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The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation How to build, boost and repair your online reputation. The keys are creativity, excellent content, daily updates and ceaseless adjustments.
“Freak out” comes to mind--and rightly so--when discovering something negative has appeared online about you. Feelings can range from terror to sweaty palms to nausea if a damaging link shows up prominently in a Google search for your name or business. There is good reason, too: clients stop calling, business deals crumble, prospective buyers move on, and executive hires get rescinded. But all is not lost since it is possible to suppress the bad stuff off the first page of Google. The solution is complex, containing many moving parts and as a result can take between six and twelve months or more to scrub. But how? Based on real-world experiences, here are the actions, tips and platforms necessary to repair a damaged web presence. Following these steps should lead to reputation recovery. Essentially, here is the “secret sauce” of online reputation management. Use this as a checklist when interviewing professional reputation firms and if they don’t include most of these steps, move on to someone that does. If you are trying to go solo--which I don’t recommend--here is the blueprint.
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Keys to success are creativity, excellent content, constant updates and ceaseless adjustments. It really depends on the legitimate level of commitment to time and quality a reputation firm or person is willing to put in. A mid-level problem takes about 460+ hours to repair, or about 20 hours per week. In other words, a part-time job. Crafting a personal website or Wikipedia article, for example, are powerful online reputation tools which can take months to construct on their own, but if done quickly or poorly, they risk not being indexed at all by Google. A “wild card” in this process too is Google itself, who always tinkers with their algorithms, making major (and unannounced) changes about every six months. Finally, crucial but thoughtful considerations are needed based on the industry, location and goals, making no two solutions alike. For example, building a reputation for professionals such as lawyers or financial advisors differ from repairing a reputation for a grad student or firm in Brazil. Not getting this right could mean failure. After seeing this list of actions and time necessary to implement them, it becomes easier to realize why it can cost $5,000 per month or more for online reputation management repair. Yet, taking this all into consideration, below are the step-by-step, month-by-month actions necessary to build, boost or repair an online reputation for most people or businesses.
Monthly Summaries Most of the first month is spent reviewing the online reputation problem, researching topics and creating/updating a personal website. The key here is to target key content topics, which drives social media sharing and content creation. The second month focuses on key platforms--LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Medium--as well as creating or updating new ones, and writing well made blogs. During month three, you share content across social media sites, engage with influencers, and generate more articles, presentations, etc. For months four, five and six, repeat. Continually write, share across all platforms, search Google to review successus and constantly tweak.
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
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Month One: Review, Research and Website 1. Review and assess the negative links to gauge the problem. 2. If there are many damaging sites appearing at the top from well-known sources, the issue could be severe and the online repair process could take longer; one link at the bottom of Google searches could take less time. 3. List and prioritize positive links that are already online. These will be referenced and shared later. 4. Write or update brief bio. Importantly, include some links to previous jobs, awards, schools or key content. Also, make a briefer version to will be posted on social media sites’ profile sections. 5. Identify key content and social media topics to focus on, such as: ○ Industry expertise. ○ Employment experience. ○ Business goals. ○ Background. ○ Personal Interests. ○ Location (city, state, country, etc.). 6. Create Google Alerts for some or most of these. 7. Gather content that already exists but is not already online, such as images, articles, presentations, videos and other content. These will be referenced and shared later. 8. Create or update a personal website, using Wordpress. ○ Write excellent, well written content. ○ Create Home, Bio, Business-related, Blog, Contact pages. ○ Add Title metadata for each web page from the key topics researched above and/or include your name, where appropriate. ○ Include your name or the business in page URLs (for example, “bio.html” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.html”). ○ Include your name or the business in image’s file name (for example, “face.jpg” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.jpg”). ○ Link references to your name back to professional pages and articles identified in the research phase. ○ Use Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) for the site. ○ Create the site to be quick and mobile-friendly. 9. Update business website. ○ Add Title metadata for each web page from the key topics researched above and include your name, where appropriate. ○ Include your name or the business in page URLs (for example, “bio.html” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.html”).
