Our Reputation Team offers this free ORM toolbox to help you build the positive online image you deserve. 

Whether you’re seeking a job, raising a family or managing a business, how you look online matters.

Without strong online reputation management (ORM), your digital brand is at the mercy of an unpredictable online environment. This could potentially damage your image, reputation and even decrease potential revenue.

Fortunately, we’re going to help fill your ORM toolbox.  Here are key services that can help you build a better search engine presence and manage a stronger online brand.

Popular resources for your ORM Toolbox

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is an easy-to-use monitoring tool that emails you each time your name or business pops up on the web.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Google Alerts can help track new mentions of yourself and your brand online.  This allows you to adapt your online reputation strategy and mitigate potential threats quickly.  

Google Analytics

The Google Analytics platform allows your business to analyze traffic through your website, monitor keyword performance and determine how your marketing efforts are driving user behavior.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Google Analytics can provide the keyword and content analytics your brand needs to shore up search phrase weaknesses while strengthening keyword association and industry authority on the web.

ReviewTrackers

ReviewTrackers is designed to monitor your company’s online review presence while providing insights into customer feedback and behavior.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Once you learn of new reviews through the ReviewTracker platform, your business and develop an appropriate response quickly—an effective way to mitigate the impact of negative commentary on your online brand.

IFTTT

IFTTT is a device/app connection service that can send automated alerts once your brand is mentioned online. 

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Real-time brand alerts give you the chance to craft and adapt your brand reputation strategy quickly.  This allows you to mitigate negative items and promote online positivity more effectively.

The Brand Grader

A free brand analysis tool, The Brand Grader offers a brief glimpse into your brand’s online presence.  It includes digital mentions and sentiment on social media platforms.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Running your brand through The Brand Grader can reveal potential reputation threats and gaps your brand faces on social platforms.  Brand Grader also makes you aware of any customer engagement opportunities you may be missing.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a paid membership service that focuses solely on managing your social media presence and boosting user engagement.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: Hootsuite tracks mentions of your business on social media platforms and schedules posts. This gives you the opportunity to steer the conversation and control your social media reputation.

SEMrush

Built to optimize your paid digital marketing potential, SEMrush offers keyword and marketing performance, monitoring and analytics solutions.

How this fits into your ORM toolbox: Using metrics and analytics provided by SEMrush, it allows you to better manage and improve your performance for important industry search terms while strengthening outreach and brand authority.

Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is useful for locating, researching and analyzing search phrases to include in your new or existing ORM campaign.

How this fits into your ORM toolbox: Google’s Keyword Planner can be used to identify keyword opportunities. It can help you map out content strategies to build a stronger online reputation management strategy for your brand.

Bing Webmaster Tools

The Bing Webmaster platform provides your business the opportunity to create alerts, analyze site traffic and track performance in Bing search results.

How this fits into your ORM toolbox: Bings Webmaster Tools provide the insight needed to master brand presence and search engine results pages (SERPs).

GT Metrix

GT Metrix offers insight into how your website’s speed and performance, as well as recommendations for improvement.

How this fits into your ORM toolbox:  Insights into the customer-website interaction can be used to improve the user experience.  This can cultivate a more positive brand association and grow your bottom line.

LSI Graph

LSI Graph works to locate secondary keywords to help optimize your brand’s content and performance online.

How this fits into your ORM toolbox: LSI Graph can be used to identify and capitalize on industry-related search terms you may be missing out on.  Those which can improve brand performance and deliver a powerful competitive edge in key market areas.

InfoSweep

In today’s digital world, online privacy protection is a smart move to protect yourself and your family. InfoSweep is an affordable online privacy monitoring service. InfoSweep makes it easy to locate private information online and gives you the power to have it removed. With InfoSweep, you can set it and forget it.

How to Use This Tool for ORM: 24/7 brand monitoring makes you aware of online mentions as soon as they happen. It can be used to develop strategies, responses and actions to mitigate problems before they become online nightmares for you and your business.

