I recently had a call from a guy who was concerned that the main listing when Googling his name was about a appearance he had to make in front of a Government regulatory body, and telling them he wouldn’t work in the financial services industry for at least 5 years.
He was worried (I think) that this might damage his professional reputation. He’s probably right given that many recruiters now do an online search for a potential candidate, by name, to see what they find.
His call prompted me to Google myself. I do online marketing, but if you search for John Cuthbertson, you’re likely to find my ‘hobby’ photography website. I’m quite happy with people knowing I do photography, but as a day job, I really need to raise my online marketing professional profile. So I’ve started working on it… and I’ll keep tracking my progress here.
I’ve also set up a new online business offering online reputation management services. After thinking about it, I’ve come to believe it’s search engine optimisation (SEO) in reverse. Rather than targeting long tail keyword searches (the most effective marketing strategy I know of, given the high conversion rate), online reputation management involves niche marketing, targeting a single phrase i.e. a person’s or business’ name.
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