In order to track and monitor your online reputation it’s important to do an assessment first. Your online reputation is very important to your future business success. Without maintaining the reputation you want to project you might unwittingly project something you didn’t intend. To take control of your online reputation check it out for yourself.
What do prospects see when they search for you? What type of information have you unwittingly put out about yourself that could damage your online reputation? Today, we live in a very politically divided society. Depending upon your audience something that seems very small could offend the wrong people causing your business to lose untold amounts of revenue.
For now, just take a look at what others see.
Table of Contents
Use Multiple Search Engines
Don’t focus all your searching on just one search engine such as Google. Remember that there are others that people use such as Yahoo!, Bing, Ask.com and more. Using the keywords you want to rank for, perform a search in each search engine to find out what others are finding out about you. In addition, do a search for just your name, or just your company name. This is a good way to find out what people see when they do that, and make no mistake, people do that.
Use Social Media for Searching
Don’t forget that people more and more use social media almost as a search engine. Try searching for keywords, your name, the companies name, the product name and more on each social media network. It’s a great way to monitor the buzz about you and your company. Social media is very important today when it comes to your online reputation. Not only do you want to monitor what others say about you, but you need to be cognizant of what you’re saying and doing on social media.
Set up a Google Alert
A Google Alert lets you use various keywords, company names, personal names, and more to be sent information in your eMail inbox from news, blogs and social media when that term is used. It’s a great way to monitor when something is being said about your company as well as keep up-to-date in your niche. You can be sure to comment on blogs that are about your niche, as well as comment on discussions that your product, service, or business was discussed.
Go a Couple Pages In
Most people who search for your information won’t go past the first couple of pages, but you should go in three or four pages just to be sure about the results. Search for your company name, your name, your product, the brand, your handles and user names as well to find out what’s being said about you or what you’ve said about you. Most of the time the things you find that aren’t very good will be information you’ve put out yourself without thinking.
It’s important to be concerned about your online reputation because consumers will do their research before spending money with you. During your searches if you find things that you’d rather not be out in the open, there are things you can do to either remove or bury the results. Remember to disable personalized search results as you are doing your research.
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