Professional Online Reputation Management

When it comes to managing your online reputation, you have endless options to choose from. If you’re serious about building the ultimate ORM toolbox—and carving out the stronger online presence your brand needs to thrive—it’s time to consider professional online reputation management.

As leaders in ORM solutions, we offer your brand everything it needs to be is best on the web. Our award-winning internet reputation services include:

• Individual reputation management that suppresses online negativity, restores visibility and helps to promote a more positive online image.
• Business reputation management solutions that work to heighten search engine rankings, strengthen brand authority and improve your brand’s digital reach.
• Business review management that helps you better manage, control and improve your brand’s online conversation.

When you choose Reputation Sciences to manage your digital brand, you’re getting the expert advice, support, services and technology you need to elevate your online profile to an all-new level.

To schedule an appointment, call us today at 844-458-6735.

The post Your Ultimate ORM Toolbox – Free Guide Included! appeared first on Reputation Sciences.

You’re Not So Vain!

“Ego surfing” is the somewhat misleading term for searching your own name or the name of your organization online. In the digital age, searching your name on Google and Bing is an essential defensive practice. And it goes well beyond propping up an individual’s ego. While you personally may not place much importance on the results associated with your name online, rest assured that the rest of the world does. Ego surfing today isn’t an exercise in vanity. It’s an exercise in vigilance.

In fact, ego surfing is frequently quite humbling for more than half of those who take the time to search their names online and find themselves less than satisfied with the returns they see about themselves on the almighty SERP, the Search Engine Result Pages. This can happen when a forgotten “blast from the past” resurfaces. Even worse are the tangled results which can pop up with an ill-defined web presence. Imagine the repercussions of political candidate Jack Williams being confused with this Jack Williams.

Make Sure Your Name is Associated With the Real You

In order to get a thorough look at all of the data associated with your name in the search engines, you’ll need to search beyond “mentions” of your name. If you’ve got a common name, such as Jack Williams in our example above, you’ll need to add some modifiers such as city or town, and state, middle name, profession, or previous places of employment. Check the results under the “all”, “news”, and “images” categories.

In Jack’s case, he would need to distinguish himself from the author, athlete, disc jockey, professor, and other politicians and numerous citizens with his very common moniker. Not to mention the Jack Williams accused of robbery and burglary. Those with common names need to put extra effort into defining themselves as individuals online. But every name produces multiple results, and none are immune from mistaken identity errors.

On the internet, there is no such thing as yesterday’s news. And ego surfing is essential for remaining aware of everything associated with your name online. We live and work in the age of screenshots, shares, retweets, and File-Save As. And anyone with a smartphone can post anything about you at any time.

The mighty search engine algorithms are great for locating names in their massive databases. But when it comes to distinguishing between similar personas online they can often generate confusion which is potentially damaging to your personal online reputation. Ego surfing can uncover misassociations to others online which need immediate correction. The best discerning authority concerning you is you yourself.

You can’t rely on the due diligence of others to distinguish errors in the initial Google search. It’s true that interested parties such as employers and lending institutions will usually perform a more intensive background check later. But a negative online reputation can screen you out of that process long before that happens.

Why No Web Presence is Worst of All

There’s also the possible scenario that a searched name produces no results at all for those who cherish their online privacy and have intentionally avoided establishing a web presence. We’ll talk more about how having no online personal reputation at all can be just as damaging as a negative reputation further on in this post.

Maintaining a positive personal online reputation is now paramount in our hyper communicating world. 97% of consumers rely on internet searches for business referrals and professional background information. And an astounding 85% believe in the credibility of what they read online. Ego surfing isn’t about vanity at all. It’s a necessary practice for anyone who has established a web presence via social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn.

Ego Surfing is Defensive Googling

Searching your own name is the best first defense for personal reputation management in order to monitor those critical top listings in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) which are all about you. In order to address a problem, you’ll first need to be aware that a problem exists. Ego surfing is your online reputation radar.

