In our previous blog “Your Online Reputation is Important!” we discussed the importance of paying attention to your company’s online presence. Through three common scenarios, we outlined the liability in ignoring your online presence.
This blog series will highlight five steps to help you clean up your online reputation. Here is the first step:
Google Yourself!
This step is simple and crucial. Google yourself (or use your favorite search engine) at least once a month. Set up Google Alerts for your name and your company. You may need to add “attorney” and your location if you have a popular name.
This will showcase a quick snapshot of what is showing up about you online. This is also the search that your prospects, leads, and referrals will do before they consider hiring you.
Review at least the first three pages. If someone is very interested in hiring you, and you charge competitive rates, they will do their due diligence.
If your online presence is good, this simple search will showcase a combination of the following:
- Online review sites (these are arguably the most important item) with at least 6 reviews out of 10 rating you with 5 stars from both your peers and clients.
- Social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus, YouTube and/or whichever other platforms where you have, at some point, created a profile.
- Your website – this should dominate the first page with at least 3-5 pages listed (if your site is optimized properly).
- Outside sources showcasing your work and talking about you – trade publications, media coverage, etc.
- Images and videos of you and your content.
Often, a search on your own name will also bring up your competition. This can usually be shifted with some strategic Search Engine Marketing (SEM) but at this point, you just need to know where you stand online.
In our next blog, we will cover what to look for after completing your Google search.
