Top 10 Free Tools to Help You Repair Your Online Reputation

Have you heard how one musician gained retribution from United Airlines for carelessly handling his guitar and then repeatedly refusing to pay for the necessary repairs? Dave Carroll, the owner of the severely damaged Taylor guitar, wrote a song and put it in a video. He then posted it on YouTube. That video, entitled “United Breaks Guitars” went viral almost immediately and managed to wreak havoc on the airlines reputation and its bottom line. In fact, it has been reported that that video alone caused the value of United’s stock to drop by 10% in just four days, costing the company more than a million dollars. That is the power of the internet.

You may not have a company the size of United Airlines. You may own a small business, be an online entrepreneur, or you may not be in business at all. Maybe you are just someone hunting for a job or trying to earn a promotion. Whatever the case, online reputation management is vital. It can affect your business and your future. Here are 10 ways you can monitor and repair your online reputation.

Start by discovering exactly what is being said about you and your business.  Do an online search for your name or your business’s name and see what other people find when they Google you.  Then, take steps to keep informed about your online reputation.

One way to find out quickly what people are saying about you or your business is Google Alerts. When you create a Google Alert stored search, you will be notified when new posts containing your search criteria appear online. Input your name or business name into the search and get an email each time you or your business is mentioned on the internet.

This is another service, Addict-O-Matic, that is simple to use and will help you locate online information about yourself or your business. These types of tools are invaluable for reputation management because if you don’t know what’s being said you can’t do anything about it.

There is a search engine called Technorati that allows you to seek out information that has been written in blogs.  At this site, you can activate an RSS feed button so you will be alerted if your search criteria is mentioned in any posts monitored by Technorati.

Monitor This does exactly what its name states:  it monitors 25 major search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others plus it observes smaller search engines as well to help cover all your bases.

The blogosphere hosts over 53 million blogs and Blogscope will search each of them for information about you.

You can help protect or repair your online reputation by being proactive.  Even though you can’t control what other people say about you online, you can make it hard to find that negative information.  Here’s how you do it:

If your searches turned up anything you have posted that may be taken negatively by prospective employers or customers, delete it immediately.  Don’t leave incriminating evidence at social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, or other easily accessible sites. Then, spruce up your comments.  Make sure your spelling is correct, off color language isn’t included, and that there are no pictures that you wouldn’t want viewed by your potential boss. 

A Facebook page is not a negative thing; just be careful what you put on it and other social media sites.  Make sure your profile reflects your education, job history, or any volunteer work you may do, and that it provides only complimentary facts.                       

Linkedin is a social networking site with a difference.  It is designed for use by professional business people.  You can fill out a profile there highlighting your experience and education and join a few appropriate groups.  This is a good way to start building an office-appropriate online reputation.

When you write a blog about your profession or your hobby, you begin establishing yourself as an authority in that field. There are several sites where you can create a blog free of charge, but Blogger and Wordpress are probably the most popular.

Whether you make relevant comments on other people’s blogs and articles, establish truthful, complimentary profiles on social networking sites, or ask customers you know are happy with your service to write online reviews of your business, and get your name out there in positive ways.  Your goal is for the positive mentions to outnumber the negative, pushing those flattering posts up the search results.

Your online reputation is priceless.  Customers often decide with whom they’ll do business by researching possibilities online and human resource managers frequently Google a prospective employee, so guarding your reputation online is worth the effort.  If you don’t have time to do it yourself, there are reputation management companies you can hire to do it for you.  Whether you choose to do it yourself or hire a pro, take charge of your online reputation today.