Search engine optimization is one of the most important tools for businesses online these days, but did you know that the reverse is also just as effective?

Reverse SEO is a tool that many brands use as a form of online reputation management tactic, helping them to present the best image possible.

The reason it is called reverse SEO is due to the fact it does the opposite of standard search engine optimization. Instead of bringing things forward to contribute to your ranking on search engine results pages, such as keywords and shared links, reverse SEO is focused on the opposite.

To manage your online reputation, anything that would contribute to negative SEO can be hidden using these tactics, and this guide is going to share everything you need to know about the process.

If you are looking for an effective tool for reputation management and to ensure that the impression people get of your business through search engines is positive, then you have come to the right place.

What Is Reverse SEO?

Reverse search engine optimization is an online reputation management technique that is often used by digital marketers, SEO experts, and brand managers to ensure the best online reputation of a brand appears first.

Over the years, you may have created a lot of connections with web pages and websites that simply do not align with your brand now. There may even have been some circumstances of black hat SEO that you have used in the past in a bid to increase your online visibility, but you are now in a place where you do not need these anymore.

Whatever the case may be, there are going to be things out there that can hinder your positive online reputation, and reverse SEO is focused on hiding these.

A reverse SEO campaign is focused on pushing down unwanted links, negative web pages, and any other form of negative online content that you do not want associated with your brand today.

As this is a form of online reputation management, many reverse SEO techniques focus on hiding negative reviews and negative feedback to ensure that only a positive online presence remains for your brand.

What Is The Point Of Reverse SEO?

While traditional search engine optimization focuses on improving your ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs) by bringing more eyes to your content or site, reverse SEO does the opposite.

Reverse SEO is focused on pushing down or hiding negative search results and negative content, which is a method of managing online reputation for businesses.

By suppressing negative search results, whether this is a negative page connection or negative reviews for your brand, you are ensuring that only positive content remains when people search for your brand.

For the best business success, a combination of reverse SEO and traditional SEO techniques is required.

Negative Reviews Can Ruin Your Online Reputation

Reverse search engine optimization can be used to hide certain web pages, links, and content from your search results by suppressing them.

There are various things that you may want to hide from search engines to control the results that appear for your business, and it is most common for reverse SEO to be used when it comes to negative reviews.

A negative review can ruin all the hard work you have done, developing a good reputation and presenting a positive image to your intended audience.

Whenever people search your target keyword, they may be met with low-quality backlinks, poor web pages, and negative reviews, all of which can impact the way they see your brand. 

These negative results may still be recommended when people search for your keywords because they fit in with Google guidelines but do not go with the image you want to present.

This negative content may have been something you once published on your website or social media platforms but no longer align with. Negative content in search results may also come from negative reviews or feedback from previous customers, which you do not want new customers to see.

Reverse SEO is a way of suppressing these negative links so Google’s search results for your business present the best image of your brand.

All That Remains

Using reverse SEO strategies to hide a negative review of your business, for example, makes it easier to work on promoting positive content because this is all that is left.

Negative reviews or bad backlinks most likely use the same terms that you are actively promoting in your standard search engine optimization, meaning potential customers could be exposed to all sides of your business when they look you up.

With reverse SEO strategies, you are ensuring that anything that can hinder your search engine rankings is no longer considered by Google – which can then improve your overall ranking – while also preventing your potential customers from seeing negative search results for your brand.

This way, you can encourage positive reviews to appear first when keywords are searched, and people are actively looking for what you offer. 

By removing the negative and leaving positive content behind, you are modifying your online image to ensure it reflects your brand in a good light.

Is Reverse SEO The Same As Negative SEO?

As reverse SEO has the opposite impact on traditional search engine optimization, you may be concerned that it is a form of negative SEO that you have been warned against.

However, these are two different types of SEO and will impact your results on search engines in different ways.

Reverse SEO

A reverse SEO campaign is a way to create more positive reviews for your business by suppressing negative content and negative reviews.

This suppression alters the search results for relevant keywords for your business because it leaves online positive and relevant content behind. This is why it is an effective online reputation management tool used by professionals to create the best online image for your brand.

Negative SEO

Negative SEO tactics are those that will lower the ranking of a web page in search results for specific keywords, preventing people from seeing these results during searches.

Negative SEO does not focus on suppressing bad web pages and links, but rather, these can contribute to the ranking of a web page and cause it to perform worse than others.

