People used to get embarrassed when they admitted googling their own name—or that of their company—because it seemed vain. Today, though, knowing what shows up on the first page of a search engine's results is a critical element in maintaining your image. Because you've got a problem if someone writes a scathing review of your product or service and it shows up in the "number two" spot, right beneath your official website.

In a post at the Search Engine People blog, Jeff Quipp provides some important pointers on Pre-emptive Reputation Management (PRM), or the steps you can take to keep this from happening.

• Identify terms that could prove most problematic.
• Ensure that sites you control use those terms to achieve powerful page rankings from search engines.
• Insist on taking an active role in maintaining and strengthening those rankings.

According to Quipp, this strategy can prevent up to 95 percent of negative items from appearing on the first page of a Google search—and push the fraction that get through "below the fold" to the bottom of the page.

The Po!nt: "Obviously, it is better to communicate with customers continuously to ensure that such posts do not appear," says Quipp. "That said, I also think that 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'. Why risk the possible resulting damage when you're not necessarily dealing with [rational behavior] or people?"

Source: Search Engine People. Click here to read the full post.

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