Have you ever Googled your business and found negative reviews or information on the first page of the search results? This can be very upsetting and depending on the type of business you are in it can cause a lot of problems. So, what do you do? There are several ways you can try (and most of the time be successful at) moving the negative reviews back to the 2nd and possibly the 3^rd page of Google. Here are my suggestions:

1. I would say 1^st hire an SEO consultant to evaluate exactly how the page reached page one and come up with a plan that will give you the best chances of moving the negative information. The rest of this list is what I would do and what you can do. It is up to you to evaluate how crucial it is to get the information off page 1 quickly; if you need it done quick I urge you to hire a consultant.

2. Release press releases- paid press releases are preferable because you have a better chance that the release will go to web sites that Google visits daily.

3. Blog, Blog, Blog- You can start your own blog, but this option takes time and a lot of work to be effective. So, another option is paying bloggers with high page ranks to write about your business. Again, you want to find blogs that are indexed daily. This might cost you some money, but it will work fast and there is a good chance that this information will remain on page one.>

4. Write articles about anything that relates to your business- tips, advice or review products you sell or recommend. You can release these articles to different web sites that accept free articles BUT, AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, do not release the same article to multiple sites because Google will consider it duplicate content and it won’t help you! You can submit your articles to ezinearticles.com (this is the one I recommend most), articlegeek.com, articleblotter.com, articlesbase.com, WebProNews.com

5. Find forums or message boards that relate to your business- it should have a lot of members, should be at the top of page one (because this means that Google might index them daily and this is what you need) and hopefully have a high page rank. Official football team message boards are a good example and digital point forums is another. Post anything positive about your business that you can, BUT do not post messages all over that don’t relate to anything people are discussing because they will just get deleted. Find a subject that will allow you to say anything about your business; you can say something like “I know of a company that offers that service…”.

6. Craigslist (links to my local Craigslist) -Google indexes them daily, so use them to post an ad about your company. What your services are and other related info.

7. Wikipedia– if you have not already done it, have someone write about your business on wiki– they are indexed daily.

8. Update your site and create a blog for the future- to help avoid these issues. (You can also create another web site with no duplicate content)

There are ten spots on the page one of Google search results. Your site should have at least one and possibly two. You want to try and take up the rest of these spots with positive everything. The above list can help you move the negative reviews/information.

Good Luck, Melissa Fach- Sarasota, Florida