Financial Services Case Study
Financial Services Executive Reputation Repair Case Study
By Reputation X
Executive Summary
Client: A former Merrill Lynch financial services representative.
Challenge: Negative search results on BrokerCheck and SEC Adviser Info dominating Google’s first page.
Additional Complication: Prior engagement with a low-cost offshore reputation firm resulted in SEO spam, worsening search visibility.
Objective: Remove spam, suppress negative content, and rebuild a credible online presence.
Duration: 9 months.
Outcome: Negative content moved to page three of Google search results.
Situation Analysis
The client, a seasoned financial professional with over ten years experience, faced reputational challenges due to regulatory records on BrokerCheck (Finra) appearing prominently in search results. The negative pages from BrokerCheck and the SEC’s Adviser Info site were consistently ranking on the first page, damaging credibility.
Worsening the situation, the client had previously engaged an offshore reputation management firm that had flooded search engines with low-quality, irrelevant content, causing quality and trust issues. Our team was brought in to clean up the SEO footprint, remove spam, and implement a sustainable reputation strategy.
Challenges
- High Authority Negative Listings:
- FINRA’s BrokerCheck and the SEC’s Adviser Info are well-established sources that Google prioritizes. Standard suppression tactics alone wouldn’t be effective. Finra enjoys a domain rating of 91 out of 100, so it is very strong.
- SEO Spam Damage:
- The offshore reputation company had generated low-value content , duplicate press releases, and fake irrelevant profiles, creating a credibility issue.
- Search algorithms penalized these irrelevant and low-quality pages, reducing the effectiveness of positive reputation-building efforts. So we needed to clean things up first.
- Rebuilding Trust Online:
- With financial professionals, credibility is key. It wasn’t enough to suppress negatives—we needed to build an authoritative and trust-enhancing digital presence, and we did.
Strategy and Execution
We implemented a three-phase approach:
Phase 1: Cleanup & Damage Control
- Identified and de-indexed or removed over 70% of spammy content.
- Conducted database editing to ensure outdated and irrelevant content was purged where possible.
- Requested takedowns for fake press releases and low-quality backlinks that were damaging SEO.
Phase 2: Strategic Content Development
- Created high-authority content, including industry articles, executive bios, and media placements.
- Developed well-optimized personal and professional profiles on credible platforms such as LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and Medium.
- Published thought leadership content in finance-focused publications.
Phase 3: SEO & Reputation Engineering
- Implemented a structured SEO strategy focused on positive keyword associations, siloing, and content clustering.
- Managed profile optimizations to reinforce positive online assets.
- Developed a Google Knowledge Panel strategy to further influence Google’s search algorithm.
Results
- Negative results demoted from page one to page three.
- Spam and irrelevant content removed, restoring algorithmic trust.
- Professional branding improved, strengthening industry credibility.
- Client’s online presence optimized, with positive content dominating page one.
Client Testimonial
“There is no doubt in my mind that Reputation X is the #1 company for online reputation management.”
Conclusion
This project highlights the importance of structured, high-quality reputation management—not just suppression tactics. By leveraging SEO expertise, profile management, and content authority, Reputation X successfully transformed the client’s digital footprint, removing prior SEO damage and ensuring a long-term, credible online presence.
