So much is made these days of Content Management Systems like WordPress, but as a platform it does not stand alone, and it does not exist as the only CMS option. There are also platforms like Joomla out there, that some may decide to make use of for the purposes of Online Reputation Management. WordPress proudly “powers 25% of the internet” which is the first claim made on some of their websites (and it’s actually true); sites like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Best Buy, Sony, and Mashable all use WordPress for their CMS. But many famous carriers such as McDonalds, IKEA, Holiday Inn, and GE all use Joomla.

There are advantages and disadvantages of any choice of Content Management System. Joomla is a bit less “technical” than other systems of its kind, and will require less knowledge of coding and other computer based skills. Joomla’s other claims to fame are that it makes it easier to create a social network than other CMS systems, and also that it’s a little easier to create e-commerce websites using it. Like wordpress it has a Joomla.com version where there’s a “hosted” suite available where users can create their own blog or website for free, and a “self-hosted” joomla.org version where they may run the system themselves on their own domain.

Whatever CMS system you choose, they can be great tools for ORM. If you don’t want to host them yourself on your own domain just go to the “dot com” version and sign up. But it’s important to go over all the options first and decide which platform or the other (or both) is the right one for you to use.

The following article on the history of search engines tells the story of how they came to dominate the internet, starting with yahoo. At one time, yahoo was considered the backbone of the internet itself, indeed, almost synonymous with it, in the late nineties. It was the page people most often went to find what they were looking for, but it wasn’t alone, other good search engines also peppered the landscape. Alta Vista, an even more powerful and well put together platform than yahoo (but not as popular) was also very much in the mix, as well as Lycos and AOL, but Yahoo had it all, until google came along.

As the article says, Yahoo didn’t evolve and change overtime the way newcomer google did, which is now not just a search engine anymore but a major provider of other platforms such as Android and ChromeOS (to name just two). But it shows us that search engines themselves are not latecomers to the party, they are built into the fabric and history of the internet itself; they’ve been around for a long time, and they will be around for a very long time to come. And search results for both businesses and individuals on the internet could not be more important. Indeed, they are more important now than ever, and that’s why The Online Reputation Management Way is here. We know how to navigate the often complicated landscape of search engines and make your search results shine and look amazing, by driving negative content down in the rankings, and driving positive content up. If you’re looking to better your internet reputation – you’re in the right place. Feel free to check out all our articles on Online Reputation Management and check back for important updates on where ORM will go next.

We all hear about how Social Media can be great for ORM, and in fact marketing in general, and it absolutely is; everyone will tell you that creating not one but many profiles as such is the way to go for almost everyone, but Yelp is an example of a site that can be just the opposite, since content-wise it is specifically designed for the general public to submit reviews. More often than not, reviews can be positive, or in the end mostly positive; however, if you’re dealing with people with a grudge, a group of reviewers who just wish to say bad things about companies online regardless of which specific company it is, or perhaps a group of wayward employees that had a problem with the organization in question who then submit review listings, it can be an issue. In some cases, you may have large numbers of unwarranted bad reviews on the site, and that obviously can harm any company, and business in general itself.

Yelp for some organizations can be a disaster, and in certain cases the best way to help is by using Online Reputation Management Services to help fix the problem by driving the specific yelp listings down in the search rankings, and driving other, more positive social media listings up. Studies show that once any site is off just page one (including Yelp), the difference can often be 90% or sometimes even higher in the direction you’re looking for. We recommend using HopLite ORM, as we’ve spoken to them many times about the exhaustive list of sites and techniques they’ve acquired that can drive up positive content quickly, and drive down negative search results. Consider giving them a call, or click here to visit them, we think you’ll be glad you did.

An Online Reputation Management Campaign is a plan to target, isolate, move, and suppress negative content on search engines that might be causing damage to an individual or business. It involves creating positive content on a number of sites that, over time (key words: “over time,” it cannot be done all at once) comes to supplant negative listings as the most relevant information for that particular search as it rises in the search engine rankings. Say for example, that you had a hardware store named “Jane’s Pine Village Hardware”; then that would be in general the specific search term that you would wish to target. If you are an individual, then generally you would target the search rankings of your full name.

All ORM Campaigns take several months (or in some cases more), that is their nature; there is no way to accomplish all the objectives of one overnight. Therefore, it’s important to have a good plan about how you will approach it. What sites will I use? What type(s) of content will I create? What order will I roll out my new sites in? What type(s) of content are search engines most likely to be interested in? How much content will go on my own sites that I own or create (if any), versus sites that others hold the proprietary rights to (like blogs, social media, etc., which usually make up the bulk of 95% of all campaigns)? How will I update these sites periodically, and with what? These are all important questions to ask when it comes to ORM, and making a good plan is surely important. But the reality is, these campaigns can be very effective, and can drive negative listings far down in search engine rankings, so they can no longer cause any more problems. That’s why if you need help with internet results, an ORM campaign should certainly be considered.