Helpie FAQ

Put simply, personal reputation management is taking control of what people find when they search for you online. Personal reputation management aims to suppress or remove permanently any negative or irrelevant search results while simultaneously boosting and increasing the number of positive, relevant results.

Personal Reputation Management Companies—like us here at Blue Ocean Global Technology—focus on helping individuals manage their online reputation. We educate you on your options and help you build, monitor, protect and repair a digital presence that favorably represents who you are. To learn more about how we can help you, share your contact information here.

Many things can cause a “bad” online reputation. Any search result that links to embarrassing or negative stories about you could certainly be considered bad—for example, a link that leads to an article mentioning your arrest, a news story that details your nasty divorce and custody battle, or a link to an unflattering video clip could all be considered part of a “bad” reputation.

But negative, embarrassing results aren’t the only things that can damage your personal reputation. Misleading or erroneous results can also be problematic. For example, imagine if someone who shares the same name as you authors a white supremacy blog or regularly tweets racist language—people searching for you may choose not to do business with you based on their findings.

Another way you can have a bad reputation is by having no reputation at all. If your name returns no (or few) relevant search results, this may cause concern and psychological noise—especially in internet-forward industries where a robust online presence is considered the “norm.”

Thankfully, a “bad” online reputation doesn’t have to be permanent. Personal online reputation management companies like Blue Ocean Global Technology specialize in fixing bad online reputations.

Your online reputation is how all people, including clients, prospects, partners, investors and those surfing the internet, perceive you or your business. There are many things that you can do to improve your personal online reputation. The first step is to perform an audit of your current online reputation. This audit provides a baseline or snapshot of your online reputation, helping you determine your next steps.

If you’re like many people, an online search for you leads to a combination of positive, irrelevant, and negative search results. In essence, to improve your personal online reputation, you want to increase the number of positive results that populate (and rank) on search engines, create high domain authority links, push negative results down, and clear up any confusing or irrelevant results.

Channels that you own—like your website and blog—give you the most control over your personal reputation and personal brand. And platforms that you use, like LinkedIn and Facebook, also allow you to craft your online reputation in a way that most accurately reflects you.

But don’t forget about the power of earned media. You don’t have control over these sites, but the more positive information you have there the better your reputation. A newspaper website that quotes you as an expert, a review site that positively mentions you and your business, or an industry website that publishes an article with your byline are all places that can positively impact your online reputation.

Our team will audit your online reputation and provide you a customized personal reputation management check-list. Reach out to us in confidence for your digital marketing or reputation consultation.

Cleaning up your online reputation is possible, but it’s something that doesn’t happen overnight. As we’ve mentioned, the first step is to perform an audit of your online reputation to understand the specific search results that are positive, negative, and irrelevant. After you understand where you stand, it’s a matter of improving and increasing the number of positive results so that any negative results are less relevant, as well as dealing with any irrelevant results.

What if you find “bad” or irrelevant results? Many people erroneously believe that the best approach is to contact the offending website and ask them to remove the result; however, this rarely works and can even inflame the situation. One strategy that may yield results is to optimize any owned or earned media channels featuring positive content. Many individuals and businesses choose to work with a personal reputation management firm like Blue Ocean Global Technology to monitor and optimize their online reputation.

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is also yes, but it’s worth noting that it can take time—and it’s never truly finished. Why does one search result appear above another? Search engine algorithms are highly confidential, so understanding how to impact search results is a combination of experience, knowledge and educated guesses. Everything from how old a domain is to its technical SEO and information quality are all taken into consideration when determining the placement of a specific result. You’ll want to keep these and other factors in mind as you’re determining the best strategy for fixing your online reputation.

If this sounds tedious and complicated, you’re right—it is. But you don’t have to repair your online reputation on your own. The best personal reputation management companies—like Blue Ocean Global Technology—help identify and resolve personal reputation issues, providing you with ongoing monitoring to identify potential reputation problems before they blossom into big issues. Get in touch with us for more information.

It’s always a smart idea to monitor your online reputation. Your first step is to perform a search yourself—searching for your name in Google and other search engines. Your name will have an impact on the kind of search you perform—if you have a common name that is likely shared by many people (e.g. Michael Smith) you’ll want to include in your search additional terms that someone is likely to use to specifically find you, like your company name or city. If your name is more unusual, the search results returned for your name are more likely to be accurate and specific to you.

Remember too that Google and other search engines use your personal search history to determine your search results—which means that the search results that you see for your name may be different than the search results that appear for others—and even searches performed in incognito mode or while you’re signed out may still be impacted. Consider performing searches for yourself via several different search engines and devices to receive a better, more comprehensive view of your true online reputation.

There are a number of reasons why personal online reputation management is necessary today. If you’re like most of us, you may Google the name of a potential boss, a prospective employee, or even a potential date—it’s human nature to be curious about the unknown, including people who are new to us. And whether you’re looking for a new job, are in a high-level, public-facing leadership position within a company, or simply want to see how others may view you, your personal reputation matters.

Your online reputation can have an impact on nearly every aspect of your life, so you must have a clear understanding of where you stand.

Great question. If you’re a hermit living in a cave or are otherwise “off the grid”, your online reputation (or lack thereof) will likely not impact your life—and you don’t need personal reputation management. But if you’re like the rest of us—living and working in this increasingly connected world—you can benefit from personal reputation management.

Remember the saying about never having a second chance to make a first impression? Today, your online presence IS your first impression. Optimizing your online reputation through personal reputation management allows you to put your best foot forward, showing the world the aspects of your professional (and potentially personal) life that creates the positive impression you seek to offer.

These days, Googling the name of a potential employee or new acquaintance is practically second nature; we’ve all done it. But when was the last time you performed a Google search on your own name? If you’re like many people, you maybe did it once but then haven’t given it a second thought since. This is one of those situations, however, where what you don’t know can hurt you.

The reality is that people are looking you up online and making decisions based on what they find. If the search results—which essentially form your online reputation—accurately reflect you and your personal brand, you’re in good shape. But if those results are negative or nonexistent, this can have a detrimental impact on your professional life.