According to a Customer Think article, For businesses all across the globe, the internet is seen as a great equalizer. It’s a sales and marketing channel where size doesn’t matter, and where just about anyone can compete for the attention of a nearly limitless audience. Unfortunately, it’s also a place where negative information can take on a life of its own – without regard to the veracity or the agenda of the source.
On the internet, there is no filter. That means there’s nothing a business can do to stop an individual with a grudge or a competitor from posting negative and damaging information online in a deliberate attempt to harm them. That doesn’t mean they’re helpless, though. In fact, businesses under siege by negative information online can use a variant of the same techniques they use to promote themselves as a means of fighting back. It’s called reverse SEO, and it’s something every business owner and brand manager should be aware of.
What is Reverse SEO?
By now, most modern business owners and brand managers should have a basic understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) as it pertains to their own marketing efforts. In short, they are tactics used to raise the ranking of web pages so they will appear as close to first as possible on search engine results pages. Standard SEO tactics won’t help, though, when negative or inaccurate information about a business dominates those search results. In those instances, businesses require methods that help to de-emphasize said information as a way of keeping users from seeing it.