Remember that book titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum? There’s a lot of truth in that statement – and here’s a four-minute cartoon from the Secret Millionaire’s Club with Warren Buffet that shares all you really need to know about the importance of a quality reputation.

According to Buffet, the best investment you can make is in yourself and he advises that you act as though everything you say and everything you do will be posted on the Internet. Thank goodness it isn’t – but that’s still a terrific benchmark to use when making decisions about what to do, and what not to do in life, including when running your business.

The problem is that disgruntled ex-employees and jealous competitors can still post unfair negative comments to ruin your online reputation.

These comments can:

• Seriously damage your brand
• Put a significant dent into your revenues
• Cause the price of your stock to plummet
• Push customers and potential customers – and even great employees – to your competitors

That’s where online reputation management services come in to play.

A significant portion of online reputation management comes from the proactive treatment of online complaints. The faster that you are aware of online complaints and the faster that you react to them, the less likely it is that the complaints will become an issue for your company.

Let The Search Guru lead the charge to fight back against these unfair comments and to help restore the reputation you deserve. Email us today to ask about our highly effective reputation management services! You’ll receive a FREE 30-minute gift session on the phone.

It’s that time of year – the time for spring cleaning – and that concept applies, even when you’re searching for an organic search engine optimization company. Before choosing the best company for your needs:

1. Toss out emails from any company that guarantees #1 rankings in Google. There is no company that can guarantee that prize. And, if you’ve still got some emails in your inbox offering to submit your site to thousands of search engines – or to quickly get your site thousands of inbound links – toss those ones out, too.

2. If you talk to a search engine optimization company and their strategy includes cranking out large amounts of content that doesn’t provide much in-depth information, then you’ll want to remove that company from your list, as well. A recent Google algorithm change has downgraded the rankings of nearly 12% of URLs, pointing out that shallow content was a significant factor. Choose a search company that can support you in the creation of useful web content writing that isn’t found in multiple other places online.

3. If you are ready to contract for organic search engine optimization services, be sure to ask about how online reputation management fits into the overall strategy. It can be futile to push to boost rankings and targeted traffic if the first search engine results page listings that potential customers see about your company are unfair negative reviews. If a search company doesn’t have a solid plan for your online reputation management, scrub them from your list of possibilities.

We hope that you’ll contact The Search Guru to take advantage of a free 30-minute consultation about your organic search engine optimization needs!

The Search Guru can help you to create content that both your human site visitors and the search engine spiders love. Also ask us about effective online reputation management techniques that really work.

The short answer is that you should write the customer a letter of apology (and, don’t worry, we’re going to include a business apology letter sample!). Regardless of the underlying issue with the complaint, when you write a letter of apology, you can:

• Rebuild a relationship with a disgruntled customer
• Repair your online reputation, which may be damaged when other site visitors read the negative review of your business

Before you write any business letters of apology, carefully read the complaint and consider what seems to be upsetting the customer.

In many cases, you will have the option to address a complaint directly in a reply or comment box on the site. Resist the urge to use those – at least, not yet! Instead, craft the letter offline and either have someone else review it or put it away for a couple of hours and review it again yourself. Is the tone appropriate? Do you sound defensive or disbelieving? If so, then you’ll need to edit the letter before posting in the reply or comment box on the site.

Most importantly, make sure that you are actually apologizing for whatever the person listed in his or her complaint. The goal is to mend a business relationship, if possible, and to do some online reputation repair, NOT to defend your viewpoint, to win an argument or to prove that you’re right.

Before we share a business apology letter sample, here’s a bonus online reputation management tip that you might not have considered.

In your letter, avoid using any keywords – especially your brand/company name, your personal name or the names of employees. The use of your company name or other keywords related to your company will only add strength to this complaint by helping it rank in search engine results.

For online reputation management purposes, be sure to change up the copy in the letter if you need to use it more than once.

Business apology letter sample (note: you will need to replace information in [brackets] with information specific to the posting)

We Would Like To Help You, [Name]

Dear [Name],

I noticed your posting and I would like to help you. I want to help you with your [first issue] problem, as well as the problems that you are having with your [second issue].

At this store, we want you to be satisfied with us. Unfortunately, problems do arise. When this occurs, it is even more important to go the extra mile to satisfy you.

[Name], I stand ready to correct any problem or perceived problem that you bring to my attention. While business transactions can be ‘easy’ when everything goes ‘fine,’ you should judge a company by how they resolve issues when there are ‘bumps in the road.’ I am available [Monday through Saturday] between the hours of [7:00 AM and 7:00 PM]. My direct dial number is [234-1234]. Please contact me personally if there is any way that I can assist you. I can assure you 100% resolution.

Sincerely,

[Your first name and last initial]

Looking for more information about online reputation management? Here you go.

If you would like information about how The Search Guru can monitor your online reputation management, contact us today!

In 2009, the Better Business Bureau received almost one million complaints, which is an increase of about 10 percent over 2008.

