Guard and monitor your online reputation
By Katherine Andes
When participating in online forums, message boards, and blogs, please watch what you say.
Social media is great for exchanging information. Sometimes criticism is a legitimate part of business. But please try to be diplomatic and temper whatever criticism you may have for another person or company.
In fact, it’s best to leave off names altogether.
If at all possible, assume the attitude that the other party had good intentions. This will help your criticism to be more helpful.
We all advise our kids not to “let it all out” on the Internet because we are aware of how quickly the wrong thing said (or shown) can “go viral” and be spread throughout the world!
What’s worse is that once you hit that send button, you can’t retrieve it no matter how hard you try. It’s out there. Forever.
So before you send something out think, “If someone googles my name and this post comes up on a search engine results page for all to see, is that okay?”
TIP OF THE WEEK: To monitor daily what is posted on the Web about you and your company, sign up for Google Alerts. You will get an email when your name or your company’s name pops up on the Internet. It’s free.
Katherine Andes is a consultant who specializes in online SEO writing and landing pages — especially in the home improvement market. You can contact her at kathy@andesandassociates.com or visit her website AndesAndAssociates.com.