Advanced Reputation Management Techniques

by Jake Spencer from Jake Spencer

One of the most common mistakes that online reputation managers make is to create dozens and even hundreds of social media profiles, hoping that some of them will end up dominating the first page of Google. The truth is that this strategy often results in diluting all of these profiles, making none of them particularly powerful or SEO-friendly. Instead, it is better to be selective in registering on several popular sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and of course, Facebook.

With that being said, these profiles need to be regularly looked after and updated. Most social media specialists recommend participating heavily in the community in which the profile is hosted. For example, making a lot of friends, encouraging others to comment on your photos (especially on Flickr), and generating external links are all very important factors in optimizing your social media profile. Take note that if you become passionate enough on a certain community like DeviantArt, for example, you can dominate the rankings. Regular participation is one of the key components to this strategy.

Some additional rules to remember include:

• Spell Everything Correctly – Avoid using pseudonyms; instead, use your full name (or brand name) to displace any negative comment about you.
• Fill Out the Forms – Complete the forms. Include bios, photos, videos, topics, tags, links, etc. Take advantage of all the fields the platform offers.
• Leverage Your Address Book – Once you become friends with someone on Facebook, they’re very likely to accept you as a contact on LinkedIn. Leverage this to get more friends, connections, and followers on different platforms!
• Keep Relevance in Mind – It might be tempting to stuff your profile with keywords, but keep in mind that will likely be counterproductive. Aside from the risk of getting your profile banned, you’re also jeopardizing your ability to generate more connections.

Reputation management is more than just creating visibility on social media sites and promoting your business online. If your company is getting featured in the press, media, or events, these organizations will usually ask for a “bio” at the end of the page. This presents an opportunity for you to get links to various pages. For example, the “bio” should include a description of your business (website link), say that more information is available on the blog (blog link), and that the reader can follow you on several social media sites (social media links).

When including these links, make sure to use the proper anchor text. It makes it easier for readers to know what they’re clicking on and it is vital for search engine purposes. Overall, reputation management need not be incredibly complicated, and if you follow the tips provided above you will get better results for your efforts.