In this day and age, the Internet has an astonishing amount of power to enhance or sink people’s reputations. People have lost and gained jobs based on past Internet records and online behavior. If you want to make sure your reputation is strengthened and not undermined by Google searches and social media, here are a few things you should try.
See What Others Are Searching For
To start, you should know what others see when they search for your name online. Conduct Google searches for yourself, including your first name, last name, and other search terms that employers might use. These may include your city, previous employment, and criminal record. Once you’ve seen the most relevant results, you’ll have a better idea of what to work on.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Many people consider social media a nuisance to individual reputation management. Whether it’s embarrassing photos, jokes in poor taste, or other posts putting your poor decisions on display, social media can provide significant setbacks for your online reputation. However, social media can also be a helpful tool if you know how to use it.
Social media profiles are among the highest-ranking pages listed under individuals’ names, and a striking, well-written social media profile can help turn your online reputation around. Take inventory of every social media account you own, remove damaging content, and rewrite your profiles to focus on your skills and marketable qualities.
Maintain Your Online Privacy
If you don’t want your future employers to see your high school escapades with friends, privacy settings on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram hide your activities from anyone whose friend request you haven’t accepted. Also, make sure your accounts are secure and difficult for hackers to access. You don’t want any incriminating spam posted under your name.
If you prefer to keep your activities public, make sure to consider the effects of any post, no matter how trivial it may seem. Think twice before hitting send if your words may put you in a troublesome situation. This is especially true if your boss or your coworkers are friends with you on social media.
Create New Content Under Your Name
Because Google algorithms favor fresh content during the indexing process, creating new content is already a common SEO strategy. By creating blogs, forum posts, and videos, you can control the online conversation surrounding your name by taking charge of the content that people see when they search for your name.
Hire a Professional
If improving your online reputation is a pressing priority for you, you may benefit from hiring a professional reputation management firm. Reputation management firms know many effective strategies for suppressing damaging content and efficiently increasing positive content. Reputation management firms may even be able to remove negative content about you from the Internet. For the best results, consider hiring a reputation management firm today.