When someone mentions your name online, tags you in a photo, or retaliates because you’ve unknowingly stepped on their toes in some way, you need to know about it. The practice of ego surfing is even more essential when we find ourselves at those turning points in life. Buying a new house, leasing an apartment, or making a career move all elicit an online search. All of these turning points bring an increased level of online scrutiny and burying your head in the sand while hoping for the best is not an option.

The term “defensive Googling” is a much more apt description of this essential reputation management practice. And anyone seeking employment, building a professional career, or even beginning new social relationships will benefit. It’s best to make it part of your regular reputation management routine. Defensive googling is a must before entering any scenario in which your online reputation will be the subject of scrutiny. That includes making a career move, buying a house, applying for loans, or launching a startup.

Googling the name of a new applicant is now the norm. Recruiters, employers, prospective clients, college admissions administrators, and even that potential match with your significant other all hop online to learn about you first. Add to the list realtors, landlords, investors, and loan officers, and it becomes obvious that maintaining an accurate online reputation is important for anyone who isn’t living off the grid. For the rest of us in the mainstream of today’s digital society, online reputation management is a skill which is arguably more vital than writing an effective resume.

93% of Employers Are Searching Your Name

Susan P. Joyce is a career coach and job search expert. Her informative article for Forbes titled To Be Hired You First Must Be Found provides a vital perspective on establishing a positive web presence for career opportunities. Joyce leaves no doubt about the importance of online visibility and the questions it can raise in the minds of recruiters and employers as they search and screen for qualified talent when web presence is lacking.

As she reported, by 2014, 93% of recruiters used or plan to use social media for initial job candidate evaluations. That number was up from 80% in 2010, and if the trend continues it is safe to assume that Googling all candidates will be a standard business practice for nearly 100% of employers. Joyce refers to an individual’s web presence as the “online footprint.”

Why Your Online Footprint Matters

That online footprint can be the first step to a rewarding new job. Or, it can be the muddy impression that rules you out as a good fit. The offhand comment or bawdy image of you on social media might have been funny to your Facebook friends. But it may be totally inappropriate for your future boss to view when it pops up in the initial Google search. Social media is a common source for negative search results. And the wisest candidates are those who ego surf and use defensive Googling to clean up those old muddy footprints before they make a career move. They know any major life change is sure to place them under intensive scrutiny.

Old arrest records, mugshots, and court cases can all appear in the massive search engine databases and affect your personal brand. When the source of negativity associated with your name is a third-party person or organization beyond your control Reputation Sciences has the proprietary digital tools you need to be prepared for that scrutiny by placing the reins of the search engine rankings in your hands.

As bad as negative search results are, no online footprint at all might be even worse. Online communication skills are frequently an indicator that a candidate is knowledgeable and able to thrive in the digital age. If your name produces no results at all in the initial search, searchers will raise doubts about your ability to use the basic business tool: the internet. Or, the screener may suspect that you’re hiding your “digital dirt” by using an alias.

As job search expert Susan Joyce points out: If you’re not ego surfing regularly, all of these factors affecting your career opportunities will be invisible to you.  

Securing Your Online Reputation

Writer Kim Komando offers some basic ego surfing tips in her 2015 article for USA Today, Why You Should Google Yourself Now. One of the basic tools is the Google Alerts feature which will keep you up to speed when your name is mentioned on the internet with a timely email.

The internet never sleeps. And the internet never forgets. The alerts are helpful in the ongoing process of defensive Googling. Komando also highlights just how much personal information is available on your Google account. A review of your Google security and privacy settings is in order.

Going beyond the original name search, Komando also wisely advises readers to search:

• current and former email addresses;
• old social media account usernames; and
• phone numbers.

This gives you the most comprehensive picture of just what’s out there.

Claiming Your Name Online

If you haven’t established a positive web presence, there are some ways to establish and enhance your personal online reputation. One of the best first steps is to establish your online identity with a detailed profile on LinkedIn. It’s one of the most reliable methods to ensure that people can find you online.

The site is respected by the Google algorithms and always ranks highly in the SERP after an initial name search. You can add modifiers such as middle name or initial. And you can include specific details such as profession and location that differentiate you from others with similar names. You can also publish a polished resume and influential posts to spotlight the positive aspects of your life. That may include working with charities or nonprofit organizations. Knowledgeable articles highlighting your communication skills are another way to take control of the online conversation about you.