The largest number of Better Business Bureau complaints, according to the Wall Street Journal excerpt from Real Time Economics, was against wireless carriers; there were an astonishing 34,477 complaints against these companies in 2009 alone. This industry was also ranked first in the number of complaints in 2008.

The industry that received the second most complaints was the cable and satellite television industry; banks were number three, with the bureau receiving 42 percent more complaints about the financial industry when compared to 2008.

Here’s how to lodge your own Better Business Bureau complaints – and otherwise state complaints – to get results.

What about the reverse side? What if your business has received unfair criticism online? What reputation management techniques should you use?

It can be frustrating to see criticism about your company on Internet forums and other places online – especially since the negative comments could be posted by competitors or disgruntled former employees.

Here are several free resources from The Search Guru that can help with your online reputation management efforts:

• Online reputation management: why should your company monitor this daily?
• Internet brand management: set up Google alerts to monitor negative comments.
• Internet brand management page 2: learn ways to fight vicious comments online.
• Internet brand management glossary: set up Google alerts and much more.

To receive the free The Search Guru e-newsletter, sign up on the home page of the site – and, as a gift from us, you’ll receive a free white paper about SEO and site usability.

Internet reputation management is a growing niche service in the world of search engine optimization. And it is no wonder. A single negative comment that appears in the top 10 positions for a search for your company name can cost you thousands, even millions, of dollars in lost sales and leads.

Saving your name and reputation online is crucial to being successful online. The benefits of protecting your reputation online can be seen in both retained customers and your bottom line.

How do I defend my reputation online?

The first key to saving your name and reputation on the internet is to simply be a great company. Look around. Are there places in your company that you can improve your relations and communications with your customers? Poor communication from companies and bad reputations online go hand in hand. The less your customers have to be upset about, the less likely they will air their complaints publicly online. Fix any customer service issues you know about quickly.

Another answer to “how do I defend my reputation online” is to use other sites to help you with this. Using Web 2.0 sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are crucial to proactive internet reputation protection. Use these tools well to communicate with your customers and not only will you be saving your name and reputation in the search results with your profile pages, you will also be opening new lines of communication with your customers. This is just one of the side benefits of protecting your reputation.

Good companies and bad reputations

Maybe you are a good company, but you already have negative comments coming up in the search results. You are probably asking “how do I defend my reputation now? The damage is done.”

The damage can be reversed. First contact the site and the person who is behind the negative comment. If possible, leave a responding comment on the offending page. Ask how you can make good the issue they feel they have. Do not mention you are saving your name and reputation. Do not threaten. These will only hurt your efforts. Simply offer to fix the issue.

Often times the hurt party will retract their complaint, or at the very least, the evidence that you wanted to help will be in plain sight for anyone else who visits the page.

Also, take negative comments in stride. Rather than try to deny the issue happened, see how you can improve your company to prevent complaints like that in the future. One of the hidden benefits of protecting your reputation is that you learn how to be a better company.

The benefits of protecting your reputation are obvious.

Internet reputation protection is quickly becoming a basic need for any online company and bad reputations don’t have to play a part in that equation. With a little time and introspection about your company, you are well on your way to saving your name and reputation in the search results.

We field a lot of questions around Reputation Management. They range from:

• What is it?
• How do you do it?
• How fast can you get this @#$&!*% handled?

So when we see someone doing a bang up job after they’ve experienced a semantic attack online we have to applaud, and share.

Disa is living her life and serving clients, just like the rest of us. A blogger wrote about her… and got it wrong. And that blogger’s post is ranking top 10 for her name. Check out Disa Johnson and her new blog at AirDisa.com. There you’ll see a narrative of what happened and learn how she’s dealing with it.

What do you do when you see something you don’t like about you or your company online?

Most of us have seen something we aren’t happy about when we do an ego search in Google, whether it’s for our name or our company’s name. But many don’t know what to do and so they stay upset and inactive.

Disa Johnson implements logic + strategic action = rewards with Internet Reputation Management

So Disa is experiencing the impact that blogger has had on the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs), just like the rest of us. And she’s not happy.

And she’s doing something about it. What’s remarkable, and what we would draw your attention to, is that she’s doing it in a logical, strategic and effective fashion. She’s separating her emotional response from her course of action. Bravo! That’s what we recommend and what we implement for our clients when they are in this unfortunate, but all too common scenario.

If you aren’t fortunate to be a world leading SEO strategist, like Disa Johnson, and you come under attack online, don’t worry, don’t fret: get into action. We’re here to help.

We have a terrific bunch of speakers and attendees at SMX, don’t we? I’m thrilled to have been able to meet some of you before and during our presentation on Internet reputation management and its ethics – but I wish that I could have spoken one-on-one to everyone here. Read an overview of our presentation at The SEM Blog.

Here’s the next best thing: post your questions and comments about Internet brand management at The Search Guru blog.

If you had a question that didn’t get answered at SMX or if you want to pursue it further – or if you want to discuss Internet brand management techniques that have worked for you and your company, we’d love to hear about it.

Thanks for posting! I hope to meet more of you at the SMX conference!