What is Reverse SEO?

Define: Reverse SEO: (n) reverse search engine optimization (reverse seo), reverse search engine optimisation (the act of rendering a search engine's results optimal by decreasing the rank of potentially negative results or bad press) "the simultaneous optimization of intended results while decreasing or eliminating unintended results"; "in an optimization problem we seek values of the variables that lead to an optimal value of the function that is to be optimized"; "to demote the optimization and diversification of a search engine result." – Clinton Cimring, 2006
Reverse SEO is the process of removing (technically de-ranking) websites other than your own from the first pages of Google.

The approach was invented by our co-founder Clinton Cimring is 2006 as a reaction to websites like ripoffreport.com, complaintsboard.com, and public blogs, which have been used to destroy individuals and company reputations online. While our opponents who have been strongly advocating for the penalization of Reverse SEO in Google as a “black-hat” tactic since it was introduced seem to be missing the point. Reverse SEO is not designed to suppress genuine news, which would inevitably be reported; it is designed to fight back against malcontent unscrupulous individuals who are using websites like ripoffreport.com to extort companies and individuals. If this wasn't the case then ripoffreport.com would not charge to remove a ripoffreport when proof was submitted that the allegations in the report as false and Google would not take down blogspot blog's for libel. The fact of the matter is that these websites have been used to take advantage of companies and individuals and Reverse SEO is targeted at fighting back!

Why Reverse SEO?

Reverse SEO has become one of the most effective strategies for minimizing the impact of bad publicity within the search engines' organic listings. It is an online reputation management (ORM) tool of SEO consultants who manage Online Reputation Management. Too often, companies become targets for negative press online. Angered customers start blogs to take businesses to task for grievances suffered, real or imagined. Dishonest competitors will often go to great lengths to distribute fraudulent reports online. The problem is that these blogs, pages, and reports can begin ranking well in Google and Yahoo.
Reverse SEO can be used to suppress negative publicity that targets your company in Google, Yahoo, and Bing. By pushing bad press onto the second, third, and fourth pages of Google, those pages will be prevented from gaining traction or attention. It's important to note the potentially devastating effects of negative press and how reverse SEO can help you manage your company's Online Reputation Management.
The reason we use reverse SEO is based upon current societal trends. Many of your customers are likely to research your company on Google, Yahoo, or Bing before purchasing a product or service from you. When they find reviews, they tend to believe them. Unfortunately, there are few barriers that prevent people from posting negative reports online about your business.
For example, a disgruntled employee can start an anonymous blog vilifying your company. An unsatisfied customer can post a less-than-honest story about your business on ripoffreport.com. Your competitors can do the same. The reputations of more than a few companies have been ruined this way.
When prospective customers find these pages on the search engines, they give them unwarranted credibility. Reverse SEO minimizes the damage. Studies have shown that the vast majority of searchers never venture onto the second page of a search engine result. Of those who do, a small fraction progress to the third page. By pushing negative publicity off the first page of Google's listings, a reverse SEO strategy removes it from sight.

Reverse SEO Optimization

Google ranks pages based on several criteria. One of its organic algorithm's ranking parameters is a website's authority within its search terms. The more authority a site has, the easier it is for a page on that site to rank well and control its position. When an authoritative page carries bad publicity about your company, it can gain exposure to a wide audience. This is the problem that reverse SEO optimization resolves.
Our Reverse SEO optimization specialists have a number of tools at our disposal we can use to suppress bad publicity in the search engines. First, we'll analyze the authority of high-ranking pages that speak negatively of your business. Then, we'll formulate a strategy to push those pages into the depths of Google's rankings, limiting their visibility.

Reverse SEO Curbs Negative Publicity

Negative publicity, if left unchecked, can gain tremendous momentum in Google especially. Highly-ranked pages attract links. As inbound links increase to these pages, they become harder to remove. This is why it is important to launch a reverse SEO campaign as soon as bad press emerges. By suppressing negative pages quickly, you can prevent them from gaining traction.
A single unsatisfied customer can create havoc for your company by spreading deceptive stories of poor service or shoddy workmanship. Similarly, one resentful employee can anonymously unfurl a string of damaging diatribes. If such stories and diatribes are merely told to another person, their effects are limited and temporary. By contrast, if they are published online and receive exposure in Google, they can have catastrophic results for your business.
This type of negative press tends to gain a groundswell of momentum, regardless of its accuracy. By suppressing these pages in the search engines, reverse SEO allows you to control the effects of bad publicity. It helps you to smother the flames before they grow out of control.

Reverse SEO is Online Reputation Management from an SEO perspective

In the same way that an SEO project requires a refined approach, a reverse SEO campaign should also follow a rigid formula. The basic strategy relies upon a network of authoritative sites to control the first page of organic listings for your company's name. That includes article and press release syndication, capturing keyword-rich sub-domains on authoritative blog sites, and carefully using social networking properties like Myspace, Facebook, Squidoo, and Twitter pages. There are also a number of formidable online tools that can be used to further support your reverse SEO efforts.
By leveraging the ranking ability of these authoritative sites for your company's name, you can control the first page of organic listings. That pushes negative press down beyond your customers' field of view.

Why SEP's Reverse SEO?

The advantages of working with SEP rather than going out on your own is that we already have a honed strategy for deploying a reverse SEO campaign. We already maintain a list of authoritative sites that are groomed for your circumstances from almost every industry imaginable. We will research your website's position in the search engines as well as the positions of any negative press that currently populates the organic listings. Rather than pursuing reverse SEO methods that are unethical and therefore, have only short-term results, we will use principled tactics that prevent bad publicity from gaining traction in the future.