Check out and manage your on-line reputation

If you search the web, your name will undoubtedly show up.

The question is, with all that information be favorable?

A client of mine recently found his name associated with a criminal case in Massachusetts. He asked me to try to correct the mistake. I did a Google search and there, in with many references to work he had done, was reference to someone else, with the same first and last name, who had been tried on criminal charges and is about to be sentenced.

What do you do about misinformation and mistaken identities? How do you manage your on-line reputation?

Here is a summary of the key steps to take:

* 1. Do a search on your name to see what you find – use Google, Bing and Yahoo search as each may turn up different information. Also try Pilp.com.
* 2. What did you find? Try to clean it up if you can by contacting the source.
* 3. In the end, the more information you have about you on-line, the better. Shutting down a site you have does not save you because the Internet never forgets; publishing more does help, as you get your name out there first, with correct information and in the best light.
* 4. Manage your reputation with your own postings – set up a web site, set up a Google profile, sign up for LinkedIn and other networking sites, and even start a blog.
* 5. Continue to manage over time by checking with new searches and updating your profile and web site.

The on-line information about you, also called “branding”, can be checked by friends, business associates, potential clients or employers, etc. You do not want to leave what they may find to chance – you need to manage your brand.

If you do have a web site, make sure that it shows you in the best light. A Facebook page should portray you in the complimentary way that you want anyone doing a search of your name to see you. So take down the pictures of you dancing with the lamp shade on your head.

As with a job interview, where you put on your best suit, your on-line postings should put the most favorable image about you first. If there is anything negative that you cannot correct, then you want to bury it with postings that you control.

For more on how to set up content for LinkedIn, Facebook and other sites, check out How to build and manage an online reputation.

Let me know if you want input from me on your on-line branding and other.

Good luck

Steven

Let us know if you have questions or comments. Thanks,

Steven