You may want to use negative SEO to prevent web pages from getting noticed at all, as opposed to using reverse SEO to alter the impression people get of your business based on search results.

Those employing reverse SEO techniques are acting towards online brand protection, ensuring that the desired image of their brand is what is being shown through search engine results.

Why Reverse SEO Is Important

Now you understand these two forms of search engine optimization (SEO), it makes sense why you will want to create a reverse SEO strategy as a reputation management tool.

Professional marketers and SEO experts can work with you to develop a reverse SEO strategy that can help improve the Google search results for your brand’s keywords, ensuring positive reviews and good content remain.

How To Clean Up Search Engine Results Using Reverse SEO

After all the work you have done to get your business on the first page of Google results, you want to make sure these are only the best links.

If you find that a search of your brand is leading people to spammy backlinks, negative reviews, and other bad content, then you need to work on your reverse SEO campaign.

There are various methods that you can use for this reputation management technique, such as:

Identify The Issues

Before you can determine the reverse SEO tools you need to focus on, you need to know what is present in search engine results regarding your brand currently.

To identify the offending keywords that bring up negative search results for your brand, you need to search for your business. You can also do this by looking into any negative article that appears on the first page of Google search results regarding your business and seeing what keywords are used to get it there.

There are various SEO tools you can use to scan online content for keywords, which can highlight the terms you need to focus on in reverse SEO strategies. A professional SEO agency can also do this work for you.

When you find the target keywords that lead to negative content on Google, you can create a focus for your reverse SEO strategy.

Create Content With Target Keywords

Now that you know what keywords lead to bad content for your business, it is time to counteract this.

Content creation using this target keyword is perhaps the best tool, to begin with and allows you to actively work on covering bad results. By publishing content, such as press releases and articles, using the same target keyword, you are giving more results for Google to use on the first page.

Publishing these articles on your own or a branded content site that not only uses these target keywords but also works in accordance with other search engine guidelines is a great way to suppress negative search results.

With the same keywords, new positive content will be pushed on the first page of results as opposed to the older, negative results that are currently present.

This is especially the case if work is published on other reputable sites and contains the necessary web properties to rank highly. This is where traditional SEO methods will come in useful, such as guest posting.

Making use of the negative keywords in newer, positive content on your own website or others can essentially override the current search results. 

This will then leave only the best for potential customers to find when they search these terms.

Ask For Positive Reviews

As a business that offers goods or services, you should request all your customers to leave a review following interactions.

Social media makes it easier for people to leave these reviews as well as giving you a platform to create a good reputation from the offset, but there are other sites that you can use for this, too.

If you have a good following on social media, people are more likely to leave positive reviews simply because they like and respect your brand.

As well as having review spaces on these platforms, make it easy for people to leave reviews on your site and on directories for more results.

It is important to note that while reverse SEO can make positive reviews enter the spotlight when it comes to search results; you also need to be offering a good service to warrant these kinds of reviews in the first place.

Create Business Listings

Adding your business profile to Google and business directories can be a good tool for reverse SEO.

This works by making more of the search engine results for your brand focused on business information, as opposed to the bad reviews or old content that may currently appear.

The more listings you appear in, the more results you can add to searches, but you should avoid bad links.

The quality of links is a big part of technical SEO and applies here, as the better quality directories you appear on, the greater the results will be for your branded keywords.

You need to use the same keywords in your business listing and offer spaces for reviews to add more to your search results.

Create Social Media Profiles

Having your own social media platforms, like creating business listings, can add more to the search results regarding your brand, but these are the pages you have control over.

Social media, when used well, can be a great tool to promote yourself – for free. It is free to create social media profiles, even business accounts, and these can be used to get closer to your target audience while also cleaning up search engine results pages with more options.

Your social media engagement can result in a better online reputation and more great reviews.

To ensure that social media contributes to reverse SEO, make sure to add your profile to your main site structure. Provide links to all your profiles on your main site, as well as use your main domain on all platforms to make it easier for potential customers to find your content wherever they are.

Summary

Reverse search engine optimization is the process of suppressing negative content in search results for a better online reputation.

This is a form of reputation management that can be used to clean up your online image and present the best possible face to potential customers.

By suppressing negative search results and creating new, better content, you are actively improving the way your business can be perceived through search results. This can lead to greater success and business growth.