I’ve recently encountered an ecommerce client with a severe brand and reputation management issue. Their situation is hardly unique, so in the interest of moz-like information sharing, I’d like to cover their scenario in case it can help some of you who manage ecommerce companies/clients.

For the sake of client privacy, we’ll call this client, “Flamingo Crossing.” Flamingo Crossing sells a high-end product to the posh VPs and real estate agent types who relish living in the lap of luxury. Flamingo Crossing not only sells their product through an ecommerce store, it also sells through a list of approved vendors. Now comes the problem(s). Continue Reading

Any news search for Boeing this week will result in a dozen or more stories about how the aircraft manufacturer lost a massive government contract to Northrop and European company Airbus.

Quick Summary
All government planes used to refuel other planes in the air are extremely old and need to be replaced. The U.S. government opened up bidding to the public and two companies responded: Boeing and Northrop/Airbus. There was heated debate over the possibility of a European manufacturer landing this tremendous $35 billion contract. Never before has a non-American manufacturer won this kind of government contract. Continue Reading

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the past 72 hours (with minor rest breaks). Online Reputation Management is an industry I bought into a year ago, predicting it would grow to heights that would rival or at least compliment SEO in the realm of public awareness.

Certain experts in internet marketing and PR have been assisting individuals and corporations with reputation management for a few years now. Guys like Andy Beal, who’s been writing about ORM since his blog began. Lee Odden, is another example of a marketing professional who has combined the practices of public relations, image consulting, and search engine optimization to provide ORM. Continue Reading

Last week I was approached by a friend of the company. He’s referred several clients to us and has now found himself in the middle of a reputation crisis. His company manufactures and sells garden tubs. A disgruntled ex-employee has apparently posted a complaint on a popular consumer complaint forum.

That one complaint post ranks #1 for the specialty garden tub company’s name. The company website ranks #2. In his particular niche, search engine reputation is huge. The company depends on their website for sales and promotional information. And somehow, this one post outranked them and was hurting their search rep big time. Continue Reading

That is the question. And the answer you get will depend on the honesty of the person you’re talking to. Granted, I don’t know everyone in the industry, so I have to admit that I am about to make an assumption. Out of everyone I’ve encountered, I don’t know ANYONE delivering any value in the area of link development who is not buying links. There are hundreds of link swappers out there, but they’re the bottom of the food chain. Most people who get good links buy good links.

Yes, there’s a lot of noise out there about link bait these days. Professional link baiters claim that a well-written blog post or article will bring in the links. Fooey. Continue Reading

It’s smart business practice to keep all blog posts on your corporate website even after the employee who wrote them is gone. Whether they quit or get fired, the quality of their written work should stand alone. Some business owners want to erase all visual evidence of a person’s existence once they’ve parted ways with the company. Reasons for doing so range from fear of getting screwed over long-term in some unimaginable way to just plain old bastardly keeping an ex-employee from getting any credit to help further their careers elsewhere.

A word to employers: Grow up! Realize that any quality blog posts written by an ex-employee still benefit your company by remaining visible. Those are searchable pages containing industry specific content that can still make you look good. Continue Reading

CRN.com reported Friday that Google Reader made a major misstep by revealing user data to users’ connections without user approval. The Reader is intended to share RSS feeds and readable content with one’s friends and connections. However, information was shared without first allowing Google Reader users to opt-in or select which connections could receive the data.

According to the article, Facebook Beacon made the same mistake some time ago. It’s unusual to see giant web corporations lacking the foresight to handle this type of situation in advance. But when hundreds of complaints start coming in, it’s hard to turn a blind eye. Continue Reading