Building a Strong Online Reputation

Google yourself. What do you think? You may be experiencing a wide range of emotions, but with the rise of social media and technology, anyone can say anything about you; and it could show up on the web. Not only could this be embarrassing, but it could detrimental if you are a business or a job hunter. The bottom line is you can’t stop others from talking about you, so you need to be proactive and build a positive, professional online reputation. Here are a few tips to help business and individuals build a successful online reputation.

Build a Professional Website

Creating a good-looking, professional website isn’t as difficult as you might think. There are plenty of tools and templates available for individuals to create something that looks professional and includes valuable information, like your resume and skill-set. If you are a business owner, however, it’s important that you work with a professional web development firm with expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), ecommerce, content management systems (CMS) and several other elements involved with producing a business-class web presence.

Blog

All you need is some time, drive and a little creativity to develop a blog. It will allow you to write about subjects relevant to a job search or information about the services you offer. Providing readers with intelligent, well thought out information will allow you to build a positive online presence and allow you greater control of your reputation.

Create Online Profiles… But Don’t Overdo It

Creating profiles at popular networking sites is a big part of crafting your online reputation. However, it takes time to effectively manage and update your profiles, so it’s paramount you choose the sites that will have the most impact. Here are three that TheeDesign suggests:

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter

Obviously, there are hundreds of viable social networking sites but the more you create, the more you have to manage. A common industry rule of thumb is to not have a profile at all versus having an unused and out-of-date profile.

Buy Your Domain Name

Domain names are becoming increasingly unavailable, so if you have the opportunity to purchase the URL of your individual or business name, then you should do it. It is relatively cheap and will allow you to have greater control over your online reputation. These are just a few steps to building an effective online reputation. The rules to this game are constantly changing so it will benefit you to stay on top of the subject. TheeDigital offers professional online reputation building and management services to make sure somebody is building and monitoring your good name. While we can’t stop others from saying bad things about you on the internet, we can manage and minimize it.