What does the rest of the world think of you?
Here are some topics to consider when monitoring your name, your brand and your online reputation:
- Use a name that is unique and doesn’t get confused with other common acronyms or unrelated terms
- Check your company name and key employee names, especially looking for scams or hijackers posting as your company
- Update your company and personal information with credible directories like the phone company or business credit service
- Avoid paying for directory listings with companies that claim to manage your name or increase your search ranking
- Do pay for directory listings or advertising inside your own industry, professional organizations or chamber of commerce
- Get help from a credible web / technical expert or legal company if you think your company name, web address or personal identity has been stolen
Checking Your Name
1.) Do a Google search first for your company name and variations of your company name. Make a spot check for owners’ names and staff names at the same time. You may find reputable and scam directories, ratings websites and general stories that may contain links or references to your company or staff.
2.) Search for your company name and web address inside social media. With the increase in social media services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and others, it’s easier for companies with names similar to your name to be mistaken for you. Or you may find that customers, staff, vendors or competitors are using these channels to comment on your products or services.
Social Mention looks for text in the comments of videos, tweets, social media channels. Search by your web address, email address or names in:
3.) Start planning your company profiles and pages. If you’d like to set up your company in social media, search the existing user names first to find a name that is not already taken. Searching KnowEm for potential page names is free. You can pay if you want multiple names set up for you, but it’s still free to set up your company page and user names yourself in each service.
4.) Paid services that may be useful to your company in your industry. For example, in the US some cities and counties require a Dun and Bradstreet number (called a DUNS) to become a vendor. Your credit identity may include paying for one of the basic business credit identity services. Here are links, if you need a DUNS number.
Dun and Bradstreet USA http://www.dandb.com
Dun and Bradstreet Australia http://dnb.com.au
If you’d like help researching your presence on the web, contact Shauna.
Related:
- But I Can Get 2 Million Hits!
getting attention is only good when it’s from the right customers - Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.
a company specialising in crisis management and providing PR advice