Reputation 24/7 Reputation Twenty Four Seven » Reputation Management News

Just one malicious comment on the internet could destroy a company’s reputation, but there are many ways law firms can protect themselves, says Nathan Barker

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:49:49 +0000

By Nathan Barker

Just one malicious comment on the internet could destroy a company’s reputation, but there are many ways law firms can protect themselves, says Nathan Barker

The growing influence of the internet on businesses has been immense. The benefits of cyberspace to a brand are boundless, especially in relation to internet marketing and being able to leverage to a wider audience. But the flipside is potentially devastating: one malicious comment on a website forum or from a blogger can shatter a firm’s reputation. So how can lawyers protect themselves from the menacing threat of cyberspace?

You’ve been Googled

The first thing we do when we want to find out some information about something or someone is Google it. What is on Google is that person’s perception of your brand. The internet has no fact-checking capability and six billion people are ready to publish anything. Malicious bloggers; ex-employees with an axe to grind; name-and-shame style websites – these are all increasing threats to the livelihoods of UK law firms. We have even seen a carbon copy site of a business, including the same graphics and logo, where the text was obscene abuse.

The unique way that search engines present data means websites with your brand within them will always show at the top of the results, and one cyberspace attack can undo so much hard work. The knock-on effects of potential new clients spotting the damaging comments on Google are devastating.

However, while it is unrealistic to expect any law firm to spend day and night poring over Google, forums and blog sites checking for mentions of their company, there are some top tips to limit the threats.

Google Alerts is a free service that emails you daily or weekly whenever you are mentioned online. But more sophisticated systems are available for companies with larger brand awareness campaigns. These can cost several thousand pounds a year but secure artificial intelligence and full auditing capability. The cost might just preserve a company’s future.

It is also vital to be aware of your company’s exposure. If negative comments are high up the first page of Google, more people will see them than if they’re tucked away on page three or four. Firms can also find out how many people, country by country, are looking for their brand by using the Google Adwords external keyword tool.

In-house web statistics are also useful to see what keywords people are Googling to find your firm. You’ll be amazed how many people Google your business but add in ‘review’ or ‘complaint’ to check for negative comments/feedback.

Proactive defence

But online reputation management isn’t just about keeping a constant eye online. Proactive defence is a big part of it, including buying all variants of a website domain. If you own the ‘.co.uk’ version of a domain then purchase the ‘.com’ variant to make sure nobody can set up a ‘hate site’. Other tactics include registering blogs and social network accounts in the name of your business to prevent others taking them, plus the online submission of positive articles so negative headlines are buried.

The increasing influence of social networking sites such as Twitter has also meant that information can be delivered to a huge audience at lightning speed. Law firms should not ignore social networks in their reputation management planning.

Trademarking your brand in the UK, Europe and even the US is wise. Victims of online defamation are often attacked on US-hosted sites. One recent example is the Solicitors from Hell site, which was moved to a US host company, which are notoriously uncooperative to claims of defamation.

But if an internet service provider (ISP) thinks there is a copyright issue, then they behave in a different way. A valid IP claim in Google can result in a site being removed from the listings pretty quickly. The reason is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. You have the sabre, so rattle it.

However, companies should not expect too much from Google. It provides the results, but doesn’t control them. What Google doesn’t actively advertise is the variety of tools to have pages removed from the index, or ‘cached’ version, where pages are removed but can remain for weeks.

Regaining control

If the unthinkable does happen, you can fix it. Think of the results on Google as the winners’ podium at the end of a race. The best runners stand on the podium and search results work in the same way. The strongest content gets displayed more highly and is given the most exposure.

By analysing what make the negative entries ‘stronger’, one can then strengthen and enhance results that are neutral or overtly favourable to the brand. Incrementally the order of the results changes so that the positive is shown higher and ‘above’ the negative. The result of a campaign will typically be the burying of any unfavourable content to page two or three of Google, or beyond.

Regaining control of your brand is about regaining control of Google and knowing what Google ‘likes’ is the key to this. Think about the sites you see most often online; a Wikipedia entry, LinkedIn profiles, blogs, perhaps a press releases or news announcement. These sites are liked by Google as they are popular and it’s this popularity we need to use. So at a minimum we advise creating not just one LinkedIn company page but several; create ten blogs; take control of your Wikipedia presence by registering as an editor. Then think back to your achievements, your awards, the new client, the money you raised for charity last year or even the year before. Publish or perish, online reputation management is saturating Google with the positive message.Similar Posts:

None Found

Negative opinions of people are formed twice as quickly online than in face-to-face meeting, it emerged yesterday.

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:09:03 +0000

A study found it takes us just five and half minutes after seeing an online profile or photo to form an opinion.

But following a face-to-face meeting it can take as long as nine and a half minutes to make up our minds whether or not we like someone.

It also emerged Facebook profiles featuring over the top poses, bikini shots or pictures of cars immediately spark a negative opinion among viewers of the page.

Yesterday a spokesman for online reputation management firm Reputation 24/7, which carried out the study among 2000 people said: ‘’It’s difficult not to judge someone whether you meet them face to face or see their online presence.

