Andy Beal Has a Reputation Problem
Google ORM Master Class 2012
@andybeal
Allow Myself to Introduce Myself
• CEO of Trackur.com
• Founder of GuestComment.com
• Publisher of MarketingPilgrim.com
• Coauthor of Radically Transparent
• And sometimes...
@andybeal
“Andy Beal...an Internet search engine developer,
was involved in the development of...commercial
space launch ventures”
@andybeal
@andybeal
@andybeal
Keyword Research
@andybeal
A New Angle on Keywords
• What brands do you need to protect?
– Company name = Trackur, GuestComment
– Products = Marketing Pilgrim, Radically
Transparent
– CEO = Andy Beal
• Brainstorm
• Check analytics
• Monitor social media
@andybeal
Examples...
@andybeal
Cheat sheet...
http://gri.ms/KUVW
@andybeal
Sentiment Audit
@andybeal
Google Sentiment Audit
• Audit the first 30 results for your keyword
•Focus on 80/10/10
•Look for existing opportunities
@andybeal
Lazy?
@andybeal
WARNING!
Side effects of Googling yourself for more than 10-minutes a day include: blindness, nausea, crying, lack of self-confidence,
too much confidence, loss of ego, despair, heartburn, diarrhea (who knew?), time wasting, bone loss, the random
appearance of monkey’s sniffing poop, and Ashton Kutcher. Please drink responsibly. Professional driver, closed course.
If you can read this text, congrats! You are a super-fast reader and brought binoculars with you! ;-)
@andybeal
SEO Kung Fu
@andybeal
Kung Fu?
@andybeal
Black belt techniques?
@andybeal
Ninjas?
@andybeal
Cliché?
@andybeal
I am a professional...
@andybeal
Oh yeah, back to SEO...
@andybeal
Me, Myself and Irene
@andybeal
Why I’m Anti Pronouns
• Pronouns are the enemy
– avoid: we, us, our company, about us
• Proper nouns are your friend
– Write corporate bios in 3rd person
– Same for company “about us” pages
– Ditto for press releases and social profiles
@andybeal
In practice...
@andybeal
Who?
@andybeal
Keep the Spiders Happy!
@andybeal
Include Names...In Page Names!
• All web pages for ORM should include your
name
– http://www.andybeal.com/andy-beal
– http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/andy-bealonline-marketing-expert
– http://www.trackur.com/about-trackur
• Have you changed your social media profiles?
– http://www.linkedin.com/in/andybeal
– https://www.facebook.com/guestcomment
– http://www.linkedin.com/company/trackur
@andybeal
Warning!
Don’t Change Established URLs!
@andybeal
Anchor’s Away
@andybeal
Bringing Sexy Links Back
• Avoid “Click Here” or “About Us” anchor
text
• Include names in backlinks you control
@andybeal
Call on Superbrand
@andybeal
Neither a bird or a plane...
You rank #1 on Google for your company
name, right?
• No? Well at least you’re at the right
conference!
Therefore Google knows you’re the most
relevant site
Which means any page you link to,
benefits from that relevance!
@andybeal
Content That Ranks
@andybeal
Pimp What You’ve Got
@andybeal
Optimize Existing Content
• Update existing “about us” pages &
corporate profiles
• Use Google to figure out other relevant
pages of any site you own
• Link homepage to 2nd page
• Target keywords to most relevant page
@andybeal
In action...
@andybeal
Subs Are Da Bomb!
@andybeal
Sub-Domains
• Sub-domains over sub-directories
• Don’t over-do it
– 2 to 3 tops
•
•
•
•
•
Investor info
Corporate site
Community involvement
Press
Customer Portal
@andybeal
help.trackur.com
@andybeal
Play All Your Cards
@andybeal
Using Other TLDs
• Make use of .org and .net
• Take care not to duplicate content
• Register other domains...
@andybeal
Get Social
@andybeal
Optimizing Social Profiles
• Preferably pick the ones you will be
active on
• Complete bios in 3rd person
• Link to them from your corporate site
• Look for option to customize URL
• Get clever with KWD...
@andybeal
Clever...
@andybeal
Even Cleverer...
@andybeal
Cleverest...
@andybeal
Have Multiple Partners
@andybeal
Web Partnerships
• Ask business partners for a profile on their
site
• Especially if they rely on your business
• Needs its own page
– e.g. partnersite.com/trackur.htm
• Offer to write it for them!
• Don’t link back to your homepage
@andybeal
Disposable Web Content
@andybeal
WordPress & Blogspot
• Short-term, project blogs
• Events, conferences, charity work
• Use your brand in domain:
– companyname.wordpress.com
– personalname.blogspot.com
• Need at least 4 pages of unique content
• Does NOT have to be maintained!
@andybeal
Example...
@andybeal
Picture a Better Reputation
@andybeal
Flickr is Your ORM Friend
• Customize URL
• Complete your profile
• Include brand in title, description and tags
• Host company stock images
• Host corporate bios
– Embed them on your corporate site
• Do NOT try to sell from Flickr!
@andybeal
In practice...
@andybeal
Act the Part
@andybeal
YouTube for ORM
@andybeal
Example...
@andybeal
Money Talks!
@andybeal
Sponsorships & Advertising
• If you’re sponsoring an event, get a bio!
• Piggybacks off their trust
• Needs to be separate page
• Offer to write the content
• Consider sponsoring defensively
• Be careful with sponsored reviews
@andybeal
How it works...
@andybeal
Letters to the Editor
@andybeal
Optimizing Existing Reviews
• Find favorable reviews
• Send note of thanks, perhaps offer
discount/free stuff
• You don’t get, if you don’t ask
• Ask them to change link destination
• Get them to join your affiliate program
@andybeal
Example...
@andybeal
An ORM Chain Reaction
@andybeal
Supplement Those Links
• Use monitoring tools for link opportunities
– influencer outreach
– monitor industry news and look for virgin sites
– test which newswires help your ORM the most
– reviews that mention but don’t feature you
@andybeal
In practice...
@andybeal
Just a Suggestion
@andybeal
Google Suggest & Other PITA
@andybeal
When Facing a
Reputation Attack
@andybeal
aka
@andybeal
I Hate Jeremy Zawodny
@andybeal
It started with this...
@andybeal
Reached out
• Sent Jeremy an email
• Left a few comments to share my side of
the story
• Explained the damage he was doing and
how serious his post was
@andybeal
Going Behind His Back
• Emailed press contacts at Yahoo
• Emailed executive team at MyBlogLog
• Sent evidence of permission to run
contest
@andybeal
Creating a Public Uproar
@andybeal
Rallying the Troops
@andybeal
Resolution
@andybeal
I Don’t Really Hate Jeremy
@andybeal
Much
@andybeal
Cleaning Up the Mess
@andybeal
Don’t Hit This Button!
@andybeal
Be Benevolent
@andybeal
Legal Infringement
@andybeal
Busted!
@andybeal
Legal Action
@andybeal
Homework
@andybeal
Homework
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Brainstorm your reputations
Conduct a sentiment analysis on Google
Set up social media monitoring
Identify existing content for optimization
Build out a sub-domain and/or other TLD
Optimize social media profiles
Do it NOW before a crisis occurs!
@andybeal
thanks!
Yeah, seems funny
now, but wait ‘til it
shows up on Google!
andy@trackur.com
andybeal.com
trackur.com
twitter.com/andybeal
@andybeal