Are You in Control of Your Online Reputation?
Are you in control of your online reputation?
It seems like we hear a new story in the news everyday about someone’s reputation being destroyed through the use of the Internet. This happens to both individuals, brands and companies.
For individuals this can be life-shattering. Not only can a negative online reputation embarrass you among friends and family, it can also cause a world of damage for any current and future employment opportunities as well.
As a business or brand, your reputation is the difference between if a customer is going to buy from you or your competition. With more peoplesearching for online reviews before making simple purchasing decisions, it’s now more important than ever to make sure your brand and business has a squeaky clean first impression online.
How Individuals and Brands Are Losing Control of Their Online Reputation
As users of the internet, we are already familiar with how important it is to access search results and social networks on a daily basis. These two outlets in themselves are the greatest gateways to accessing information and connecting with others online. What many non-tech savvy internet users and brands don’t think about, is that these same outlets (search and social media) also play a huge part in how others may find us and information about us online.
For instance, if someone was to Google your name, what would they find?
If your web sites, blogs and social media profiles aren’t ranking on the top of page one for your name, your reputation is already up for grabs. In most cases, if you are a brand name, business or service company… you would be losing rankings in the search results to the likes of:
- Google Local
- TripAdvisor
- PissedConsumer
- RipOffReport
While some local businesses and brands might think it’s a good idea to have these big-name sites rank instead of their own sites, they are simply wrong. The problem with having these sites rank at the top of the search results instead of your brand name, is that anyone can leave a potentially negative or false review without any proof of who they are or if their experience even happened the way they publicly post it.
The end result is someone searching your brand name online to find contact information, a menu or description of services… but instead find a number of negative reviews and complaints from the sites mentioned above — all because you don’t have your own site ranking in the search results.
If you are an individual, you also have cause to worry!
For example… let’s say you are looking for a new job and putting a bunch of resumes out there. Now every business looks online and does their personal research before hiring someone. What’s going to happen when someone Googles your personal name? One of three things…
- Find someone with the same name as you (not that great)
- Come across social media, pictures and comments from you (not in your favor)
- Discover your own web site or LinkedIn profile at the top of search (best option!)
Of course you would want to the have the third option every time. Just like brands have to protect their online identity and reputation, individuals do as well. This is something that we covered in previous articles and also something we specialize in and perform for new clients on a daily basis — making sure their own sites rank well for their names, thus giving them total control over their online reputation. Since Google ranks sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook so favorably that it’s become an effective way to rank multiple times in the search results for both your personal name and brand name.
This can be a long and tedious process if you don’t already have a trusted following online with established web sites and blogs — however, we’ve mastered the art to make it easy for you! No matter if you are an individual, a brand or business — YOU MUST control your online reputation and what appears at the top of the search results and through social media at all times. After all, isn’t your good name worth it?
To learn more about how to rank at the top of Google or your personal name or business, simply click here or call 941-259-4554 for a free consultation.