‘’Seeing a profile on a social networking site will only tell you so much about a person so it’s easy to jump to conclusions, especially if an individual has outlandish pictures or expresses particular strong views online.

‘’Managing your online reputation is just as vital for people as it is for brands.

‘’Information about you can be accessed by thousands if not millions of people so it’s important that your image online is enhancing your personality and presence and not hindering it.

The study examined several aspects of how opinions are formed both online and in real life.

It emerged it takes us just five and half minutes after seeing an online profile or photo to form an opinion.

But following a face-to-face meeting it can take as long as nine and a half minutes to make up our minds whether or not we like someone.

Six out of ten of those who were polled said they were guilty of judging people from their online profiles.

And 40 per cent said they formed opinions quicker online than face-to-face.

The detailed examination of how opinions are formed also included 18 different category of photographs which are commonly used on social networking sites.

Photos which were likely to lead to a positive opinion were either a respectable picture of themselves or a shot within a sensible-looking group of friends.

A shot taken of themselves was also seen as positive as was a wedding picture. Pictures including children or shots taken on a beach are also good for one’s image.

Unsurprisingly, a smile was also hailed as being important.

Images with negative connotations are photos of cars, which will lead visitors to a ‘boy racer’ conclusion and bikini shots which have a ‘loves herself’ feel.

Making rude gestures and looking generally angry can also make up people’s minds very quickly, it emerged.

Other images which will lead to the forming of a negative opinion on social networking sites are shots where the subject is seen holding an alcoholic drink or if they are drunk.

Even photos of them in passionate clinches with their other half are likely to offend, the report found.

Warping your face using camera trickery was also given a thumbs down as was having a cartoon character for a profile picture.

Positive opinions after face-to-face meetings were likely to be based on a smile, sense of humour, the tone of the voice and general mannerisms.

The report also found we quickly form positive opinions of online companies, but are then regularly let down by poor customer service when dealing with them.

Furthermore it emerged more than four out of ten people have formed opinions of others, which they have later been forced to admit were ‘completely wrong’.

The spokesman for Reputation24/7 added: ‘’Brands portray a certain image online and it can be a letdown when we deal with them face to face and don’t get the level of service we are expecting.

‘’Online presence for brands is vital in today’s fast paced world and it’s vital it’s revealing the right message.

‘’The same could be said for an individual’s online profile whether it’s on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or even on their company website.

‘’Reputation is the most valuable asset that a business can have and it takes years to build and is only ever one disgruntled employee, customer or malicious competitor away from being ruined.

‘’We specialise in dealing with tarnished and damaged online reputations. We can remove or burying any website, online newspaper article, blog,forum or review which does not represent our client as positively as they deserve.Similar Posts:

None Found

Reputation 24/7 COMPANIES based in the London’s square mile have the worst online reputation, research has shown.

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:15:00 +0000

17/09/2011

A study has shown sixty financial institutions in the city have such a negative internet image that they are at risk of not only losing custom, but potentially of going out of business.

Breaches in regulations, negative news stories, customer reviews and financial penalties mean many companies all over the UK suffer from having critical stories about their business featured on the first page of online search engine.

After London came businesses based in Glasgow, then Manchester with those in Nottingham and Reading following.

The study was commissioned by Reputation 24/7, an online reputation company that works with brands to help them bury the residue of old news stories and reviews.

They mapped 429 of the worst affected companies throughout the UK and then tracked which areas in the country had the most problems.

Nathan Barker, Technical Director of Reputation 24/7 said: “Any potential employee, customer, supplier who conducts a search for that business will be presented with negative information about that business. The first thing we all do is Google a business or individual, either for a telephone number, address or to actually make a purchase.

“Companies often don’t realise how much they can be harmed by their online reputation. But people are tweeting and blogging and republishing news and reviews online more than ever before and once something is said on the internet – no matter how unfair – it can often be very hard to remove it. Contrary to popular opinion it doesn’t fade away but remain indefinitely. ”

“Ninety per cent of internet users do not look beyond the 1^st page of Google results, their perception of that business is what they find when entering their name. Therefore a negative perception affects not only sales but can cripple a business of money and fresh new talent. “

Completing the top ten areas where businesses had the worst online presence were Edinburgh, North West London, Birmingham and Bristol.

In contrast the area where businesses had the most positive online profile was Newcastle.

Here just 0.01% per cent of businesses had negative coverage on the internet.

Companies in Belfast, Leeds and Bradford also benefited from having the edge when it came to a clean online footprint.

Nathan Barker from Reputation 24/7 said: “At Reputation 24/7 we are online specialists who can change what appears in Google and work out how to control the digital PR side of their company. By managing the reputation of the company we directly improve the reputation and therefore the revenues of a business. Think of a search engine results as the podium at the end of a running race, only three people can stand on that podium. By claiming the positions on that podium we can defend the reputations of our clients.”

