We are living in the world of the internet and we have accepted the internet with all its merits and demerits and there is now no running away from this reality.
It is therefore your responsibility to ensure that your friends, acquaintances and customers find the type of online content about you that you want them to find.
There is plenty you can do yourself without external professional help to protect and preserve your online reputation.
Spend time to create your own content and optimized profiles and try to push offending and adverse reviews down to that proverbial third page in search engine results – so that they will go either unnoticed or less noticed.
Do a search for your name and your company name in all major search engines to find what contents they throw up. Set up a Google Alert to keep track of any new content that appears about you.
Make it a point to join social media sites and take time to carefully fill out the profiles. If you want to be selective choose four major social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Twitter.
If you can spare more time, also join Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube and possibly others. You need not be overly active but also not ignore them altogether. Your next task is to optimize your presence on these sites.
The heartening fact is most websites give you the option of linking to other social media sites. Take advantage as that will make your online presence stronger.
Needless to say, you create an image of yourself on the internet through the information you share in blogs comments, tweets, snapshots, videos, and links. Others may add their own opinions – either positive or negative – which contribute to your online reputation.
All internet users can find this information and use it to make judgments about you. It is therefore imperative that you constantly monitor what is written about you on the internet and highlight the positive comments and try to suppress the negative comments.
Many experts suggest you should obtain your own domain name. By owning a personal domain name and ensuring that positive content is updated through it, critics will show up much less in Google searches. On the domain, you can post a short bio, your professional CV and share interesting blogs/articles.
The key to effectively managing your ORM is to create enough positive buzz about yourself that all positive and flattering content about you appear higher in search results.
If you find embarrassing or unflattering content linked to your name, do not despair. It will instead be prudent for you to contact them to ascertain the cause for their annoyance and take suitable remedial measures.
If you discover posts that seem to be particularly distasteful or malicious, contact the administrator of the concerned website to request that it be removed.