Aussie Politicians Battle for Online Reputation
Online reputation and SEO specialists: Websalad, have been tracking the online reputations of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd leading up to the federal election. With positive online mentions of only 3% and 6% respectively, both Australian politicians certainly could benefit from a more proactive management of their reputations online.
(PRWEB) June 28, 2007 -- For the last three weeks, Websalad has been tracking all online mentions of John Howard and Kevin Rudd. The data collected and analysed was astounding. There are no surprises that Australians have a lot to say about our PM and Opposition leader in this pre election stage. John Howard made 2,067 references on the internet during this time, while Kevin Rudd had 1,802 mentions.
Websalad then analysed the individual mentions from the final week of results. While the majority of mentions of the two were deemed neutral (mostly from news sites), the clear positive and negative opinions, mainly from bloggers and social media, were not in balance with each other.
Kevin Rudd had 6% positive posts and 4% negative posts, while John Howard lagged with 3% positive and 13% negative posts. Negative things were said about both politicians, but some of the things said about the PM were particularly malicious. When an issue really upset someone, others commented on those posts and linked back to them, escalating the discussion.
When an issue really upsets some bloggers (such as Howard's opinions on HIV positive immigrants or Rudd's capability as a leader), others commented on those posts and linked back to them, escalating the discussion. This is the way social media works: it is fast, interactive and opinion driven.
The broader implications of a reputation online
Conversations spread online as people share their views, opinions and experiences with the public and engage in a dialogue about anything and everything from the news, politics, products and brands.
Conversations that fade rapidly in traditional media often linger for a far greater time online.
Ex-employees, competitors and consumers all have an online voice which potentially can damage (or enhance) an online reputation.
It is increasingly becoming vitally important to listen to what is being said about you online, especially if it is negative. Sites containing this sort of information are indexed by search engines and will frequently appear at the top of search results. For example, a satirical mock blog "allegedly written by John Howard" appears third, clearly visible in the Google search results.
Managing your reputation online
Online reputation management is a new field which combines the elements of marketing, public relations and search engine marketing. There are three steps to managing a reputation online: Monitoring, Analyzing, Influencing.
Websalad has completed the first two steps for Howard and Rudd. To manage what is being said, they could influence the online conversation by joining in, answering legitimate questions and adding their own opinions to the discussion. They could also influence their online reputation by keeping the negative results, through SEO, off the first search engines results page.
Websalad this week launched what is believed to be the first comprehensive online reputation management service in Australia.
The service will offer both high profile brands and individuals effective strategies to influence the way they are viewed online.
###
Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/SW5zZS1Ib3JyLUZhbHUtQ291cC1UaGlyLVplcm8=
Bookmark -
Del.icio.us |
Furl It |
Technorati |
Ask |
MyWeb |
Propeller |
Live Bookmarks |
Newsvine |
TailRank |
Reddit |
Slashdot |
Digg |
Stumbleupon |
Google Bookmarks |
Sphere |
Blink It |
Spurl
|
