In this digital age, online reputation is crucial to personal and professional life. With the widespread use of the internet, it is easier than ever for individuals to access and share information about others.
Unfortunately, this can sometimes spread undesirable information or unwanted mentions that can harm your reputation. If you find yourself in this situation and you are wondering how to remove negative search result from Google, then this blog post is for you.
Identify And Evaluate The Problematic Content
The first step towards reclaiming your image is identifying the specific content causing trouble. This may involve Googling yourself or using monitoring tools such as BrandYourself, Google Alerts, or Mention.
Once you have identified the problematic content, you need to evaluate the nature of the content and its potential risks. For instance, is the content defamatory, libelous, or invasive of privacy? If so, it may be possible to have it removed by Google or the website owner.
Contact The Website Owner
Sometimes, the website owner may be willing to remove the content if you request it nicely. You can contact the website owner using the contact page or email address provided.
Be specific about the content you want removed and why you want it removed, and include any evidence that supports your case. If the website owner refuses to remove the content, proceed to the next step.
Send A Legal Notice To Google Or The Website Owner
If the problematic content falls under any legal category, you can send a legal notice to either Google or the website owner. This may involve engaging a lawyer to draft and send the legal notice on your behalf.
The legal notice should outline the specific reasons why the content should be removed and detail any legal consequences if the content remains. In this scenario, it’s important to thoroughly understand the law to ascertain whether your content falls under legal recourse to get guaranteed removals.
Use Google’s Removal Tools
Google offers several tools that can be used to remove unwanted content; these include the ‘Remove tool’ and the ‘Google Search Console.’ The “Remove tool’ is designed to help remove unintentionally published URL links from Google.
For example, if you accidentally publish your bank account information, the ‘Remove tool’ will allow you to remove google search result of this incident. The ‘Google Search Console’ allows you to remove specific URL links associated with your website permanently.
Use The Right To Be Forgotten
If you live in the European Union, you can request that search engines remove links to pages containing “inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant” information about you.
To do this, you need to submit a request to the search engine, specifying which links you want to be removed and why they are no longer relevant. Remember that this ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ only applies to search results within the EU and affects links to information, not the content itself.
Update And Optimize Your Online Presence
While removing all unwanted content from Google may not be possible, you can actively work towards enhancing your online reputation positively. You can achieve this by creating positive, high-quality content about yourself that can rank higher in the search results than unwanted content.
This could include creating social media accounts, blog posts, news articles, online profiles, or networking with professionals in your industry. You can also optimize your online presence by using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques such as backlinks, keyword optimization, and regular updates to help increase your visibility in search engines.
Final Thoughts
Reclaiming your image in the digital age is crucial to building and maintaining a positive reputation. With the right techniques, removing unwanted content from Google and safeguarding your online presence is possible.
The techniques mentioned in this blog post are not exhaustive. Still, by using them as a starting point, you can take control of your online reputation and create a positive online image that accurately represents who you are.