In 2006, my crew and I spent months researching and testing services for online reputation management.  A few years and a few companies later, I’m regaining interest in the field.   

 

Safe to say, reputation management on the internet is more dynamic than ever.

 

It’s also more important than ever.

 

It’s funny to think that job applicants now expect to be Googled by potential employers.  This is fact, folks.  I search everyone’s name I ever meet, whether it’s a business contact, job applicant, or friend from a bar.

 

What the search results say about you is how you are perceived.  Perception is reality.

 

That’s the gist of ORM, which hasn’t changed much since ’06, other than that it rings true for everyone now more than ever.

So what’s new?  What’s this ‘dynamic’ talk?

Universal search.

Universal search results refer to the blending of the traditional text listings in Google or Bing with multimedia content.  These include news, images, video, audio, and maps.  This matters for online reputation management because now it’s much more likely a news story featuring your name will show up quickly and prominently in the search results.  It also means that video of you at the off campus party chugging Tequila can too. 

 

Social.

The revolution will be Twitterized.  Not only can pages from social networks like Facbeook and Twitter now be prominent in the SERPs for a given name, but people are flocking to these sites to find and research others.  What people are saying about you on Twitter is part of your reputation.  So is the stuff on your FB wall. 

 

Media reach.  Media volume.

The media never shuts up.  It never goes away.  It’s so pervasive, and the technology we have has made everyone so connected and ‘real-time’, there’s simply more being said and more being regurgitated than ever before.  This comes back to affect rep management by increasing the likelihood that attention in a digital format is coming your way.

 

Still, there are others.   The growth in popularity of sites like GlassDoor and RipOffReport.  The evolution of the search engines to index more quickly, and to snuff out quick-rank schemes (the Squidoo page w/your name isn’t likely to push down a negative result these days).

 

Wrap it Up.

It’s cool to come back and take a look at something I was so into 3 years ago, and analyze where it stands and where it’s going.  As an SEM, no question there are new challenges to managing a client’s reputation online.  But

 

I still think it can be done, done cleanly and done well. 

 

Truly, the best way to manage an online rep is to be proactive. 

 

Perhaps it’s human nature to wait until something bad happens, and you come in with “Somebody is bashing me on GlassDoor.  I don’t have myname.com even.  Can you help me now?”

 

Don’t do that.  Follow some simple steps to ensure you get a head start. 

And if you wind up in a bind, I can always bring back “Interview with a Friend”.

 

photo: VROG

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