Search Results: Owningyour Online Reputation

Patrick AmbronCo-Founder & CEO

• Introduction to Online Reputation Management

• Building content you want people to find• Ensuring your content is visible (SEO

tactics/tricks)• Case Study #1• What to do if something negative shows up • Case Study #2• Special Offer

AGENDA

INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

1 BILLION

75%names are Googled every day

of HR departments are required to research candidates online

How you come across online is incredibly important

Most people are not represented well online

Most of you fall into 1 of 3 categories…

The Problem:

…the negative category

…the irrelevant category

… or the “hey, that’s not me” category

In fact, BrandYourself started when our co-founder Pete couldn‘t get an internship because employers were Googling him and finding...

A criminal with the same name

The REAL Pete Kistler, NOT a criminal

INSTEAD OF

Pretend you’re a hiring manager…You have three potential employees:

Which category do the search results for your

name fall into?

Some things to keep in mind when Googling your name….

• Google customizes search results based on what it knows about you (Sign out of Google account /incognito search)

• Google your full name and any variations

• Consider any identifiers someone may use

CREATING CONTENT YOU

WANT PEOPLE TO FIND

1. Build a personal site

• Wordpress• Weebly • Blogger

There are so many free and easy ways to build a site.

These rank highest:

Our Recommendation:WordPress (flexible design, very SEO friendly)

• Tumblr• About.Me • Many others

Fill it with relevant content about YOU

Tip: Use your real name wherever you can

2. Get on Social Networks

Search engines love ranking social networks high because they are credible and constantly updated.

3. Start blogging

Unless you are an objectively terrible writer with no intention to improve, you should be writing

blog posts.

Volunteer to write for places like Huffington Post.

Tip: Subscribe to relevant RSS feeds in your interests and write one reaction

a week.

4. Post interesting content:

Good: Bad:

Keep it clean or keep it private

Keep in mind: Nothing is really private online.

ENSURING YOUR CONTENT IS VISIBLE (SEO

TACTICS)

WRONG…Because, search engines make mistakes.

If I build all this content, Google will automatically find it, right?

Solution: SEO“Search Engine Optimization” is the process of creating or improving content to make sure it

shows up as high as possible for a specific keyword (YOUR NAME).

SEO Basics: Factors You Should Understand

On-Page SEO Off-Page SEO

• Architecture/ Structure

• Keyword/Content• Relevancy: Keep it

active

• Links• Social Sharing

• Costs about $10 per year

• Make sure you use yourname.com or some variation with your name in it (petekistleronline.com)

• Register it for as long as possible (2 years or more)– Even if you don’t plan on using it immediately, it keeps

someone else from taking it

• Where to get your domain: GoDaddy.com, hover.com

Step 1: Get Your Domain Name

Step 2: Structure Your Site Well

Make sure your name exists in all of these places and you’ll be off to a

good start:

Tip: Use WordPress All-in-one-SEO-Pack plugin

• Title of website • Headline of each

page • Navigation

Step 3: Use your REAL name

Good:

Bad:

Step 3: Use your REAL name

Step 4: Link all your content together

Let search engines know they are all “voting” for each other to rank high

CASE STUDY #1

WHAT TO DO IF SOMETHING

NEGATIVE SHOWS UP FOR YOUR

NAME

If you have one or more negative results showing up for your name, you have a few options:

1.Get it Removed

• Ask to have the content taken down

• File a claim with Google

• Get the site taken down

2.Bury it

3.Bump it off

The best way to handle negative search results is to create relevant, positive content to take its place

BEWARE any companies who promise quick fixes, guaranteed results or are not transparent about their

practices

CASE STUDY #2

ADDITIONAL TOOLS &

RESOURCES