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You are here: Home / Archives for reputation management

A Google a Day Keeps the Doctor Away… Or Does It?!

Last Updated: July 17, 2017

Curious about where your company is showing up on the web? You might think, “Where’s the harm in quickly googling my business name?” And that’s where you’d be wrong!
Googling your company name may seem harmless enough, but it can actually have surprisingly negative results. Here’s how.

Google Keeps Track of Your Search Habits

Google’s algorithm is designed to return personalized results. Factoring in your search history, search terms you favor, what location you’re searching from, and other data, Google’s search results are tailored specifically for you. So when you search, you get different results than your neighbors or coworkers, even when you search for the same terms.
One way Google compiles data for personalized results is by paying attention to both your past searches and how you interact with search results. This way, it can deliver the most satisfying results to you. So, if you frequently search for a specific keyword phrase—perhaps your company name or your town name paired with a service you provide—Google takes note.

More Importantly, It Keeps Track of What You Click

Frequently googling your company name becomes problematic when you factor clicks into the equation. Since Google personalizes its search results for each individual user, it only wants to deliver results it thinks you’ll like. So, for example, if you search for your company name and don’t click on any of the results, Google’s algorithm assumes you didn’t like any of the results listed.
No big deal, the first time. But the next time you do the same search, Google is likely to display slightly different results. After all, you told Google (by not clicking on any of the results) you didn’t like the answers it gave the first time. And if you don’t click on any of the results the second time—or the third time, fourth time, and so on—Google will yet again assume you don’t like the results and try another variant. The cycle will continue.

Negative Consequences

That’s why it’s so easy to drive your company’s placement down the list in your own personalized Google search results. And it’s also conceivable that if you search for your own company or the same service phrase frequently enough, you could impact the results displayed when other people search, too.
So, while there can definitely be reasons to occasionally search for your own company or keywords, don’t make a habit of it! If you search too frequently, the only thing you can be sure of is that you’re skewing the results displayed.
If you’re definitely not getting an accurate picture of your company’s placement on the search results page AND you might be driving your listings down the results page, why do it?!

It’s Not Always Bad

Now that we’ve scared you straight about not googling yourself frequently, we do want to note the two reasons to OCCASIONALLY google yourself.

  1. Managing your reputation. The old saying, “All press is good press,” isn’t actually true. Bad PR can ruin a business by destroying your reputation and running off potential customers. That’s why it’s important to know what’s being said about your company online. The occasional Google search can help you do that. Alternately, you can let Google do the work for you by setting up Google Alerts. This service enables you to set specific keywords you’re interested in (such as your business name). Google will then send you a notification when it finds new results containing those search terms (blogs, articles, websites, etc.). This lets you keep an eye on what people are saying about your company WITHOUT constantly googling yourself.
  2. Keeping your competitors in line. Did you know that Google AdWords allows companies to bid on their competitors’ company names as keywords? That means when someone searches for your company name, your competitor’s ad could display on the results page. There’s no way to know if this is happening without doing the occasional Google search. And, unfortunately, you can’t prevent this kind of ad from appearing (Google won’t take them down, as these ads adhere to current AdWords policies). You can file a complaint if a competitor is using your trademarked name in ad copy, but the competitor can still bid on your name as a keyword. Googling yourself occasionally can turn up these kinds of ads. Once you know a competitor is bidding on your name as a keyword, you can decide how to proceed. For example, you may decide that turnabout is fair play and bid on their company name as a PPC keyword for your ads…

Find Your Balance

Balance is the name of the game when it comes to searching for your company on Google. Too frequently can create problems, but too infrequently can miss other problems.
Perhaps the best approach is “an occasional google keeps the doctor away,” but that doesn’t have quite the same ring…
Have questions about your company’s web presence? We can help!

He Said, She Said: Reputation Management and Your Business

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

The simple truth is that businesses live and die by their reputations. In years past, word of mouth was the primary vehicle for circulating a company’s reputation, good or bad. But with technology today, you have practically a zillion more ways to get the word out about your business. While the Internet makes it easier for you to spread the word about your business, it also has a downside: unhappy customers can put negative information about your company all over the web. As you can imagine, this can have a severe impact on your reputation. That’s why it’s so important to manage what info about your business shows up in the search engines!

Fight Back Against Reputation Killers Online

To find out what’s out there about your business, you’ve got to think like a consumer: Start by searching for your company name in search engines like Google, Yahoo!, or Bing and see what comes up. If you see hits from RipOffReport.com or customer complaint forums, your reputation may already be in some hot water!
However, it’s not the end of the world. A reactive campaign can help you recover your good reputation online. The first step is to correct any inaccurate information about your company that might be floating around online. Reports on Google Reviews or RipOffReport might be inaccurate or incomplete, and these outlets enable you to address those issues. The second step is to promote positive information about your company online. By launching new and positive info in media like articles, press releases, and more, you can share what your company is really about with the online community. And by putting all that new, positive information out there, you can push the negative media farther down in the search results. The ultimate result will be no more nasty comments from unhappy customers showing up on page one of the Google results.

