Responding to Negative Publicity Online - Get the Word Out
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I've seen the process of correcting negative online publicity described in a number of ways. The most succinct involves three steps: monitor, optimize, and engage. If you're going to use search engine optimization to help you fight negative publicity, you really need to have been using it all along. Specifically, when someone looks up your brand in the search results, you want them to find your sites.
In an article written for SEO-Space, Jody Nimetz notes that you should be "optimizing your main corporate site, any micro-sites and sub-domains, corporate blogs, press releases, articles as well as online properties such as employee blogs and partner sites." That's a lot of work, but you shouldn't skimp on it. If you've already done this work, and you're keeping up with it, you'll be in a better position in the SERPs, for a longer time, than the negative item.
You might even consider taking out an ad to help you set the record straight. When millions of toys were recalled because they were finished in China with lead-contaminated paint, Mattel bought AdWords space for terms such as "lead paint toy" and "toy recall." Clicking on those ads linked searchers to Mattel recall list and their public statements about the matter.
Sometimes, though, you can get more personal - in a good way. If the negative publicity is the result of a post by a blogger or a reporter, you can have a polite conversation with them to find out what happened. If they really did have a bad experience with your company, for example, and you offer to make amends - say, replace a broken product with a new one that functions perfectly - they're likely to write about you again, this time in a much more positive light. It's important that you follow through, of course.
If you can't make amends in this way, you can at least try to see to it that readers of the blog hear your site of the story as well. In an article for Search Engine Guide, Bruce Clay recommends commenting on the blog post to set the record straight. It's very important that you be as accurate in your version of the story as possible, acknowledging where the original blog post got it right as well as where it went wrong. This will give you more credibility and help earn the respect of readers. You can even leave a way for readers to contact you if they want more information.
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