There is no escape from leaving behind your digital footprint on the Internet. Your activities and information get logged when you browse a website, post a comment on social media, or sign up with a service provider.
As the Internet takes center stage in our lives, it also builds our online reputation. It is vital to take control of your digital presence and not allow an erroneous comment to come in the way of your success.
Why Should You Check Your Online Presence?
You must take your online presence seriously because potential employers, customers, investors, and others do. Your casual comments on Twitter or banter with a friend on Facebook can give more clues about your personality than you do.
It is a known fact that most people turn to the Internet first when carrying out a background check on a person. Talent hunt firms and hiring managers often screen social media handles, even for the first round of screening. Your social media presence creates your first impression for people you haven’t met but who may play a deciding role in your career.
Hence, exercise caution when you are posting anything on the Internet. While social media profiles have opened the doors of success for many, they have been the reason for shut doors in an equal number of cases, if not more.
How To Check Your Online Presence?
If it is easy for hiring managers and others to check your online presence, the same is true for you. Here are some tools you can use to explore your online presence –
- Cyrusson’s Free Digital Presence Report: Find out how your business appears online across the 6 pillars of digital marketing. Understanding your weaknesses & strengths, plus see how you stack up against competitors. You can request your report here!
- Google: The search engine should be your first stop to check your presence online. Sign out of the browser or go Incognito and type your name and other credentials, such as location and business name. Check out the first page’s entries and results on the Image search. The search results should be positive.
- Cyrusson’s Social Marketing Tool: It is an excellent tool for monitoring your social media handles and online account. Sign up with Cyrusson, and you can track all your social media activities, including mentions of your name or business name.
- Social Mention: Similar to Cyrusson’s Social Marketing Tool, it checks more than 80 social media networks and is widely used by recruiters. Use it to get a complete background check on your reputation.
- Cyrusson’s Reputation Management Tool: Hear what customers are saying all over the web: Monitor when your business is mentioned in a variety of sources, including news sites, blogs and social networks. Plus, highlight the most positive and negative mentions using automated sentiment analysis. Sign up here for Cyrusson’s Reputation Management App!
- Google Alerts: It is one of the most widely used notification tools. Set your keywords (name or business name), and you will receive an online notification delivered to your mailbox when these keywords appear on any post.
Can Hiring Managers Check Private Posts?
Yes, they can; hence, you cannot permanently hide your private posts, irrespective of the privacy settings. Many job seekers have found their past social media posts have become an obstacle to securing jobs. Your past posts give a glimpse of your views. They also get a glimpse of your writing skills, ambitions, career, and life goals through these posts.
The same is true for business leaders, as an erroneous post can invite a backlash. Remember, someone within your network can share a screenshot of your posts; hence you must be careful when posting a comment, even in a closed group!
How To Manage Your Online Presence
You need to take a proactive step while managing your online presence. It will help in building your career and business. Let us look at some of the things you can do to manage a positive online presence and build a solid online reputation –
- Post positive content and do it regularly. Doing so improves the odds of such content appearing on top of search results. Use a mix of blogs, images, videos, and social media content.
- Engage with your customers by responding to their comments and complaints. It builds your online reputation and establishes your professional credentials.
- Ask for reviews and testimonials from customers in the case of a business. Do the same from past employers and colleagues as a job seeker
- Think before you post on the Internet, as the same would stay long. If it is controversial and avoidable, you better avoid it.
Clean Up Your Social Media Handles
Your social media handles serve as the face of your digital presence. From prospective employers to investors and even job applications tend to review social media handles to know a person or institution better. Carry out a thorough scan of your social media handles.
While most professionals and business leaders tend to stay professional and up-to-date with LinkedIn, do the same for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media network where you have accounts. Additionally, here are some of the steps you must take to protect and improve your online reputation
- Delete or deactivate your old and unused social media accounts. These include accounts you may have used before starting your professional career.
- Restrict access to your personal social media accounts. Avoid accepting requests or following people other than family and friends on those accounts
- Remove posts you may have posted in anger or rage, including comments on controversial topics that may hurt religious, cultural, gender, and ethnic sensitivities.
- Make sure all posts on your public accounts appear professional and do not include unparliamentary language
Final Comments
Activities on the Internet leave behind a trial and build your online reputation. Your digital presence can hurt you or be a springboard to success in your professional life. Summing up, taking control of your online reputation is vital, and you need to start by checking your online presence. It can be daunting if you lack prior expertise in checking online presence. Hiring an expert team can help.
If you are looking for a team that can monitor your online presence and improves your online reputation, Cyrusson Inc. would be a perfect match. We are experts in online reputation management and help clients build a positive digital presence. Don’t worry if you have fallen victim to a smear campaign; our experts will rescue your reputation. Call us for a free consultation now, and let’s get started.