LinkedIn offers a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) advantage which shouldn’t be dismissed. When your LinkedIn profile appears prominently in search results, you can steer interested parties to your blog or website. You can even highlight prominent mentions in online articles or positive reviews by others.

Getting Your Head Out of the Sand to Protect Your Online Reputation

Reliance on the search engines is a two-edged sword. An established presence enables you to show up first online. And it opens the doors to a new career, as well as financial, and social opportunities. However, ignoring the effects of your online reputation can be disastrous. All of us in the digital age need to be proactive in the management of our personal reputations online. As reliance on the almighty search engines increases, this is one problem that certainly won’t go away by ignoring it.

If you’ve been repeatedly passed over for jobs, struggled to get past the application process with leasing agreements, or continuously rejected by lending institutions, it’s time to do some serious ego surfing. It’s your chance to survey the landscape of your online footprints. If your name has been associated with a mugshot of the felon who shares your name and city, you need to know about it.

Time Spent Ego Surfing is Time Well Invested

In many cases, once you are aware of a problem you have the means to take action and correct it yourself. You can clean up your social media posts and delete blogs and images which are no longer appropriate. You can increase your web presence if it’s been lacking and use ego surfing to monitor your progress.

These are good first steps to take in your personal reputation management. Just bear in mind that you don’t always have access to the delete button when the government databases or other third-parties allow access to personal information. If a particular comment or inappropriate image associated with your name has gone viral it will be quite a chore to contact each website administrator to have it removed. And even then their compliance with your wishes may not happen. Now it’s time to go beyond the basic fundamentals of personal reputation management and call in the big guns. The advanced technology at Reputation Sciences is here for you.

About Reputation Sciences

The age of digital information is an age of science. With the ever-increasing reliance on information technology that science can easily work against you if you aren’t vigilant about maintaining the valuable personal brand which is your online reputation. When science is the problem, better science is the cure.

At Reputation Sciences we have the proven proprietary digital tools that let you take control of the online conversation about you, your business, or your corporation. When you’re ready to take charge of your online reputation don’t hesitate to contact us.

The post Ego Surfing: Searching Your Name for Online Reputation Management Purposes appeared first on Reputation Sciences.

In the case of Chipotle, the buzz about their food-safety issues dominated the news and social networks for weeks at a time on multiple occasions, negating any advertising efforts. They sparked a federal investigation and numerous lawsuits from customers and shareholders. Online chatter was like an erupting volcano. Wells Fargo was one of the few financial institutions to emerge from the 2008 meltdown with a trustworthy reputation. However, perceptions changed quickly when news broke about bank employees opening millions of accounts in customers’ names without authorization. Just try typing “Wells Fargo” into your Google search bar. The top searched phrase automatically populates. It’s “Wells Fargo Scandal.” Yikes. How’s that for an online reputation?

We’re not saying that advertising is futile. An effective advertising strategy is more important than ever. However, if your company has other “bad buzz” floating around out there, the absolute best advertising strategy won’t save you. How can you encourage your clients and potential clients to find the “good buzz?” Lead them directly to it. Here’s why your business needs an online portfolio.

Why Your Business Needs an Online Portfolio?

As the name implies, online portfolios are a compilation of electronic files stored on the Web that are related to your company’s reputation. The online format gives you the advantage of a dynamic platform that can continually be updated. It can include multimedia, hyperlinks and other traditional online tools that will give viewers a sense of your company’s mission. Traditionally we think of portfolios as the tools of artists, writers, and other creative types.

However, businesses and individuals across industries are maximizing their potential by having an effective online portfolio. Your portfolio can include positive press releases, media coverage, community involvement, professional associations you are part of, as well as samples of your work and testimonials from your customers. You may be asking, “Doesn’t my website do the same thing?” and “Can’t my clients just Google me to find all the other things not on my website?” Let’s consider three scenarios to illustrate how an online portfolio could help each of these companies.

