Online reputation management can be used to either protect your personal brand or your corporate images. The first blog in this two post series will deal with managing your individual online reputation. The evolution of social media has made it relatively easy to self-inflict damage to your reputation by posting questionable status and uploading outrageous photos. Below are some tips to better protect your individual brand online.

1. Activate your Privacy Settings

Online reputation management begins with making sure that your social profiles are secure. This is especially important when it comes to Facebook, as people are prone to tag others in photos and check-ins, which might place you in uncomfortable situations. Ensure that you have the ability to approve any photo-tagging before your friends upload images of you from that all-night bender.

2. Create Active Profiles

Using social media to your advantage can prevent any negative news from dominating the page when people search for your name online. Joining popular networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is a sound strategy to secure real estate online and take control of what information others can find about on the Internet. Becoming an industry expert can also be achieved by being active, particularly on Twitter and LinkedIn where you can amass a targeted following of fans.

3. Don’t post inappropriate content       

The worst thing you can do to your personal brand is to post questionable content that offends some of your followers. The first step to protecting your individual online reputation is to stay away from creating profanity-laden posts and uploading videos/images showing lewd conduct. The last thing you want is for your employer to see you actively posting R-rated videos on your Facebook page or engaging in controversial political/religious debates.

 4. Blogging

Personal online reputation management can be better accomplished through blogging. By pushing original content on a consistent basis, you can take control of your personal brand and once again dominate the page for any keywords relating to your name. In some cases, creating keyword rich copy might prove difficult and contracting blogging to an interactive marketing agency can prove to be cost-effective and help you save time.

Overall Lesson

Personal online reputation management can be a time-consuming activity, but it can be particularly important if you want to (1) control what information people see about you and (2) create awareness for your name. Suffice it to say, an active ORM strategy can provide you with plenty of opportunities to secure, protect, and defend your personal image online.