Don’t Panic

People say mean things on the internet.  It happens.  But what if someone start blasting your company on a complaints site?  Yelp, Ripoff Report, Complaints Board, and similar sites can shoot right to the top of the Google results when people search for your company name.  If you’re not careful, they’ll tear you down.  Face it head on.

Fix Your Company

It’s easy to have a gut reaction to someone provoking you online.  You can call it slander, you can call it fake, you can blame ex-employees or think you can sweep it under the rug.  You’ve worked hard to build your business and now some jerk is trying to ruin it for you.  Who can you sue?  Before you go any further, take a minute and ask yourself:

“Are they right?”

Step away from the anger, fear and insecurity and consider Occam’s razor.  The odds are that you have a legitimately angry customer, rather than an evil conspiracy out to get you.    If there’s something there that you can take to heart, do it.  Whether or not you decide they have a valid point, that insecurity knot in your stomach will start to ease up.  Make some changes, and you might just be better off for it.

Respond To The Issue

If you’ve taken care of whatever problems there are with your business, and feel confident that you’re meeting expectations, then feel free to respond directly on the complaint site.  Issue honest feedback, or an apology if necessary, and see if you can clear the air.  Remember that you’re writing not just to respond to that person, but to everyone else who’s searching for your company and stumbled across this page.  A resolution can go a long way in building trust.

That said, know when to cut your losses.  Be the bigger person, and it will come across.  Don’t let it drag on, the more content you add to the complaint site, the easier time the complaint will have ranking in the search engines.

Push Up The Good, Push Down The Bad

Take an aggressive approach to filling up the first SERP for your company name.  Every social media account, press release, article, or blog post that shows up on the first page for your company name is one less space available for a complaint.  Link those to each other, create a lot of content.  It’s good for your site in general as well as your reputation.

Don’t Let It Slip

Don’t think that because a complaint is gone today that there won’t be 2 tomorrow.  You can’t run from your problems, so make sure that you’re delivering on your promises and keep things running smoothly, or it’s all going to come back to bite you.

Oh, And Forget About Manipulating Yelp

Don’t do it.  Fake accounts for high ratings will never work.  Obvious attempts will get deleted.  You can’t push them off the first page.  Respond to them within the Yelp system honestly and directly, it’s your best bet.