Some of you might remember how important your reputation was back in high school...well the bad news is that in the online world it is quite important again.
Sure you looked funny dressing up as a hooker for last year’s Halloween bash and it was a real 'gut buster' when all your friends commented on your past sexual escapades, but do you really want a potential business partner or employer to see that as an online representation of who you are?
When we interviewed Jay Granofsky from www.torontoSEOfirm.com about what part of his SEO (search engine optimization) business is growing most quickly, he replied; "Really I would have to say online reputation management, it has become crucial because everyone is connected to the web these days and whether you are considering hiring, dating or just befriending someone, chance are they will ‘Google’ you to see what kind of “web footprint” you have.
Managing your online reputation is very important because the web never forgets, online photos, posts, comments and profiles can linger around for years after you have forgotten about them and then come back to haunt you when you first enter the job market or start looking for a new job.
A funny quote Jay mentioned is, “Online reputation is the new silent killer, killer of opportunities that is”.
To make sure your online reputation is in order you should type your name into the Google search box and go through at least 5 pages of results to see what is being attributed to your name. Of course the easiest way to begin to repair a tarnished online reputation is to ‘take down’ the offending material if you are in control of it and if not then start contacting webmasters and asking them to remove anything derogatory or misleading. “I mean it might have been harmless to call your friend ‘retarded’ when they made that funny face on Facebook but your potential employer considering you for a special education teaching assignment might not see it that way.”
Sometimes problems with your online reputation cannot be fixed so easily and that is when you should turn to a professional SEO, usually managing a tough reputation online means you need to publish new content and then rank it ahead of the older (and sometimes more established) entries. The cost for reputation management is in the range of $300 - $3,000, it really depends on how much work needs to be done to improve it.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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