Be Proactive

Even if nothing bad about your business comes up when you search, you may want to start a proactive reputation management campaign. Focusing on getting the word out about the positive aspects of your company, a proactive campaign can promote your business in a positive way—before any negative stuff gets a chance to circulate. When people search for your company online, all they’ll see is fabulous reviews, stellar articles, etc.

Reputation Management Services

If your company finds itself in need of either a reactive or proactive campaign, Prospect Genius is available to help. We offer both services for our customers as well as an ongoing monitoring option that keeps tabs on your online reputation and lets you know if any negativity about your company does crop up.

The Inside Scoop

Keeping track of what’s going on inside your business is just as important as monitoring your online information when it comes to managing your reputation. Whether you’d like to monitor who is authorizing coupons or ensure that the office staff is answering the phone in the prescribed way, call recording can help monitor your staff’s interactions with customers. By recording and listening to all the calls that come into your office, you can make certain your clients are getting only the best possible customer service. Even easier, why not get those call recordings transferred into a text version for fast, simple review.
Prospect Genius has partnered up with the telecommunications company Bluestone for various projects in the past, and their newest product offering will be to convert audio recordings into text.  Initially developed for car dealerships to monitor their sales representatives, Bluestone’s product enables you to record phone conversations and then convert the recordings into text for your convenience. This innovative product will even highlight the keywords business owners are looking for, which can enable you to easily track the types of deals your sales reps are closing and the various promises that are made.
This call recording-to-text feature will be available from Bluestone in the second quarter of 2011. A valuable option for your business if you have staff that answers the phone and communicates with customers, this is a simple, straightforward way to control how your customers are treated. For additional information, contact Bluestone at 518-690-0391 or by e-mail at jeffrobinson@bluestonetel.com. There’s also more information available on their website, http://bluestonetel.com.

The Ins and Outs of Googling Yourself

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Googling Yourself: Too Much of a Good Thing
Are you one of those people that googles themselves every day? Then you might want to reconsider. Of course, googling yourself isn’t going to make you go blind or anything like that, but it can skew the results you see. That’s because Google is designed to provide each person with individual results. Factoring in things like search history, what particular search terms you favor, where you are searching from, and other data, Google search results are tailored specifically for you. So if you search for something, you’ll get different results than your next-door neighbor or even your coworkers.
If you continually search for one term or keyword—say, your name or a service like “Hardwood Flooring in New York City”—and then don’t click on any of the results, Google will assume you did not like the listings it returned. The next time you perform the same search, Google will give you slightly different results. If you don’t click on any of the results again, it will again assume you don’t like the results and try another variation the next time. This cycle will just keep continuing and continuing…
In your own, individualized Google results, you can drive your placement down in the listings by repeatedly searching for—and not clicking on—yourself. This certainly happens for your own personal search engine results, but if you do it enough, it’s also conceivable that you could impact your rankings when other people search as well!
So while there are certainly valid reasons to occasionally search for yourself online, the key is to not get carried away! Constant searching for your name or company will ensure you don’t get a good representation of your actual placement on Google.

Everything in Moderation

So now you know why it’s important to not google yourself all the time, but there are some good reasons to search for yourself every once and a while…
1. Reputation management. For local companies, your reputation is everything. Bad PR can run off potential clients, so you need to know what’s being said about you online. Occasionally googling your company’s name or services can help you see what people are putting on the Internet about your business. At Prospect Genius, our lead generation service encompasses a lot of reputation management elements: by distributing press releases, articles, blog entries, and social networking posts about your local company online, we generate a positive buzz and make sure that prospective customers can see the great things that are being said about you on the web! If you’re interested in finding out more about reputation management online, check out this article about how to be both proactive and reactive.
2. Checking on the competition. Did you know that some unscrupulous companies use their competition’s names in their own advertising? That means that your competitors could be using YOUR company’s name as part of their PPC or AdWords advertising strategy. And according to this article, it doesn’t seem like Google is willing to do much about this nefarious practice! However, searching for your business’s name online every so often can help alert you to when your competition is using this underhanded tactic. If you do see this happening, you may wish to contact both us here at Prospect Genius for online advertising help as well as an attorney for legal assistance.
Just like with so many other things, you’ll need to find the right balance when it comes to searching for your company online: too often can have negative effects, but too little can leave your business vulnerable. Occasional Google searches can help you stay on top of your online reputation and competitors without causing any major setbacks.
For more information on how Prospect Genius can help your company navigate the treacherous waters of online advertising, give us a call at 1-800-689-1273 or visit our website today.

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