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
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Include your name or the business in image’s file name (for example, “face.jpg” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.jpg”). Link references to your name back to professional pages and articles identified in the research phase. Improve site speed. Use Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) for the site. Review or update the site to be mobile-friendly.
○ Time required: about 70 to 85 hours.
Month Two: Update Existing Sites; Create New Ones; Write Blog 1. Create platforms: ○ LinkedIn account, with custom URL which includes your name or business. ○ Twitter.personal and/or business account. ○ Facebook personal and/or business account. ○ Instagram personal and/or business account. ○ Pinterest. ○ YouTube. ○ Medium. ○ Slideshare. 2. Platforms should include: ○ Bio. ○ Headshot photograph. ○ Link to your personal or business website in the profile section. ○ Link to key content or articles, if possible. 3. Write a 500 to 1,000 word blog. ○ Topic should be on one identified during the research phase. ○ Link your name back to the Bio page of your personal website. ○ Mention and link to other key articles or posts about you, if possible. ○ Post to personal website. ○ Share on social media. 4. Create Blogger Site. ○ Write excellent, well written content. ○ Create Home, Bio, Business related, Blog, Contact pages. ○ Add Title metadata for each web page from the key topics researched above and include your name, where appropriate. ○ Make page URLs that include your name or the business (for example, “bio.html” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.html”). ○ Include your name or the business in image’s file name (for example, “face.jpg” should instead be, “john-smith-financial-advisor-nyc.jpg”).
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
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Link references to your name back to professional pages/articles identified above. 5. Make a presentation. ○ Either write from scratch or convert from an already published blog article. ○ Post to Slideshare. ○ Share on Twitter, LinkedIn, three other platforms 6. Create an authoritative, well sourced Wikipedia article with references, if possible (note this could take several months). 7. Continually share any new content you wrote or that has been written about you. 8. Constantly review Google Alerts for new articles and links, sharing them as they happen. 9. Daily Twitter actions: ○ Follow several key influencers. ○ Tweet on key topics. ○ Share one tweet from Followers. 10. Daily Facebook actions: ○ Follow several key influencers or Groups. ○ Share a few posts. ○ Like several articles. 11. Daily LinkedIn actions: ○ Request a Connection to several key influencers. ○ Share and Like a few posts. ○ Make a Comment. 12. Search Google to review success and to check for updates frequently. 13. Add shareable buttons on the personal website blog and other pages that point to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other platforms. 14. Update personal and business websites to include links to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Medium, etc. on the Contact page of your personal or business website.
15. Time required: about 75 to 90 hours.
Month Three: Create More Platforms; New Content 1. Continually share any new content you wrote or that mentions you. 2. Constantly review Google Alerts for new articles and links, sharing them as they happen. 3. Daily Twitter actions: ○ Follow several key influencers. ○ Tweet on key topics. ○ Share one tweet from Followers. 4. Daily Facebook actions: ○ Follow several key influencers or Groups. ○ Share a few posts.
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
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8. 9.
○ Like several articles. Daily LinkedIn actions: ○ Request a Connection to several key influencers. ○ Share and Like a few posts. ○ Make one Comment. Write a 500 to 1,000 word blog. ○ Topic should be on one identified during the research phase. ○ Link your name back to the Bio page of your personal website. ○ Mention and link to other key articles or posts about you, if possible. ○ Post to personal website. ○ Share on social media. Create a presentation. ○ Either write from scratch or convert from an already published blog. ○ Post to Slideshare. ○ Share on Twitter, LinkedIn, three other platforms. Record one brief video, upload to YouTube, and share. Create new or update platforms, with links to personal website and/or key content; include bio and image ○ Academia account. ○ Scribd. ○ Google My Business Site. ○ Your School/University Alumni Site. ○ Patch. ○ Crunchbase. ○ Tumblr. ○ Reddit. ○ Quora. ○ Behance. ○ Google Books. ○ Google Site. ○ Vimeo. ○ Flickr. ○ Yelp. ○ Soundcloud. ○ About.me. ○ Manta. ○ 500px. ○ AuthorStream. ○ MyHeritage.
