Online reputation management industry is growing rapidly. Almost all the business owners know the importance of a solid online reputation. Establishing a strong online reputation management takes time and efforts. Some business owners want to build their reputation quickly. As a result, they fall for the black hat online reputation management tactics.
These black hat tactics may deliver some results initially. However, in the long run, they are dangerous for your online reputation. In the worst case, the black hat online reputation management tricks can do irreparable damage. So, it makes sense to avoid black hat strategies and keep your online reputation safe. Therefore, in this blog post, we are listing the top black hat tactics that you should avoid.
1. Buying Google Reviews.
The moment business owners get negative Google reviews, they usually become desperate for positive Google reviews. Some business owners take one more extra step and try to buy them. They think buying reviews can easily fix the damaged online reputation. Well, it is not so. Here are the things you should know.
Many countries have established a department to fight against paid or fake reviews. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in United States, and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in United Kingdom, are the two best examples. These two government bodies are known for keeping the online business clean. Therefore, buying reviews can land you in some serious trouble.
The best thing to do here is to invest your time and money in gaining positive Google reviews via natural and legal methods. Here are some of the best practices to gain good Google reviews.
Ask your happy customers to leave a review.
Providing an exceptional customer service is the key.
Make sure all your employees are professional and know how to deal the wide range of customers.
Do not make tall promises.
Meet the expectation created.
Respond to all the reviews.
Make sure you or your employee is responding to the online reviews professionally.
2. Creating spam content.
Writing blogs regularly, connecting with people, staying active on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Quora are the top best practices in digital marketing and online reputation management. However, using the spam content to fill the Internet is definitely a bad idea.
No one likes to read spam content. Search engines like Google know this fact very well. That is the reason why spam contents are not ranked high on search engine results page. Even if the spam content is ranked high, it will still not resolve your problem. In fact, it will create further problems. Spam content is not the type of content you would like your audience to see. It can easily harm your online reputation.
Therefore, it makes sense to create fresh and genuine content. Doing so will not only improve online reputation management but also search engine optimization.
3. Blackhat SEO.
What is black hat SEO? It refers to a set of practices that are used to improve a website’s search rank in search engine results page through the ways that violate the Google guidelines. Now, how it is related to online reputation management?
Blackhat online reputation management strategies sometimes involves the usage of the black hat SEO tactics. Here are some of the black hat SEO tactics.
Keyword stuffing
Using invisible text
Link spamming
Content duplication
Posting fake reviews on competitors’ listing
Doorway pages
Whether it is black hat search engine optimization techniques or black hat online reputation management tactics, black hat tricks are dangerous for both online reputation and online presence. In the end, your listing can be filtered out, or your website might be deleted from the index.
4. Creating numerous websites or accounts.
Registering a domain, social account, and other online properties is the most credible and effective way to strengthen your online reputation. Although it is one of the best methods, one must do it in a limit.
This black hat online reputation management tactic takes the great idea of developing an online presence and pushes it too far. Creating hundreds of websites and numerous social accounts, for an individual service is a great risk.
You can invest the same amount in a much better and legal method. That is you can receive the online reputation management services from an ORM firm. This can significantly improve your online reputation and guard it from all the possible hazards.
5. Hacking the negative content.
There are two ways to push down the negative content to the second or third page of search engine results page. One of these two is a white hat online reputation management technique, and the other is a black hat online reputation management tactic.
The easiest method here is to hack the negative content and lower its ranking or make it difficult for the audience to reach it. This method is pretty fast in giving the results. However, you might already know that hacking is illegal. It is a huge risk for you and your online presence. In the end, you may lose everything, including freedom. So, the best thing to do here is to go for the second method, which is whitehat ORM trick.
Produce fresh content on the regular basis. Write blogs, develop infographics, make videos, and write social media posts. Ranking your posts high on search engine results page will automatically push the bugging negative content to the second or the third page of Google.
Bottom Line:
Many people, especially new business owners, want to save the amount given to an online reputation management company for its services. As a result, they take the control in their hands. They realize that the Internet is filled with Blackhat ORM techniques. In order to get their work done faster, they fall for these black hat tricks.
Consequently, they damage their reputation. In the end, the only option they are left with is the option they did not choose in the beginning. That is taking help from an online reputation management firm. So, it makes sense to avoid all the black hat tricks. Lastly, be in the good books, you will be rewarded with a higher search engine ranking and an excellent online reputation.
