When it comes to online reputation repair, there is no exact schedule. However, Google typically detects changes to indexed sites and profiles every 2 to 6 weeks.
But don't let this number fool you. It doesn't mean that all your sites or profiles will automatically shoot to the top of the first page of search results about a month after they're created.
Depending on your particular situation, you may see small changes in rankings as early as a few months after creating and optimizing your website and profiles, all the way up to well over a year.
Again, it really depends on factors such as: how competitive your search query is, how many negative search results you have, how old your negative result is, what website your negative search result came from, and more.
Let's use a few examples to illustrate how much the time periods can vary:
For these examples, let's assume that Person A, B, and C have no existing web properties that they control. However, each person has their online reputation repaired by the same reputable company.
Below, we'll go over each scenario and the estimated timeframes for improvement based on this information.
Example of Person A's situation
Person A: The problem
Person A got some bad press a few years ago. Because of this, three negative search results appear when you search their name online. These unflattering search results are all at the bottom of the first page and are fairly long articles.
The websites that published these negative articles have average domain authority (read: website strength), but no one has ever linked to or shared them.
Person A: The timeline
The fact that the negative results are older in nature works in Person A's favor. Google generally considers older content to be less relevant than content published more recently. This means that recent, high-quality content has a great chance of appearing on the first page.
The length of these offending articles means that it will be important for Person A to create detailed and long content to overtake the negative results. The fact that the domain authority of these pages is not super high and no one has linked to these articles is one of the main reasons why the negative results are on the first page.
If you outperform the negative articles in this regard, the content you write will lead to success.
Based on similar online reputation repair campaigns we run for clients, this would likely be a campaign that would see the most progress after the six-month mark. And the level of fluctuation in search results at that point could vary depending on a number of factors (those mentioned above and others).
Remember that improving online reputation is not an exact science. Even if you do everything right, it won't always show up in search results right away. That's why it's important to give the process time, establish clear success metrics from the start, and work consistently on your strategy and execution.
It takes time to create and promote longer content, and with three negative results, Person A would have to constantly shift focus and juggle where they spend their time.
Example of repairing Person B's online reputation.
Person B: The Problem
Person B has a negative search result about a public incident they had with a cement mixer and their boss's Lexus. The article is recent and currently ranks #3 for her name. The website where the information about this unfortunate incident was published has a very strong domain authority.
However, the article itself consists of only a 250-word short text. To make matters worse, a few people have linked to this particular article.
Person B: The Timeline
This case might seem fairly simple, but there are a number of factors here that make it a tricky one. The domain authority of the site that posted the negative article is probably the most concerning factor here.
Despite the article being on the short side, a strong site can still rank for personal search results very easily – especially for recent events.
The fact that there are a few links to the article is something else to be aware of. Links are a big factor in the Google ranking algorithm and it’s typically pretty tricky for someone without experience to build quality links on their own (a definite benefit of working with an online reputation repair company).
If Person B were to handle this on their own, this would be something they would need to study up on in order to successfully repair their online reputation.
A reason to be optimistic about Person B’s situation is that the negative article is so short. This suggests that there’s an opportunity to create some high-quality content that will help close some of the gap over time.
Given the information above, this would likely be a campaign that took longer to see changes in rankings than the other two. Based on our experience with clients in similar situations, we would expect to see more significant movement after the eight-month mark.
Populating the first page with positive content would most likely take less time, but to fully suppress this negative result would be a time-intensive undertaking for sure.
Person C example of online reputation repair
Person C: The Problem
Person C has one search result they aren’t too fond of that’s currently ranking #1 for their name. It’s a fairly old article, and it didn’t get a lot of traction online. Luckily no one decided to share or link to the result.
Person C has a very uncommon name. That means that the competition and search volume is very low for that keyword (their name). The content of the negative search result is of average length, and the site it’s published on has pretty low domain authority.
Person C: The Timeline
Right off the bat, there are some things about this situation that make the outlook very promising. The uncommon name, low competition, and low domain authority give Person C a chance to make a dent on the first page of search results fairly quickly.
But don’t assume that reputation repair for Person C will be a walk in the park. Despite a lot of the favorable metrics, the fact that the negative result is ranking #1 means it needs to be knocked down a full 10 positions (at least) to get it off the first page of results.
Person C will have to pay close attention to a variety of web properties and make sure each of them is well-optimized. The success of this campaign depends more on consistency and discipline than on implementing an overly complicated, high-level strategy.
Given these circumstances, it’s very likely that Person C will influence the first page of results quickly. Populating a handful of the positions on the first page with new, well-optimized web properties would probably start after the two month mark or so of the campaign. From that point on, the strategy should focus on suppression in order to outrank the negative search result.
Don’t let the above time estimates fool you. There’s no easy way to nail down a guaranteed timeline of success when it comes to online reputation repair. There are simply too many factors at play.