Company A: Best case scenario

They have a great online reputation. The company has received stellar reviews across multiple consumer review sites. They have a social media presence on both Facebook and Twitter. The company is actively involved in the community. Their leaders show up on various volunteer organizations if you do an Internet search of their names. They have won various industry awards that have been covered in the media. A Wikipedia entry exists and is regularly updated with the company’s latest innovations. No press or organizational affiliations show up that indicate political leanings. Nothing negative comes back if you do a search of this company or its executives.

Why would this company need an online portfolio? They have stellar search results. However, their search results are so extensive that potential clients, existing customers or future employees would have a hard time digesting all the information, and finding what impresses them the most. For example, a customer is likely to simply Google “Company A reviews” to find out more. This will return their good reviews.

However, they may be considering another company that gets good reviews too. What could help them make a decision? Let them see the full picture of your company. Millennials care about healthy communities, ethical sourcing, social justice and environmental progress. Your portfolio could direct them to your volunteer affiliations, media coverage and community events your company has sponsored. It’s like your sales pitch all in one, neat package.

Today’s consumers are smart. They know your website is a form of advertising, and it’s going to be slanted to show you in a favorable light. While your portfolio is created by you too, it’s full of outside sources, testimonials and fact-based data that easily organizes all the positive buzz about your company.

Company B: The opposite of Company A

They have numerous bad reviews on multiple sites. The company has a Facebook and Twitter profile, but they rarely engage their followers. They are too busy trying to stay afloat to get involved in the community, so their executives have no volunteer affiliations. In addition, they have some bad press about former employees or customers that have sued them. Their executives have also had some personal legal troubles that pop up in a search, such as a DUI.

How could an online portfolio help this company? Forbes wrote about “6 Steps to Managing Your Online Reputation,” and one of their steps included “put all your content in one place.” Having an online portfolio won’t erase negative buzz on the Internet, but it will allow you to put everything positive in one place. Newer and high-quality content will replace and “push down” the negative content when users search your company. Company B can develop their portfolio to feature keywords about the company and brand that will push it up the search results page.

Does this really work? Research shows that 60 percent of users click on the top three results on their search page and 75 percent never click past the first page. Create “good buzz” by having your portfolio display in those top results.

Company C: Between Companies A and B

They have mostly good reviews, with a few bad ones sprinkled in. The company has some community involvement, but it’s from two years ago, so it’s pretty far down the search results page. They also had to declare bankruptcy five years ago, and unfortunately, that is still displaying in the search results.

The same principle applies: Create the good buzz, organize it, and push down the bad buzz. This company sponsored a community event two years ago. However, they have continued to support the same volunteer organization since then. But, that’s not showing up in the search results. A strategically-designed portfolio will help users find community involvement, volunteer affiliations, environmental concerns important to the company, as well as testimonials from customers to replace those bad reviews.

Tips for Creating an Effective Portfolio

Design elements for your portfolio have a significant effect on the user’s perception. Consider one study that focused on why users trust or do not trust certain health sites. When asked why they mistrusted the site, 94 percent of participants’ comments related to design elements and only six percent referenced content. The point is whether you are designing a website or a portfolio, design matters. Consider these seven tips.

1. Curate your content

Firstly, the word curate is defined as “to select items from among a large number of possibilities for other people to consume.” Having too much content is the fastest way to ruin your design. Take a look at all your work, media coverage, blogs, employee comments, customer testimonials, photos of community involvement or whatever else you plan to include and carefully choose the right pieces.

Be selective. Remember you are consolidating all the “chatter” your viewer might get if they simply went through the search engine list. Don’t give them something that’s just as cluttered and complicated. Especially when it comes to samples of your work, it is better to have a few stunning projects than dozens of mediocre ones. When looking for news items, pick the most recent. Viewers will be skeptical of media coverage that is years old. The same goes for community involvement and professional affiliations. Be sure those are current to avoid the embarrassment of someone checking and discovering you are no longer part of a certain organization.

