Advanced Online Reputation Management

Last week we spoke about the importance of well known professionals having a strong and active presence on various social platforms. We also highlighted the importance of having your own website to help manage the way you are perceived by the public.
This week we are going to focus on a few more in-depth reputation management techniques.

Reputation Monitoring

The internet allows anyone to publish anything at the touch of a button. If you don’t keep a close eye on what’s being said about you, just one comment could undo years of hard work.
Luckily, the internet also makes it very easy to monitor what’s going on.
The most likely place that your name will be mentioned is through the most popular social media channels. The best way to keep track of this is by using a social dashboard app. HootSuite is the best we’ve found. This app allows you to monitor multiple streams of information within multiple social platforms. It also has a really good mobile app so that you are always in control.

What About Search?

These days, if someone wants to find information, they will use a search engine. Also, with the way search engines have evolved over the last few years, the results are becoming increasingly dynamic. In just a few minutes, the search results for your name could change completely.
To make sure people are getting the most accurate information about you, and not the latest rumour or scandal, you need to keep a very careful eye on the search engine results.
The most effective and time efficient way to monitor mentions of your name on the web is to either set up Google Alerts or use Google’s latest tool, ‘Me on the Web’, which can be accessed through the Google dashboard.
To put yourself in the best possible position you should fortify the search results by ensuring that you have a number of well established digital properties at your disposal. This should include an authoritative website, various well optimised social profiles and a number of properties such as about.me. Example profile click here.
Another very important consideration when monitoring the search results are the internal search functions which many sites now operate. What happens if you type your name into Twitter, Facebook or YouTube?

Dealing with Problems

If you come across an article which may harm the public’s perception of you, you may need to take action.
First, you should determine whether they’ve got their facts straight. After all, if they are telling the truth there is no law against them writing about it. If you find that their facts are wrong you should contact the publisher directly and ask them to make the appropriate changes.
If they are unwilling to make the changes you have a number of options. In almost all cases the best response is to listen carefully to the online conversation and public feeling about the story and then offer a human, moderated response. This response can be through a number of different channels. You may want to write about it on your own blog, through comments on the original webpage or through your preferred social media channels. However you choose to do it, if you respond to the story in a measured and responsible way which shows your personality, a negative situation can often be turned into something very positive.

The internet has the power to make or break careers. Whether you are an athlete, musician, celebrity or other well known professional, to ensure the internet works for you, you need to be proactive in your reputation management.
We offer a number of online reputation management services from branding to web design, social media monitoring to reputation based SEO. We have the tools, skills and expertise to help you take full advantage of the internet.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about how we can help you, please get in touch.

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By Angus Findlay