The Ethics of Online Reputation Management
Several years ago now, a new form of professional was born. He was the search engine optimisation professional, and as he grew in a cut-throat business environment, constantly fighting with competition of varying quality, he adopted either a white hat or a black hat. The black hatted people sought out ways to make the biggest impact and the quickest buck by cheating the system and finding every underhand way possible around Google’s algorithms. His pale hatted compatriots beavered away, doing things above board and correctly, and cheering every time Google caught on to one of the underhand techniques and penalised the cheating sites.
Shift forward several years and a new professional is in town. And just like their predecessor, the online reputation manager is faced with a choice of head wear. It is like history repeating itself, and with it come the same debates.
There are two very distinct sides to managing someone’s online reputation for them. On the one side, which is soon going to adopt the black hat, any and every tactic is being used. Clients are being taken on no matter what their status. All of the old black hat SEO techniques are being taken out of the cupboard and dusted off. On the other are those online reputation managers who genuinely want to help clients who have been maligned or smeared, or who have been found guilty at the court of the media even though the law says otherwise. One of these professionals is practicing ethically. The other isn’t.
Sadly, because of the hype which currently exists about online reputation management, most professionals are getting tarred with the same brush, and it is generally the hysterically negative one. It is now a popular myth that the role of the online reputation manager is to hide the truth, gloss over the facts, erase the unpleasant stuff, spam and generally cause a nuisance. Fortunately, this is not generally the case, and the difference between a good online reputation management company and a bad one will be in their ethical stance and tactics.
Online Reputation Management is Unethical If…
- The entire strategy is made up of flooding the internet with keywords and keyphrases which offer no value whatsoever.
- It doesn’t take a holistic view of the issue. It isn’t just about search engine optimisation. It isn’t just a technical algorithm. Without human considerations, public relations, transparency, engagement, interaction, cultural considerations and authenticity, it is simply a bit of SEO.
- Social media profiles are set up for the sole purpose of search engine rankings, without any intention to engage
- It is seen as a finite, ‘fix-it-quick campaign’
- It’s sole purpose is to shove down the negative by whatever means possible without consideration as to what is going to replace it
- The reputation is truly deserved and the client is unwilling to make any change
- Any black hat SEO techniques whatsoever are used
- No consideration is made about what the negative results say and whether they can be addressed by other means
- Any promise is made that results can be ‘erased’ – frankly, that is just a lie.
Online Reputation Management is Ethical If…
- The client is suffering, has redressed the problem or has been the victim of a smear campaign and wants to balance the argument. This can be determined by background information and a good, face to face conversation with the prospect.
- The internet is used as it should be – with discussion, engagement and authenticity being key.
- It is undertaken as an overall process, with human beings as the primary audience, not the search bots.
- The sole purpose is to help market the client, accentuating things they have achieved from a positive strategic viewpoint.
- Each case is understood independently of any others, with no one-size-fits-all solutions
- Clear monitoring is put in place to empower the client to keep an eye on their reputation
- The process includes offline activity as well as online activity
- The emphasis is conversation
- The process results in great, value laden content which enriches the internet rather than flooding it with more rubbish.
As the weeks and months go on, more and more online reputation management companies are going to spring up. As they do, it is important to keep these things in mind if you really want effective results in this field. Not everyone is out to do it the wrong way…