Anyone who is interested in personal branding needs to make sure that he has a good online presence. When was the last time you Googled yourself? The results that come up on the page 1 of Google when someone searches for your name are basically your online reputation.
Nowadays, it may be even a person’s first impression of you – people are now relying on Google and other search engines to find information about others. Whether you’re a potential friend, colleague, business partner or employee, people want to know what information there is to know about you, and most of the time, the easiest way for them to find this information is to go online and type in your name in Google Search.
This wouldn’t be a problem if all the information that comes up is accurate, factual, and what you want them to know about you. But what if instead of your blog or your LinkedIn profile, the top result is a random comment you made in a blog that links back to your MySpace profile, which you haven’t updated in a few years, and still has drunken pictures of you in it? Would you want that to be your online reputation?
Control your online persona
In the past months and years, most people who are hoping to establish a good online presence have put their efforts into setting up their blog, their website, their social media accounts, and so on. You want to make sure you’re going where your audience is, and where you’re most likely to be heard, so you make sure you have a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook account and a Twitter account. You have a website up using your name as the domain, and you blog to make sure your visitors continually visit your site. You’re well on your way to establishing a good online reputation.
But when was the last time you evaluated all the profiles you have in different accounts? When you first started out on social networks, you may have set up some different profiles in the popular social media sites of before, such as MySpace, Friendster and Multiply. Though you may have forgotten about these now, the search engines never forget. These profiles of yours may still appear when someone makes a search of your name.
Do they still represent you well?
Also, maybe you created a couple of blogs before as well, when you were still trying to find your niche. Do you think these blogs still give an accurate representation of the personal brand you are forming today?
Well, if they don’t, the best thing to do is to delete these profiles and blogs. Basically, you don’t really need them anymore, and they don’t give an accurate representation of you, so it’s far better that the search engines find the sites and accounts that you really want associated with your name.
If you find it difficult to delete these accounts – then evaluate the privacy settings of each account. Make sure that any pictures you don’t want associated with you, for example, are private and not public. But if you really think these profiles don’t represent you now, it’s really best to delete these profiles.
You see, the secret to creating a good online presence is not to become a slave to social media. You want to take charge of what information is out there about you, not be controlled by it. If you have a Twitter account that you don’t really update, then it’s a good idea to just delete that.
It’s far better for you to move on and get rid of a blog that talks about your dreams of being a rock star five years ago that never came to fruition, since it doesn’t really add value to your personal brand campaign.
If it's private, keep it private
In addition to deleting the obsolete profiles, remember that it’s important for you to check the privacy settings in your different accounts, and make sure that what’s public is what you want other people to find, and what’s private is what you don’t want them to find.
Establishing an online public persona means knowing when to censor yourself. Inappropriate pictures, foul language and negative comments will only hurt your personal brand. So make sure these things are removed from your online reputation.
Personal branding takes time, but you should be aware of the impact of everything you do online on your personal brand. Take charge of your online presence today and make sure you clean up and delete those profiles that don’t represent you well.