content appears on websites outside your control. These might be blogs, social media accounts, or review platforms. Removing this content is more challenging but not impossible. Here are some strategies you can apply:

1. Contact the Website Owner: Start by reaching out to the owner of the website that hosts the negative content. Politely explain your situation and provide reasons why the content should be removed or edited. In some cases, if you are able to resolve the issue, the owner may agree to remove or modify the content (WordStream).
2. Use Google’s Removal Tools: Google allows you to request the removal of content that violates its policies. This includes content that exposes personal information, such as Social Security numbers, or hosts offensive images or videos. You can file a removal request through Google's removal request tool.
3. Legal Action: For cases involving defamation, libel, or copyright infringement, legal action might be an option. Although this can result in the forced removal of unlawful content, it is typically a last resort due to the costs and attention it can attract to the negative content (Smith). Before pursuing legal action, assess whether it is worth the financial and reputational risk.

While content removal is the most direct way to clean up your search results, it’s often not feasible. In these cases, suppression via Reverse SEO becomes the most effective approach.

Suppressing Negative Content with Reverse SEO

When removal isn’t possible, the next best option is to bury negative content so deep in search engine results that it becomes practically invisible to the average user. Reverse SEO, also known as search result suppression, focuses on creating positive, optimized content that ranks higher than negative content in search engine results pages (SERPs).

How to Bury Negative Search Results

Most users don’t venture beyond the first page of search results, and an overwhelming majority will only click on one of the top three results (Advanced Web Ranking). By leveraging Reverse SEO, you can push the unwanted content far enough down the search rankings that it becomes almost irrelevant.

Key strategies for burying negative search results include:

1. Publishing High-Quality SEO Content: The foundation of Reverse SEO is content creation. Publish blog posts, press releases, and articles that are optimized for specific keywords related to your business. Quality content that targets the same keywords as the negative content will help push the unwanted material lower in the search results (WordStream).
2. Creating a Diverse Array of Media: In addition to articles and blog posts, consider creating videos, podcasts, and infographics. Google’s search algorithm favors content that includes a variety of media types, and having video or image content rank higher can displace text-based negative content. Upload videos to YouTube and images to platforms like Flickr to further diversify your content.
3. Building Social Media Profiles and Staying Active: Social media platforms rank highly in search results. Create professional profiles on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, and regularly post engaging content. This will boost your overall online presence and help crowd out negative search results.
4. Gaining Backlinks from Authoritative Sites: Backlinks remain one of the most important factors in search rankings. Reach out to reputable websites in your industry to secure backlinks to your content. By linking to your high-quality pages, these authoritative sites can help push negative content down in SERPs (Ahrefs).
5. Optimizing Your Existing Content: Update your website and existing blog posts with current, relevant keywords. This practice, known as content refresh, signals to Google that your content is fresh and valuable, further pushing down negative results (Moz).

By focusing on these strategies, you can effectively suppress unwanted content and improve your overall online reputation.

Online Reputation Management Services

If managing your online reputation becomes too overwhelming or time-consuming, there are professional services that specialize in reputation management. These companies offer solutions such as content removal, Reverse SEO, and ongoing monitoring of your brand's online presence.

Popular ORM services include:

• RemoveOnlineInformation: This service specializes in helping individuals and businesses remove sensitive information from people search sites and suppress negative search results.
• Defamation Defenders: A firm that focuses on helping clients remove defamatory content from the web and public search results.
• BrandYourself: A reputation management company that helps both individuals and businesses clean up their search results by optimizing personal and professional profiles.

These companies can be particularly helpful if you’re dealing with complex cases of defamation or deeply embedded search results that are difficult to push down on your own.

FAQ

1. What is Reverse SEO? Reverse SEO is a technique used to suppress negative search results by creating optimized content to outrank the negative links, pushing them deeper into the search engine results pages (SERPs).

2. Can I remove negative search results from Google myself? You can request content removal if it violates Google’s policies, such as exposing personal information or copyrighted material. However, for negative reviews or articles, removal is much more difficult, and may require help from the site owner or legal action.

3. How long does it take to bury negative content? The timeline for suppressing negative content depends on the competitiveness of the keywords and the amount of quality content you create. It can take weeks to several months to see significant results in pushing down unwanted links.

4. Should I hire an ORM company? If you lack the time or expertise to manage your online reputation effectively, hiring a reputable ORM company can save you time and help ensure that negative content is properly suppressed or removed.

5. Is taking legal action to remove content risky? Yes, legal action can be expensive and might draw more attention to the negative content. Weigh the financial and reputational risks carefully before pursuing legal action.

References (MLA Format)

1. WordStream. "How to Use Reverse SEO to Suppress Negative Content." WordStream.com, 23 May 2019, www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/05/23/reverse-seo. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
2. Richards, Peter. "Managing Your Online Reputation: A Guide for Businesses." Search Engine Journal, 8 March 2023, www.searchenginejournal.com/online-reputation-management/419016/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
3. Smith, Jonathon. "Understanding Defamation Lawsuits: What Business Owners Need to Know." Law360, 15 February 2021, www.law360.com/articles/1356124. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
4. Moz. "Beginner's Guide to SEO." Moz.com, Moz, moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo, Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
5. Ahrefs. "What Are Backlinks?" Ahrefs.com, Ahrefs, ahrefs.com/blog/backlinks/, Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
6. Zafrira, Dalia. "The Power of Content Suppression in Online Reputation Management." Content Marketing Institute, 15 April 2022, www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2022/04/reputation-content-suppression/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

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Share 58 30 Comments VA Emy Rose 4mo

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Seeing bad results pop up is rough. You could try HifiveStar to track reviews across sites and respond fast while you build out fresh content. It kept things organized for me and made pushing down the noise a lot easier.

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Very useful article. Thanks for sharing Joe Chierotti 🙏

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