2. Keep the design simple

Less is more. Your online portfolio should be straightforward, with your content as the focal point, not a distracting design. Forget the fancy Flash applications, pop-up buttons, and banners. Use simple navigation to create a visual environment to showcase your online presence. Simplicity will allow the attention to be on your work and accolades. Use the fewest amount of sections as possible. For example, you might have a gallery of work, news coverage, community involvement and customer testimonials. To further simplify, add testimonials to the actual work product you are featuring. This is a great way to build trust. Don’t forget a “contact” or “about” page, so viewers will know how to find you. Simplicity also applies to your content. When writing, remember the three C’s:

• Clear: What is your main message? Sum it up in one sentence and relate every bit of content back to that purpose. If something doesn’t go with the main message, leave it out.
• Concise: Get to the point. Say what you need using the fewest words possible. Use short, punchy sentences to deliver a stronger message.
• Correct: Poor grammar is just embarrassing. Check spelling and punctuation carefully. Have someone else proof it for you, even if you use an electronic proofreader.

3. Get personal

Include a bio or “about us” section that helps the user to get to know the company. This could include a personal story from the owner or a story about how the company got started. “Company C” might even use this opportunity to address their bankruptcy from five years ago, and how they successfully turned the company around. Add validation with external details. Anchor the bio with details that show the company’s connection to the community and their industry. Include notable clients, positive press, publications that have featured the company or its executives, and professional affiliations. You might decide to drop the community involvement or news section of the portfolio and just address those things in the bio. This is the company’s chance to display an approachable personality. Talk about successes and failures. Let the users get to know the people behind the name.

4. Make sharing easy

What better advertising can you get than a user sharing your work on social media. Make this easy by including buttons to share on your pages. Conversely, remember to share your own work on social media whenever you add new projects, directing your followers back to your portfolio.

5. Consider including your blog

If your blog truly adds value, include it. If not, don’t clutter up your space with it. Do you update your blog frequently? Does it represent where you are professionally in your career? Does it really add something? Answer those questions before adding any new feature to your portfolio.

6. Stay current

Effective portfolios are never static. As you create new work, win awards, join community fundraisers, receive news coverage or simply take on a new client, update your online portfolio. Remember to weed out the old and continue to practice careful curation.

7. Be easy to contact

Even if you have a specific “contact” page, be sure every page of your portfolio includes a “contact me” section that stands out. Don’t make potential clients work hard to figure out how to contact you. Include multiple methods of contact, including phone, email, and social media.

So, view your online portfolio as a powerful tool to direct potential clients to everything published online about you. Which is better: to leave what they find up to a search engine or carefully direct them to everything you want them to know? Your business needs an online portfolio. Let Reputation Sciences help you showcase your business online. Our professional staff knows the importance of building and maintaining a positive online reputation, and why your business needs an online portfolio to get there. Contact us to learn more.

The post Why Your Business Needs an Online Portfolio: 7 Things to Keep in Mind appeared first on Reputation Sciences.

Consider this. Google processes over 3.5 billion searches per day. One billion of those are individual names. We’re searching for all types of reasons, from finding out information about a potential job candidate or board member to researching our date for Friday night. Unfortunately, Google’s algorithms do not care about making you look good. They simply sort by relevance. Therefore, it’s not surprising that 75 percent of individuals that search their own names, don’t like what they find. Needless to say, it’s imperative to understand why your online presence matters.

While anyone can be harmed by a negative online presence, business leaders, public figures and high net worth individuals are especially at risk. In fact, one study found that nearly half of a company’s corporate reputation is tied to its CEO’s reputation.

Is your online reputation helping or hurting you and your company? Let’s examine why your individual online presence matters and how you can positively cultivate it.

Why Your Online Presence Matters

Benjamin Franklin is famously quoted as saying, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” While those words were spoken more than 250 years ago, they hold significant meaning in today’s digital world. One post, tweet, comment or picture can set public opinion so firmly, it’s almost impossible to change. Researchers tested this evolution. They specifically looked at Twitter’s effect on public opinion and noted that it “often evolves rapidly and levels off quickly into an ordered state in which one opinion remains dominant.” The study concluded, “Once public opinion stabilizes, it’s difficult to change.”