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
Page 7 ○ Baidu. 10. Weekly social media actions: ○ Instagram: Upload images; Like and Follow others. ○ Pinterest: Pin images; create one new Board. ○ YouTube: Follow related videos; create new Playlist. ○ Academia: Search for key articles; save and share. ○ Scribd: Search for key publications; save and share. ○ SlideShare: Follow an Author; Like key presentations. ○ Google My Business Site: write one local review. ○ Patch: Like and comment on a related article. ○ Tumblr: Follow and Comment on related Sites. ○ Reddit: Upvote and Comment on related posts. ○ School Alumni Site: update and find others. ○ Medium: Follow and Comment on a related Article; Follow authors. ○ Vimeo: Follow others. ○ Yelp: Write one review; Follow other Authors. ○ Soundcloud: Search for key posts; Like, Repost, Share; Follow People. ○ Crunchbase: Follow Business; add link to newly written articles. ○ Quora: Search topics and Follow; Share. ○ Behance: Search People and Projects and Follow and Save; Upload one image . ○ Google Books: S earch topics and Follow; Share. ○ Flickr: Search People and Projects and Follow and Save; Upload one image. ○ MyHeritage: Add photo; find others. 11. Wikipedia: Update other related articles, if possible, where you or your business has a meaningful connection to, such as school, university, hometown, award, employer, etc. 12. Write comments on related blogs or media articles, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Inc., Forbes, Huffington Post, and/or large industry-related publications or blogs.
13. Time required: about 75 to 90 hours.
Month Four: Create and Share Content 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Do same as Month Three (except for 9 above). Medium: Write or rewrite 500+ word article based on a key topic. Yelp: write one review. Soundcloud: Add audio track. Quora: Answer Question; Ask Question. Behance: Create a Project with a few images. Google Books: W rite one review. IdeaMensch site: answer a series of questions, and post.
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
Page 8 9. Wikipedia Common: take or use your own photographs and add to Creative Commons site. Be sure link back to your personal or business site. 10. Continue to add additional platforms, depending on the industry, location, etc., such as: ○ Foursquare. ○ Scoop.it. ○ EventBright. ○ Meetup. ○ Xing. ○ Visualize Me. ○ Better Business Bureau. 11. Share links from the platforms created above.
12. Time required: about 80 to 90 hours.
Month Five : Create and Share Content 1. Do same as Month Four. 2. White Paper: write 2,500 word detailed article and post to Scribd. 3. Write or rewrite 500+ word article based on a key topic, post to Patch, or Blogger.
4. Time required: about 80 to 90 hours.
Month Six: Create and Share Content 1. Do same as Month Five. 2. Inspirery: answer a series of questions, bio and post.
3. Time required: about 80 to 90 hours. Continue until resolved.
Time Required: 460+ hours
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
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About Steven W. Giovinco
Steven W. Giovinco is an online reputation management and repair specialist in New York, holding Master's degrees from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and Yale University. Interviewed by the New York Times, Inc., and interviewed by Tribune Media/WGN, Inc., Martindale/Lawyers.com and have given numerous talks on online reputation management, Steve has 20 years experience connecting people through technology, and have gained direct experience in finance, law, television, and the arts. LinkedIn: h ttps://www.linkedin.com/in/onlinereputationmanagementny/ Twitter: ttps://twitter.com/recovreputation h Google +: h ttps://plus.google.com/+StevenWGiovinco?hl=en Facebook: h ttps://www.facebook.com/onlinereputationmanagementrepair/ Below are some additional article examples.
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
Page 10 Beware: How Tinder Can Impact Your Online Reputation: http://www.recoverreputation.com/beware-how-tinder-can-impact-your-online-reputati on-management/ The CEO Online Reputation Management Guide in 10 Detailed Daily Steps: http://www.recoverreputation.com/the-definitive-online-reputation-management-guide -for-ceos-in-10-detailed-daily-steps/ 25 Free Online Reputation Management Tips and Tools: http://www.recoverreputation.com/25-free-online-reputation-management-tips-tools/
The Step-By-Step Online Reputation Management Guide By Steven W. Giovinco, Recover Reputation
