Combating Google’s First Page

Does looking at the search results under your name make you queasy? Are there bad news stories following your every online move? Is your reputation suffering because Google is churning out bad story after bad story? Well, have no fear! There are a few methods to combat this.

One of the questions I get asked most often is how to push bad news stories and websites down in search results under people’s names. They may be simply slanderous websites from rivals, or a number of ill-informed news stories. Either way, when people search your name they will see this negative stuff right off the bat – not good for trying to procure potential business clients or overcoming false claims and rumours.

So how can you push these devious sites down in the search results?

There are a number of things you can do, but it will take dedication and patience.

Firstly, create your own website. There are so many sites out there that you can use to create websites for next-to-nothing. Try www.webs.com or www.wordpress.com as a starting point. If you already have a website than that’s great, you’re on the right path!

Secondly, now you have a website USE IT. Blog like there’s no tomorrow, upload pictures, upload previous work, put up your bio; whatever you need to do to keep it active. The best way to push down search results is to churn out blogs that attract lots of readers. Make them interesting, link them to other blogs that have loads of readers (linking creates a virtual cord between sites, so by linking to a more popular blog it helps make your blog appear more substantial when search engines pull your data) and create relationships with other blog writers, getting them to link to your blog. Do not underestimate the power of blogging. There is a good reason why most companies and individuals do it – proven results.

**Tip on blogging: never, ever link back to one of the bad news stories or websites! You will only help them get higher in the search results and attract more attention**

Thirdly, jump onto every social media site you can think of. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram are the names of just a few. These sites already have their own SEO (search engine optimisation) so you don’t need to worry about keywords or promotion. Just make sure you keep active on them and they’re sure to filter into the first page your of search results. If it seems a little daunting to keep control of so many sites you can use a website like http://new.pitchengine.com/ which generates social media press releases to multiple sites, saving you from having to trawl through each one individually.

Fourthly, you should consider if the content on the websites that are dragging your name through the mud, is legal. If you think you have legal grounds for these websites to be taken off search results completely, you can contact Google through this link and report them: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?product=websearch&rd=2

Fifthly, if you have multiple websites or would like to ensure your sites definitely push down those nasty search results, hire an SEO company. These companies specialise in creating keywords and editing your back and front end content so that your site ALWAYS appears on the first pages of results. The best way to find an SEO company is to Google SEO companies in your area – the ones that appear at the top of the list are going to be the most beneficial to your cause! After all, if an SEO company can’t get themselves high up in search results, than they aren’t the best at what they do.

Lastly, if it is news stories from newspapers and their websites that are your biggest concern – get them on your side! Send out new positive media releases and make contact with journalists. If you can get the papers to write even a few positive stories they should begin to appear in the search results in place of the bad news stories. Oh, and if you are blogging and using social media, don’t forget to link to these stories on your blog and social media sites!

So, that’s just a few ways you can combat Google’s first page of results. Just remember to keep active in every aspect of your web presence and you should start to see some changes (don’t expect it to happen overnight however, it can take a while). If you have any questions feel free to ask them below!