The speed and efficiency by which the web provides information on companies and individuals has driven a significant increase in the need for Digital Reputation Management (DRM), also called Online Reputation Management.
DRM involves the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other tactics to better control the results found in search engines. The basic strategy is to bury unfavorable information found at the top of results by promoting and/or creating favorable information.
Timeframe of a DRM campaign
It should be noted that a typical DRM effort takes weeks and often months to produce optimal results. Typical engagements last 3-6 months if not longer. Many high-visibility clients keep a DRM team on retainer to constantly monitor their “digital landscape” as each new news item may require a shift of tactics.
Process of a DRM campaign
To begin, an SEO or DRM firm will often first conduct an audit which is a complete assessment of the subject’s “digital landscape.” This includes a report that should solve many curiosities – including the traffic value and relevancy of existing favorable and unfavorable assets.
Short term and long term goals are then set and a mutually-agreed strategy is determined. The strategy often involves many tactics, some of which are conservative and others, aggressive.
Efforts are reported and results are measured – making for a quantitative understanding of progress which helps manage expectations regarding the quality of the content and speed of success.
Here are some tidbits regarding a few key websites that play a role in DRM.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a crowdsourced service that relies on volunteer editors who have gained authority and seniority by monitoring one another. Edits are tracked by email address and IP address. Content may be added by anyone but it is “forbidden” for parties to write about themselves.
While anyone may suggest an update to a Wikipedia page, each request is evaluated by Wikipedia editors. So, in order for information to be added and remain, content must be considered relevant to an editor (which may be at the editor’s discretion), and cited, preferably through mainstream media or reputable news articles.
Companies themselves and PR firms typically have less authority to edit, while some SEO firms may have higher authority due to their frequent activity and tenure. Using an editor with seniority significantly increases the chance that content will remain and that the edit will happen faster. For this reason, it is wise use third-party experts who have long-standing Wikipedia credentials.
It is important to understand that it is nearly impossible to remove factually correct information from any Wikipedia page if it is cited by existing news articles. Non-cited content can be removed.
As a result, the only way to improve a company’s or individual’s unfavorable image on Wikipedia is to add cited, favorable information regularly at the top of the page, pushing unfavorable information down.
It should be noted that outbound links from Wikipedia have a “no follow” rule, whereby such links do not aid in creating relevancy for outside sites.
LinkedIn is a social media platform that facilitates business networking using company and individual profiles.
While LinkedIn is primarily used for career networking, LinkedIn pages can have a significant web presence due to their measured relevancy (called “page rank”) which causes them to appear high in search results.
When properly executed, a company or personal LinkedIn profile will become an “evergreen favorable asset” – providing a controlled, long-term presence that will appear near the top of search engine results.
LinkedIn and other social media profile sites not only aid in “burying” unfavorable information themselves, but links from those profiles to other favorable assets can help promote those assets as well.
