In 1997 I had my first lesson in, ‘If You Put Something On The Internet, Random Strangers Will Find You.’ To give you a bit of perspective about 1997, there was no such thing as paid search marketing, DVDs were considered high tech, and The Spice Girls had the UK’s Christmas number one single with Too Much. It was a dark time.
One night, I logged on to the internet with my AOL dial up modem and because I was bored, created a page where I wrote a few anecdotes about being one of the ubiquitous Los Angeles stereotypes: A film student. I didn’t know it, but I had created my first blog (this was before blogs).
CUT TO:
A woman living in Boston who was dating one of my classmates emailed me. She had found my page and wanted to say hello and ha-ha-ha! Isn’t it a small world?
It is indeed a small world. We all need to consider the footprints we leave behind in the cyber sand. The good news is there are lots of tools available to you that will assist you in protecting your business and personal brand’s online reputation and enhance your digital image.
Your Website
If you haven’t already taken a look at Bing’s Webmaster Tools, I strongly recommend you do so. Along with improving your site's SEO, you can get data on which pages of your site have been indexed, backlinks, inbound links and keyword performance. If you are seeing a lot of traffic coming in from one referral link, you want to be able to go see what they have posted about you!
On the personal side, if you have a name more unique than mine, claim your domain name. If your name is as common as mine, it is worthwhile to still create a website for yourself. You are then in control of the information you choose to share.
Search
Search on your name and your business as well as modifiers that you might be found under. Doing research for this post, I was shocked to discover after doing a search on “Nicole Thomas playwright” that there is an entry for me on www.doollee.com which I had never submitted. While in this case it was a pleasant surprise, it was a great reminder that I ought to be more vigilant.
You can also use the feature provided by some search engines that will notify you of searches that you wish to monitor.
Twitter
Twitter is an excellent tool for communicating with your audience but you should consider how you are managing your Twitter account. Are you just using it to push out your message or are you also reviewing what people are saying about your brand? Are you interacting with your audience?
If you have a personal Twitter account, consider the content that you share. Is it something that you are really happy for the whole world to see?
Also, as entertaining as tweet arguments might be for your followers, it may not be the image that you wish to project. It is one thing when a celebrity falls into that trap; it is another for the rest of us.
Facebook
Many businesses use their Facebook page in addition to their website to share information and interact with their customers.
As you know, personal and professional lines on Facebook can become rather blurred, so do consider the information that you share. As amusing as that picture of you beer bonging a vat of lager might be, will it be something you want out there in the future? Review the pictures that others have added of you on their pages.
Discipline
It’s not enough to have a website, twitter, and Facebook page. What you actually do there is what counts. As my venerable colleague Mel Carson wrote in his white paper on Social Media, “Social Media are the tools you use, Social Media Marketing is the discipline your marketing teams should employ to keep the conversation around your brand positive and alive.”
An excellent example of a brand being disciplined is British Airways. In March of this year, when faced with the threat of a strike from the members of the trade union Unite, they had a strategy in place which included their paid search campaigns, allowing them to provide customers with the latest information on their services.
How disciplined are you in looking after your online reputation?
1. Consider the information you are going to share; does the message communicate the values of your brand?
2. Clean up what is already there.
The thing to remember is, don’t be scared. There is huge value in having an online identity! You just need a bit of due diligence to ensure that your digital image is something that you are proud of.
For more information on how you can enhance your digital image, be sure to read our Search and Social Media Report and our Social Media White Paper – Learn and Earn.
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