No doubt we can all think of an example of a celebrity or politician ruining their reputation through an inappropriate picture, racist comment or just an outburst of anger that happened to be caught on video. While celebrities and politicians have a full-time public relations manager to monitor their reputation and clean up any mishaps, entrepreneurs don’t have that advantage.

Your visibility as a leader influences the whole company

The online presence of a business owner or senior level executive is directly associated with the brand of his or her company. Your online presence will impact your product or service. Pew Research Center found that 91 percent of people trust what they read in search engine results, and the Edelman Trust Barometer found that 65 percent of users trust search engine results more than any other source. The bottom line is consumers are searching online for products and services and trusting what they see. A negative online presence by either the brand itself or the individuals representing the company will affect profits.

Your online profiles can win or lose new talent

Customers aren’t the only ones affected by your online presence. Seventy-seven percent of executives say that a positive CEO reputation attracts new employees and 70 percent say it retains employees. Job candidates research companies and their leaders. Attract top talent and keep it by creating an online presence that portrays a leader your employees are proud to work for.

And, it goes both ways. Companies are also researching their candidates online. In fact, Forbes said seven years ago that “your online presence will replace your resume in 10 years.”

Your offline connections can boost your online reputation

A negative online presence also affects professional development. Imagine this scenario. An executive is being considered for a board of directors position or to give a keynote address at an important community event. Before the executive is even contacted, the selection committee does a search of his or her digital brand presence:

• What endorsements are on the LinkedIn page?
• What kind of posts are on Facebook?
• And what messaging is the candidate broadcasting on Twitter?

If a negative individual reputation is perceived, the executive will likely get passed over without even knowing he or she was a candidate.

One survey summed up the effects of a CEO with a good reputation with these five key benefits:

• Attracts investors
• Generates positive media attention
• Afford crisis protection
• Attracts new employees
• Retains current employees

How to Build and Maintain an Individual Online Presence

Just as you may have worked for years to build a good physical reputation, your online presence takes cultivation and maintenance. It’s not something that can be built or repaired in one day. There are over a billion users on Facebook alone, and it’s estimated that by next year there will be over 2.77 billion social media users around the globe. That leaves a lot of opportunity for a personal PR disaster.

You are simply not going to make every person happy 100 percent of the time. Is it a lost cause? No. You can take proactive steps to build a positive online presence.

How can you ensure your online presence is an asset and not a liability? Here are seven tips to get you started.

1. Don’t shy away

Staying away from social media or other online mediums out of fear of damaging your reputation is not an option. One study found that 93 percent of consumers adjust their shopping behavior based on reviews, comments and feedback they read online. Consumers are shaping their view of your brand based on what they see online from you personally and from your company, as well as reviews from other customers. They are using social media platforms not to just interact with each other, but to get information and make decisions. If you bow out of the online game, your competitors will rise to the top. Your customers will get to know them as individuals and build trust in their brand. Be visible. Be sociable.

2. Proactively participate

This means more than just setting up a profile on popular social media sites or industry forums. Push out quality content that positions you as a thought leader in your online community. Taking this approach allows you to take control of what you are saying, how you’re saying it and who you’re saying it to. Get to know your audience. Who’s following you? What content do they “like?” Don’t think of your personal content strategy as a self-promotion campaign. Share content on a broad range of topics that will pique the interest of your audience.

For example, consider the owner of a small financial planning office. The owner establishes himself as a thought leader by pushing out opinion pieces about investment questions, his personal thoughts about a recent conference he attended, or what he thinks about a change in legislation that affects millennials.

• Engage your audience
• Build relationships
• Answer their questions
• Take feedback

As your presence on these platforms increases, so will your presence in online searches. Consider starting a blog. A blog is a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader. Get organized. Draft a content schedule. Promote your blog through your social media channels.

