Reverse SEO (search engine optimization) is an important part of reputation management. The things you say, do, write, and pose for can all help or hurt your online reputation. We are starting to see some trends that people are taking their online reputation more seriously.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently released a report, Reputation Management and Social Media, that showed the continuing need for reverse SEO. They found that 57% of adult Internet users have searched for themselves online, which was an increase from 47% in 2006, and up from 22% in 2001. People are paying more attention to their online reputation.
Second, 71% of social network users ages 18 - 29 have changed their online privacy settings on social networks like Facebook. This was a first for the younger generation, as it has been the older generation who worried about online privacy. Privacy settings are an important part of reverse SEO, although privacy does not eliminate the possibility of inappropriate content being found.
Third, 12% of social network users say they have posted updates, photos, or videos that they later regretted sharing. While Pew says "just" 12% of users regret sharing some content, when you consider that 96% of Generation Y (81 million people) is on a social network, that is still a potential of 9.3 million people. So you can see where reverse SEO can be useful.
Do a Reverse SEO Audit
Your online reputation can take a major hit if you have posted something you wish you had not. In many cases, it may just be an unflattering picture or an angry comment to a friend. But, in many cases, it can be an inappropriate photo or video. While that photo or video may not be found today, chances are someone may find it while doing a search for your name.
Do a quick check for your name on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. What do you find? Hopefully it is all positive, and the information portrays you in a flattering light. But what if you find something you posted a few years ago, right at the top of the search rankings. Reverse SEO is the art and science of pushing that information off the front page. You do it by placing more positive content at the top of the search engines, which pushes the other information down.
Fix Your Online Reputation With a Reverse SEO Campaign
The best place to start your reverse SEO campaign is by first deleting the offending content. If it is on Facebook, untag your name from the photo, and delete it. If it is on your YouTube account, take the video down. While this will not completely eliminate the problem, it is a step in the right direction.
The next step in your reverse SEO campaign should be to produce more of the same kind of content. No, no, not more inappropriate photos or videos, just nice, normal photos and videos. Post as many as photos as you can on Flickr and Picasa, and videos on YouTube and Vimeo.
The third step in your reverse SEO campaign should be to create as much text as possible. Blog posts, forum discussions, Facebook status updates, and Twitter messages should all be a part of your reverse SEO repertoire. Google indexes all of these types of content, so you should try to provide as much of it as you can.
Just remember that a reverse SEO campaign is going to take some time. This will take more than a day or two to fix. If you are aware there is a problem with your online reputation, then you need to start fixing the problem right away, and keep at it for as long as you can.
Of course, the best way to manage your online reputation is to not post the inappropriate content in the first place. Then you will have nothing to worry about.
