The Importance of Personal and Brand Reputation Protection Online
July 12, 2007 by Pablo Palatnik
AS THE WORLD WIDE WEB KEEPS EXPANDING and we become more dependant on it for information as we probably are at that stage now, it’s extremely important to protect your brand or name online.
When you go interview for a job, you think employers interested in hiring you aren’t Googling your name? Checking out your Myspace profile? No? You don’t? THINK AGAIN. I know for a FACT employers are depending on the internet to do their “background†research. I asked five executives that own companies with more than 5-10 employees and almost always will search online to check up on the potential employee.
Quick personal tips:
*Google your name and see what comes up. If there is any negative content regarding you, try contacting the webmaster about taking it off. It maybe possible, it may not.
*Register your Domain full name online. (I’ve yet to do that soon…especially with my blog).
*Google/Yahoo search images for your name…make sure no negative or exposing pictures are there. Again, if there is, get the webmaster of the site to take it/them down.
*Make sure your profile (if you have one) on Myspace is set on private so it’s not open for the world to see.
We hear of a lot of identity theft through credit cards, social security numbers, etc. Identity theft will become more popular online. Check to see what personal information if any is published in search engines and social sites.
If you own a company, this is beginning to be an area of concern for big brands, mostly dealing with Public Relations issues. Not only is it a priority to protect the name of a brand but also of that of their executives.
I forgot what company it was (a big one) which an employee was fired and registered the CEO’s domain name, ranked #1 in Google after a few weeks and wrote pure negative content.
Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal had a great post on this issue with the airline JetBlue which if you searched for “JetBlue†on Google Video, the first video was the emergency landing which took place about a few months ago I believe.
Let’s take a very quick example of someone who needs reputation management online as an example. Hillary Clinton.
Look at the first image of her in Google:
Video on the first page of Google Video:
Random Posts
Comments (5)
No doubt. I have been witness to 2 loss of jobs because of this. mind you it was party the employee’s who blatantly ranted and disclosed personal info about management on their facebook. But i was appalled when my superior told me there was word from head office to track employees online activities and counter attack at work for the sake of ‘keeping the work environment professional’
I’m glad facebook has privacy features (though obviously some are too stupid to work it)
I’ve heard there are services that can get around a profile set to private. Some sort of agreement with myspace allowing background check companies to circumvent that setting. So if you don’t want something seen.. don’t put it on the internet, period.
I’m not surprised at all. One should also not be surprised when prospective employers Google candidates.
True true true! I know of a person who was fired from his job after his employer found pictures of him smoking pot on Myspace.
People… if you are going to put those pictures online, make sure you set the album to PRIVATE viewing!!!
You can also build your online reputation by participating in intelligent conversations on professional blogs. Use your full name when posting. This is a great way to establish yourself as a active participant in your industry and/or field.