How to Remove Online Negative Content to Save Your Reputation

Not all people mean you and your brand well. This is an inevitable fact, especially for the online world. No matter how good your products/services are, there will always be someone that will leave a negative review or write bad things about you.For most people, this results in a ruined reputation. Consequently, their audience decreases and they face difficulties at their work. To prevent this from happening, they look for ways to delete the negative content from the Internet, stopping users from ever seeing it. Yet it’s not that easy to do this. Once it’s uploaded online, it can be shared and dispersed in many directions, making it complicated for the brand owners to locate it and try to delete it. Luckily, it’s not impossible.Are you interested in learning how you can do this? Here we’ll explore a few common ways. So, let’s go!

Ask the Author of the Content

The first thing that comes up in people’s minds may be talking to the author of the content and asking them to remove it. While this sounds reasonable, in reality, it has proven to be very hard. Usually, the person that posted the negative text defends their opinion and isn’t happy to remove it just like that.However, this shouldn’t discourage you. Why? Because all people are different and you may have luck with the author that gives you trouble. Still, to be sure, it’s useful to think of an incentive. If there is something in it for them, they may decide to at least edit it if not take it down completely.For this reason, do thorough research into the person and see what they are working with and where their interests lie. Then, when you contact them you can offer your help in exchange for them doing you the favor. Your help may consist of offering to donate to a charity they support, becoming a sponsor of their website, and similar things.But be careful. Leaving a trace by writing to them via email may be dangerous. Many people that do this end up with their emails attached to the negative content as proof that they tried removing it. Due to this, the safest option here is to use a phone to call them, if possible.

Contact the Publisher

Another thing people try is going to the publisher of the content for help. In case the author doesn’t remove the content, it’s the obvious next choice. However, have in mind that most of the smaller blogs and websites, especially the personal ones have the same person as both the owner, publisher and author. If that’s the case, it’ll be useless to ask.On the other hand, users tend to have more luck with news sites and other middle-sized and big websites that have multiple people performing various jobs. Since they have a lot of reviews and content anyway, they may be more understanding about your negative one and remove it.Presumably, this doesn’t work either. Then, there is one more detail to consider when contacting the publisher. Users can ask them to change the written content or at least the keywords in the title and inside. This way, it won’t come before people’s eyes that easily. Still, the risk of them refusing is there. Although the smaller blogs and sites may be willing to alter the text if they get some compensation. Those that would do it because they’re nice at heart are very rare.

Remove It From Google

When it comes to content removal, the place to point fingers at is Google as the biggest search engine people go to every day. If the negative content somehow vanishes from there, it’s almost as good as gone.Understandably, this isn’t simple to do at all. Without a concrete reason, the search engine can’t stop showing texts published on relevant websites. In some instances, though, Google may remove content from the list. Usually, this is when the content is:• Connected to financial frauds and theft• Explicit information, which can be sexual• Copyrighted with no regulated rightsSo, if your negative text falls under these categories and you have a way to prove it, then it’s worth writing to them through their forms.Also, connected to the previous point, you can ask the publisher to insert a no-index tag in the header of the page’s HTML. This way the content doesn’t show up in the search results.

Get Content Removal Services From Experts

As content removal can be a complicated thing to do, many people can’t handle it on their own. If you’re one of them, don’t worry. Luckily, the Internet houses many companies that offer content removal services. The key is to come across the right one for you that will satisfy both your budget and preferences. This isn’t as complicated to accomplish mainly because there are a few factors to keep an eye on before making your final decision.Firstly, it should comprise of experts in this field. They should know what they’re dealing with to address it properly without getting lawyers involved. That’s why going through reviews is a nice idea.Aside from this, before hiring them, users should look into the whole process of removing the content. As they’re trying to save one’s reputation, they should be careful how they do the whole process so that the situation doesn’t become even worse. In general, the steps include calling them and elaborating the problem to the experts. Afterward, they should make a content removal plan and abide by it until all negative pieces are completely removed. Slowly after that, the brand’s image should go back to normal.Finally, it should be noted that legit companies should be able to remove all types of content from blog posts, social media updates, and search results to images and videos.

A Final Word

So, after all of this, what are your thoughts regarding content removal? Have you ever needed services like these? Or do you require them now? Share your experience with us here!