3. Get a little personal

Build your individual online presence by sharing some personal details, while being careful to not reveal so much that you risk your privacy. People love to see the human side of business leaders. Talk about your recent family vacation. However, do this after you’ve returned home so that you are not advertising that your home will be empty over the next week. For example, consider how sharing personal information might help attract top talent. Research shows that Millennials, who now make up the largest generation in the workforce, value things like work/life balance, family time and a volunteer spirit.

Through your personal social media account, you can post about family vacations, soccer games, a charity run you are participating in or a volunteer community board you are serving on. These posts shape perception of you as a person that cares about family and the community. As job candidates research the companies that have made offers, they are impressed with your reputation and feel that they would fit into your company’s culture. The same posts also affect your customers. One survey found that 87 percent of Americans will purchase a product because a company advocates for an issue they cared about. As you build an online presence that promotes social responsibility, your customers will translate the same values to the company you represent.

Be careful about your associations

The saying “guilty by association” certainly applies in today’s digital world. Be careful about what accounts you follow and what posts you “like.” Your followers can see this and simply “liking” a controversial post can affect your reputation. One mindless click could damage your online presence. The same principle applies when posting a news story. Always fact-check the sources. Aligning yourself with a story that turns out to be false tarnishes your credibility. Conversely, associate with the super credible. Align yourself with industry bloggers, social media influencers or other thought leaders that will add to your credibility.

Stay current

As an individual, you are constantly evolving. So your online presence should too. Old, outdated information will hurt your credibility. Regularly update your professional pages and profiles, including all social media sites, blogs, online boards and forums, and open source sites like Wikipedia. Be authentic. You are promoting yourself, but be careful to not embellish. One minor exaggeration turns into a full-blown lie, ruining your reputation.

View updating your digital presence as seriously as you would update your resume. If you wouldn’t include a photo with your resume, it’s probably not appropriate to be online either. Staying current also involves keeping up with how search engines operate and when they update their algorithms. For example, Facebook updated its search algorithm this past April to give priority to content viewed as “meaningful.” That means if you want your audience to see your feed, you need to produce quality content that they will “like,” share and comment on.

Combat negative reviews

Negative reviews do hurt. Ninety-two percent of consumers now read online reviews. Even though we usually apply negative reviews to company rating sites, individuals can have their own scores. Individual leadership might receive negative criticism on job search sites. When you hand a potential client your business card, it’s likely they will search for reviews of your company and you. What will they find? It’s difficult to control what an ex-employee, business partner or disgruntled client may write.

However, you can combat the negativity by seeking out positive reviews from colleagues, clients and both current and former employees. Nurture these positive relationships by keeping in touch through professional social media sites like LinkedIn. Comment on their content. Endorse their skills. Keep the value chain going. They will return the favor. A bunch of good reviews can offset the handful of negative ones you might get.

Monitor closely

The easiest way to monitor your online presence is to simply Google yourself. However, remember that Google does personalize search results based on the individual. So, to truly see what others see you need to sign out of your Google account or use an incognito window. This gives you neutral results, which is exactly what other searchers see. Are you happy with the top returns? Remember that over 50 percent of searchers will click on the first link. Is it actually you or someone else with your name? If it’s not you, work on your personal SEO.

One key way to do this is through your profiles on social network sites. Be sure your name is part of your handle and the profile URL. For example, on Twitter use a handle like “@myname.” On Facebook, you can claim your own personal URL with your name. It will look like www.facebook.com/yourname. Monitoring is easier than ever with tools like Rankur, Trackur, Social Mention and Google Alerts, which is free. These services will make you aware anytime your name or your company’s name appears on the Internet.

So, remember to view your online presence as a strategic asset. A positive reputation for both the company and the individuals that represent it is critical to success. Successfully building and maintaining a positive online presence requires strategy and the conscious investment of time and resources. The experts at Reputation Sciences understand why your individual online presence matters and are dedicated to helping you build a reputation that leads to personal and professional growth.

Contact us to learn more about the resources available to you.

The post Does Your Individual Online Presence Matter? appeared first on Reputation Sciences.