7 Tips to Get Rid of Unwanted Google Search Results

Do you have negative results appearing at the top of a Google search for your name? 

Removing these undesirable listings can be a difficult and time-consuming process, but with these seven tips, you can clear up unwanted search results from Google quickly and effectively.

Contact the website owner or web host.

If the undesired search result is coming from a website, contact the owner and ask them to modify or delete it. You may have to prove that the information on their site is inaccurate or offensive, but many website owners act quickly when presented with evidence. 

Alternatively, if you’re unable to reach the site owner, you can contact the web host and they might be able to take action against the site itself.

Submit a DMCA takedown request to Google. 

If you have a reasonable explanation as to why the online content should be removed and are unable to get it taken down at the source, you can submit an official DMCA takedown request directly to Google. 

You will need to provide evidence that the material is inaccurate or unconsented. If your request is approved, it should be removed from the search engine results within a few days.

Delete outdated content that’s ranking high in search results.

Find out which websites are hosting outdated content and ask them to take it down. If they're not willing to do so, delete your profile or account from their website, as this will bring that page down. 

Also, you can use the robots.txt tag in your website’s coding to tell Google specifically not to index pages on certain topics. This will make sure that those targeted pages don’t appear in search results.

Use Google’s Free Removal Tool

Not everything can be removed from search results. However, Google will take action for results that violate their guidelines. When you do a Google name search, look for results that display sensitive information in their description. 

• Click the 3 dots near the search results.
• Select “Remove Result”
• Choose which personal information the website is displaying. (I.E. Phone Number)

Google will then investigate the webpage for personal information that violates their guidelines. This is a quick and easy way to clean up your search results. Once you have completed the removal process, you should start removing the rest of your personal information from the internet.

NewReputation scans and removes your exposed personal information from over 100 data brokers across the web. To opt out quickly and receive monthly reporting, call 855-750-0583.

File a Detailed Report With Google

Some search results will require some additional information and context for Google to understand why they should remove the page from their results. You will need to provide as much information as possible including screenshots and a detailed explanation of why the result should be removed and Google will investigate the content.

Keep in mind that this step should only be taken after you try to contact the webmaster. Google support will recommend that you try to contact the webmaster first and have exhausted all options before asking them to remove the result. 

Proactively publish additional content and optimize it for SEO 

One of the best ways to push down unwanted search results is to create additional content that competes with those negative pages. Publishing more positive, timely, and relevant information can help ensure your top search results are accurate and updated. 

Additionally, utilizing SEO techniques can help ensure these new pieces of content are more visible in Google searches - make sure to include relevant keywords throughout the copy and optimize the titles, headers, meta descriptions, and alt tags.

Reputation management services to push negative results down 

Reputation management companies provide an alternate option if you don't have the time to create new and positive content yourself. These services can help to push down unwanted links by generating low-cost, high-value links for your website. 

Online reputation management services also use automated tools such as social listening, social media postings, and other methods of getting more links to your important profiles, so they will appear higher in the rankings and knock down negative results that appear on the first page of a Google search.

To receive a free proposal to get rid of unwanted search results from Google, contact NewReputation today.