Worst
City Of London “Square Mile”
West London
Glasgow
Manchester
Nottingham
Reading
Edinburgh
NW London
Birmingham
Bristol
	Best
1	Newcastle
2	Belfast
3	Leeds
4	Bradford
5	Oxford
6	Ipswich
7	Swindon
8	Cambridge
9	Guildford
10	Peterborough

Similar Posts:

None Found

Look at the board – Elle Decoration UK- Viral Reputation Disaster

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:54:59 +0000

With over 20,000 hits in the past 3 days it would appear that the next big brand to experience a true viral reputation disaster is the magazine and fashion group Elle. Look closely below, the tasteful cover design for their September 2011 Elle Decoration(UK) A designer created room with an urban -chic blackboard in the [...]

Berco

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Protecting the brand of any business is essential, and can be achieved through Online Reputation Management, Reputation Management and Brand Monitoring. The most effective way to do this is to secure the intellectual copyright of the business. Other businesses which have secured their trademark include. Berco Berco S.p.A. (Italy)Copparo Via 1 Maggio n. 37 Italy [...]

Berco

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Brand protection and continual brand monitoring are available from Reputation Twenty Four Seven, alongside a range of Online Reputation Management solutions. Any business seeking to protect their brand is advised to protect it by securing all intellectual copyright in the form of Trade Marks, as this business has below. Berco Berco S.p.A. (Italy)Copparo Via 1 [...]

DOORNKAAT

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Once a business has secured the IP,(below), how can it be sure that no one else is using it? The answer: Online Reputation Monitoring from Reputation 24/7. Continual brand monitoring and reputation monitoring available now. DOORNKAAT Berentzen Brennereien GmbH &; Co. KGRitterstrasse 7 49740 Haseluenne Germany Similar Posts: None Found

DEK-A-DOR

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Protecting the brand of any business is essential, and can be achieved through Online Reputation Management, Reputation Management and Brand Monitoring. The most effective way to do this is to secure the intellectual copyright of the business. Other businesses which have secured their trademark include. DEK-A-DOR Berger Jensen &; Nicholson Limited.Berger House Berkeley Square London [...]

Reputation 24/7 “Delete Me” The Sunday Times July 4th 2011- DeleteMe Norway- Ed Vaizey

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:47:05 +0000

The government is drawing up plans for an internet “Delete me” service that will help users remove embarrassing or malicious postings about them from Google, Facebook and other corners of cyberspace.

The service would advise users on how to have unwanted search results and entries on social networking sites removed, and how to put pressure on people who have posted abusive or defamatory material about them.

Following a meeting with Facebook, Google and other internet companies, Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, has instructed his officials to study a scheme — DeleteMe.no — set up by the Norwegian government last year to see if it could be adapted for use in Britain.

Ministers are under pressure because of the growing number of people who have been harmed by material published online.

“Reputation laundering” has become a booming business, with firms charging private and corporate clients thousands of pounds to expunge damaging material, whether true or false.

Nathan Barker, founder of Reputation 24/7, based in Liverpool, said his firm had growing numbers of clients who had fallen victim to malicious postings.

“A teacher came to us after he had been hammered on a teacher rating site,” said Barker. “It was real playground stuff and probably posted by colleagues rather than his students, but the website owners would not help.

“Problems like that can cost around £3,000 to deal with and he wasn’t able to afford it in the end — I felt very sorry for him.”

In another case within the past six weeks, a father from Liverpool used an American firm, Abine, which offers a similar service, to have images of his underage daughter removed from a pornographic website.

The company identified the operator of the servers hosting the site and threatened legal action if the images were not removed.

Samantha McKenna’s ex-husband wrote on his Facebook account that she was mentally ill. The 25-year-old beauty therapy student from Inverness said she would have used a reputation management agency if she had known such a service existed.

“I filled out the abusive comments form on Facebook but nothing happened,” she said.

“After two months he changed his mind, but the damage was already done.

“I used to go to a fitness class, but I had to give it up because I felt like everyone was talking about me behind my back. Used in the wrong way, Facebook can be really evil.”

Google and Facebook declined to comment on the government’s plan.

Similar Posts:

None Found

Reputation 24/7 Times Newspaper May 2011

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:55:24 +0000

Billy Kenber Behind the story
June 1 2011 12:00AM

Reputation management companies have sprung up over the past few years. They work to increase the popularity of non-damaging content so Google ranks more negative press farther down in its results.
Nathan Barker, founder of Liverpool-based Reputation 24/7, opened for business in November 2008, and said he was currently working for three PLCs and two companies listed on the London Stock Exchange for fees of about £15,000 to £20,000 for three months.
One of the key techniques to improving the popularity of results involves the use of fake social networking accounts, which are traded online for up to £125.
Mr Barker said that he owns “two or three thousand” profiles registered under false names on social networking websites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and social bookmarking sites such as Digg.
These accounts can be operated with computer bots and are made to talk to each other in order to simulate real accounts.
They are then used to discuss and link to positive stories, tricking Google into moving these up the rankings because it believes they are suddenly very popular.
It is a breach of Facebook’s terms and conditions to sign up using a false name but Mr Barker says he believes that it is “unlikely to take any action”.Similar Posts:

None Found