Spit-Shine Your Online Reputation In 5 Easy Steps

Can I see a show of hands–how many of you folks have ever googled someone when you wanted to find out more info about them? I think we all have. But at the same time you’re googling others, others are also googling you–what are they finding?

Before I started doing some of these online marketing techniques, whenever I would google my name, info about another person would show up in the search results (yes, apparently there is another Sharon Sarmiento in the world, and she was outranking me for my name!). Now when I do a search for my name, the first few pages of results are really about me, and all of my writing (through blogging and article marketing) is showcased.

Knowledge is power, so google yourself, and if you don’t like what you’re seeing know that with a tidbit work you can do one of those “extreme” (on subtle) makeover thingys with an arsenal of social media and online marketing tools:

1) Start a blog–This may come as a surprise to some folks, but there are still people who do not have blogs :-) . If you don’t have a blog and if you want to have some control over your online reputation you need to get one. You don’t need to go all problogger on it and post a million times a day–just get a few pages going. By setting it up under a domain that is your name (www.yourname.com) you have a good chance of your blog ranking well when someone Googles you.

2) Get some colleagues to suggest you for Wikipedia– Of course you need to be somewhat notable to be accepted as a wiki :-), but if you are you might want to give it a shot.

3) Publish a HubPage. Here’s a great article on how to get your hub on Google’s first page.

4) Create a Squidoo page. Having your name be part of the domain name is a plus. See Guy Kawasaki’s Squidoo page? Check the domain name he created. Actually this is a great page, with lots of info about him, videos, links to blog posts and his Wiki. Emulate him as closely as you can.

5) Write an article for ChangeThis. A very cool place to express ideas. From their website:

ChangeThis is creating a new kind of media. A form of media that uses existing tools (like PDFs, blogs and the web) to challenge the way ideas are created and spread. We’re on a mission to spread important ideas and change minds

Bonus Tip: If you would like for lot of wonderful search results to come up when someone Googles you, try article marketing. Aside from blogging, article marketing has been my most effective tool for getting the word out about my websites and has really helped beef up the results pages for my name.

Come on people--was that so hard? Using the internet to establish or correct your online reputation is not brain surgery. To top it off, all of these things are free (with the exception of buying the domain name for your blog) and require minimal effort, although of course you will see more results if you regularly update your blog and your Squidoo and Hub pages.

It goes without saying–Be sure that the info you’re publishing reflects well on you and accurately shows your best side, your accomplishments, your intelligent thoughts on issues, and your creative ideas. The idea is to take some control over your online destiny and to create a well-thought out web presence that will put your best foot forward.

Source: Seth Godin