A Guide to Dealing with Negative Search Results
Just about everyone is a victim of negative search results at some point in time. Whether it is a link to negative reviews, embarrassing photos and blogs, or a negative news story, it can be a good idea to get rid of such. If you are unable to do it, you have the option of having them buried.
You Need to Treat Negative Search Results with Seriousness
Negative search results have the undesired reputation of painting your firm in bad light. Unfortunately, this can be bad for both you and your business since prospective customers would find it while searching for information about you. People tend to be less willing to do business with companies that have many negative things going about them so they would simply move on to the next company. In the end, it could become a fatal blow to your business, which is why you need to act before it gets to that.
What to Do
Panicking never accomplishes anything, which is why you must come up with a systematic series of steps and tackle the issue at hand in a methodical way. You cannot simply email Google to get rid of the contents out of the blue. Now that you have got this out of your mind, here are some steps you should try following.
Delete Unwanted Content
Linking your brand to unwanted content can be somewhat confusing especially if the content doesn’t exist in the first place. The most direct way to approach the problem might be to delete the content, but this is not always possible. Link removal online is no mean feat.
While it is possible to delete some of the links under your control, it isn’t easy to erase links that you don’t control. Such malicious links are often posted by other websites. If you want more info on this, here is a good guide on how to push down negative search results
If You Are the Owner of the Page…
If it is a social media profile or Yelp business page, you can modify it to provide the right portrayal of your business. If that isn’t possible, you may consider deleting the account altogether. However, deleting the account is risky. You can remove your business account sometimes, but the negative reviews will remain on the Internet. It would be a liability since now that you have deleted your account, you will be unable to add positive reviews moving forward.
If You Are Not the Owner of the Page…
You may consider approaching the person/entity that owns the website hosting the malicious links directly. Be polite and find out whether they are willing to do you the favor. If the owner refuses to help, you can ask Google or the legal authorities for assistance. All content in violation of Google’s policies can be subjected to elimination. However, you must provide evidence for that and removing such links from Googles doesn’t necessarily get rid of them from the Internet.
1. Have a blog or social media account. Set up active accounts and consistently post good content. It can help you rank higher in the Google search results.
2. Optimize your content using SEO. It will help increase the volume of traffic to your page.
3. Leave good and helpful content under your actual name in the comment section of influential websites.
It might be difficult to get rid of unwanted content, but it is probably not impossible. Use the tips provided here to improve your image.
