For business owners, professionals, and freelancers alike, now more than ever it is crucial that online identities be carefully curated and monitored. Establishing and managing your online presence is essential to gaining the upper hand in all personal and professional matters. You can take control of your personal brand to maximize the potential of your online identity by following these six steps.

1. Conduct a Search on Your Name
   First, do a thorough internet search for your name, your brand, and variations including nicknames, maiden names, and common misspellings. Be sure to carry out searches on a variety of search engines and social networks, and keep searching past the first or second pages of results.
2. Purchase a Web Domain
   Buy a web domain using your name and a customized URL. Domains are available through many providers; one of the more popular and most used providers is GoDaddy. If your chosen name is not available, opt for a familiar variation.
3. Optimize your Online Presence
   Set up a blog and start publishing original content in your field of expertise. Be sure to include your name or your business name in each post and byline. Make use of article distribution services to establish links and references to your content and main website. By saturating the web with your active content, any negative search results will be pushed further down the search results until they are buried.
4. Join Social Networks
   By creating accounts with major social media sites, you can maximize your internet presence with little expense. Whether you outsource the task or create the content yourself, frequent public posts to social media channels are a vital step in establishing and managing an online presence.
5. React Quickly
   Whether your online interactions are positive or negative, be sure to be proactive in responding to posts and messages. By maintaining a professional demeanor and responding quickly, people will be pleased that you have made them a priority and will respond accordingly. Use hashtags and monitor responses, keep a level head, and know when it is time to take conversations to a direct message or email.
6. Maintain Control
   Make sure to keep all content that references you or your personal brand professional and positive. Use Google alerts to track your name or business name so you can be alerted immediately when your search terms yield a relevant result. You can even set up alerts to monitor your email address. If you find content that you consider harmful or inappropriate, contact the author or website owner immediately to request that they remove the content.

Contact Blast Creative for all of your Reputation Management needs today!

The post 6 Steps to Managing Your Online Reputation appeared first on Website Design and Marketing.