This is according to experts speaking to Revolution, who explained that optimising positive company website pages to appear high in search results can help to prevent negative third-party articles about that organisation from also ranking highly.

Furthermore, it is a good idea to begin building pages specific to a particular issue if marketers know the problem will become public in the near future, explained Richard Gregory of Latitude Group.

Justin Moodie, head of online at retailer HMV, added that it is vital companies release a well-optimized online press response when unexpected negative news breaks.

“These are indexed more frequently than web pages and would have a better chance of appearing against a search term. Aggressive pay-per-click activity alongside SEO would ensure the brand’s response is shown wherever the keywords are used,” he commented.

A growing number of firms are choosing to use online monitoring technology to check what is being said about them on the web. According to E-consultancy, the market for such services could be worth £60 million by the end of this year.

Tags: marketers, pay per click, richard gregory, search engine optimization, seo, web pages