As I prepared for my presentation at the PPAW Annual Holiday Event, I found the following quote from the folks at Google regarding one’s online identity…
“Your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you — whether a mention in a blog post, a photo tag or a reply to a public status update. When someone searches for your name on a search engine like Google, the results that appear are probably a combination of information you’ve posted and information published by others.”
When I read that quote, I think of all the people I have encountered who tell me they do not participate in social media because they don’t want to be “out there” on the internet. What they don’t understand is that even if you are not participating in social media, others are and they can talk about you, either in a positive or negative manner.
So even if you are not “participating” in social media, you must participate in monitoring your online reputation.
Be sure you are monitoring what is being said about you and your company. Some of the key elements to monitor are the following:
- Company/Brand name
- Products
- All Domain Names
- Personnel (owner and key management people)
- Key Industry Keywords
- Key Competition
Don’t believe me? I have a client who had two horribly negative reviews on a review site and they had no idea the reviews were out there. One review is 4 years old and shows up on the first page of Google search results when you Google the company name.
Status updates, blogs and reviews live on the internet for years… make sure you’re monitoring what is said about you so you can control any negative comments now.