Rick
Santorum, you’ve had a “Google problem” for years. A search for your
last name reveals not your own website or Wikipedia page, but a website
that associates your name with an explicit term describing the
after-effects of certain type of sexual activity.
The website was put up by Dan Savage in 2003 in response to comments
you made about gay marriage. It quickly went viral, and it’s been stuck
at the top of
Google‘s indexes ever since. The site also hosts a blog where users discuss your stance on gay rights. Savage has now
threatened to redefine “Rick,” too, if you run an anti-gay campaign in 2012.
Santorum, now that you nearly won the Iowa Caucus you’re on the tip
of everyone’s tongues and typing fingers. Google searches for “Santorum”
have spiked in the past few days. This isn’t just a result of people
trying to find Savage’s joke, either. Searches for “Rick Santorum” have
peaked and your site even crashed due to an overabundance of traffic on
Wednesday. See for yourself:
Rick, we’re not taking a stance on your campaign, but if you want to
win, it’s crucial that you take action and fix the issue. But how?
Google has refused to alter the “Santorum” result because it’s an accurate reflection of search traffic and SEO.
“Google’s search results are a reflection of the content and
information that is available on the web,” a Google spokesperson said.
“Users who want content removed from the Internet should contact the
webmaster of the page directly. Once the webmaster takes the page down
from the web, it will be removed from Google’s search results through
our usual crawling process. We do not remove content from our search
results, except in very limited cases such as illegal content and
violations of our webmaster guidelines.”
Savage’s site went viral on its own steam and tampering with their indexes would go against Google’s policies.
Here, Rick, is what you have to do: First, read
our guide on managing your online reputation using SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are 4 steps:
Step 1: See Where You Stand
When you’re first trying to improve your online reputation, you need
to know your current keyword-and search-result situation. You can type
your name in search engines and set up
Google Alerts for your name.
However, since we’re pretty sure you already know where you stand, so you can go ahead and skip to step two.
Step 2: Post Positive Content
If you want to make negative websites about you appear lower in
search, you’ve got to create relevant, positive content about yourself.
Publishing more information about the positive aspects of your campaign
might be a good start. You should do this on your social media profiles
as well.
Step 3: Create an Identity Hub
You’ve got to make your site the go-to destination for all things
Rick Santorum. You’ve already claimed your domain name. Next, you have
to mention yourself a lot, link back to your own content, post often and
to many different social networks.
Step 4: Consider Automating the Process
Your digital team is probably aware of the various tools, like
Brand-Yourself and
Vizibility,
which can help an individual or a brand with SEO optimization and
issues. If you haven’t considered using them already, you should.
After using our 4-step SEO guide, we’ve got two more suggestions.
First, try Google’s
online tool
to help manage search results in your name. You’ve got to play in
Google’s ballpark and by their rules, so you might as well use the tools
they provide to fix your problem.
Finally, you need to fight fire with fire. Savage’s site went viral
and you need to respond in kind. Take all the buzz surrounding your
candidacy after Iowa and build an online presence that will spread your
own site across the Internet. You’re going to have to out-viral Savage’s
site.
If you follow the above steps and get to work building an online army
to help your content go viral, you stand a chance of fixing your Google
problem.
SEE ALSO: Republican Candidates Take to the Web in the Battle for Iowa
Image courtesy of Flickr, Gage Skidmore
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
BBC MUNDO RADIO
©2012 The Hollywood Reporter.
