Social media optimisation or social networking for business has proven to be one of the stand out gains in the last few years. Many more businesses are taking it up as a means to generate traffic for their business website or to increase brand awareness. It is also extremely valuable as a tool to improve or repair your online reputation as it can help to flood the top search results with informative or positive results concerning you, your brand, and your business. If you’re still not sold on the concept of social networking for your business then take a look at the following video clip.

Reputation management has long been considered a critical part of business. Word of mouth marketing remains one of the most powerful forms of marketing a business because it not only gets the word out but it also helps to instil confidence and a sense of trust from potential clients towards you and your company. Social networking can be viewed as being the online equivalent of word of mouth marketing as people post their experiences online.

By using websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube it is possible to create a real buzz about a new product launch but this can sometimes be outweighed by bad press that might already be published on the Internet about you and your brands. Look after your online reputation and it will help you to generate the kind of results that you want for your business or website.

“Who doesn’t check their Facebook every day?”

There are lots of different ways to use Facebook and other social networking websites in order to promote and improve the performance of your business. This interview looks at one such way, although it’s not likely to be as effective for all businesses as it seems to have been for Sharkeez.

One way of using social networking sites to help promote your website is for branding or for reputation management. In business terms as in many people’s social life, reputation is hugely important.

A good reputation is equivalent to word of mouth marketing that not only generates leads but generates trust and authority at the same time.

In contrast, a bad reputation on the Internet is visible to anybody that takes the time to look and the percentage of people that do take the time is growing massively.

If you have negative reviews or articles that are less than positive posted on the Internet then you should do what you can to counteract them. Having them removed is unfortunately highly unlikely but it is possible to bury them in the search results so that they might as well have been deleted.

Internet reputation management services can help you to do exactly that and provide you with the happy side effect of helping you with SEO. Start blogs, create social network profiles (with links to the rest of your online real estate where possible), and add more branded pages to your own site. Upload video and share photos too; do anything to get the good word out about you and your business.

This video’s been around for quite a while now but it still has some useful tips on how to improve your visibility on Google’s search engine results. If you’re attempting to flood the higher echelons of the search results with website pages, blog posts, and social network profiles that you create yourself then you need to ensure that you’re getting the best results possible for your hard work.

As ever, two of the more prominent points in the interview regard the use of keywords for on-page content and the development of your link profile.

Including keywords on your page isn’t just good practice for SEO. It can prove hugely beneficial for improved product or company branding and it can also be beneficial if you’re undertaking an online reputation management program.

It’s important not to get too carried away adding multiple instances of your keyword every few words of content but do insert it where it makes sense and use it in the title of relevant pages. In the case of reputation management, the keywords we usually refer to are brand names, product names, company names, or your own personal name.

Building links is also important although less so for your social networking profiles than for your own web pages, blog posts, and other hosted online real estate. These too should use your keywords and you should remember that the higher the authority of the linking site, the greater the benefit that your own web page will receive from the link and ALWAYS avoid multiple links from spammy link farms and spam pages.

This video is an interview with Andy Beal about the importance of online reputation management. It was taken at the 2009 SES Chicago conference.

This is a video of Darrell Long over at Search Engine Journal discussing reputation managers at an event called SES San Jose in 2008. The very informative interview is conducted by Jason Billingsley for Get Elastic Ecommerce.

Every internet reputation expert knows that transparency is a big part of combating online libel. However, it isn’t everything–unfortunately people can still libel you online, regardless of how open and transparent a business is.

And if the big boys working with big budgets and expensive consultants aren’t prepared for organised social attacks, how on earth can SMEs cope? All it takes is a disgruntled ex-employee, a dissatisfied client or a supplier that hasn’t been paid and your reputation – online and off – is in tatters.

The real lesson is that you cannot ignore social media or online criticism. People will find an outlet for their anger and post their negative comments all over Internet. Online reputation, though it is often ignored, is an extremely important thing to developing and established businesses alike.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business/Michelle-Rodger-A-virtual-reputation.6217933.jp

Facebook, long celebrated for its ability to connect people across the world, is suffering from some negative drawbacks. We have long known that social networking could have negative effects on individual’s Internet reputation, but the latest survey from Microsoft has been enlightening.

Many students and recent graduates are even changing their names on Facebook pages, according to CNN, and tightening privacy settings as well.

There’s a good reason: According to a recent survey commissioned by Microsoft, 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online, CNN reports.

The information considered inappropriate ranges from comments to “unsuitable” photos and videos, as well as criticism of employers, co-workers or clients. One user, who changed his name on his Facebook page for about two weeks, before realizing there were numerous other search categories that could direct a prospective employer to his site, told CNN that “prying into his online life” makes him uncomfortable.

Job seekers should be very careful about what is being put out about them. Google yourself often and take the necessary steps to fix the problem yourself or get reputation  management services.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/mar/31/baring-it-all-online-job-seekers-try-keep-personal/

This article points out a truth that too few people in the un defamation industry understand, which is that your online reputation is inextricably connected to your personal or business reputation. That is to say, anything that you or your company does that is highly positive or negative, in reality, will be reflected in your online reputation.

This brings me to my second point about personal reputation versus your online reputation and how people perceive you. For example, if you are in a position in life such as a journalist where you are supposed to be unbiased, having your opinions about political elections or other controversial issues posted on your site could alienate readers, or cause you to be challenged about your reliability and integrity.

The author is certainly right–the line between our online and real-world lives is blurring. Whether that is for the better or worse, I don’t know.

http://www.theeasttexan.com/above-the-law-social-sites-contain-hidden-dangers-1.1263872

Professional baseball player Torii Hunter has a reputation for being honest–but he may have been too honest when he said Latino baseball players were “impostors”. The comment occurred in the context of a discussion about African American players and Latino’s being perceived as “black” players. Those comments set off a firestorm of criticism from the blogosphere. Many bloggers have willingly engaged in online defamation, misrepresenting Hunter’s statements as racist.

“What I meant was they’re not black players; they’re Latin American players. There is a difference culturally. But on the field, we’re all brothers, no matter where we come from, and that’s something I’ve always taken pride in: treating everybody the same, whether he’s a superstar or a young kid breaking into the game. Where he was born and raised makes no difference.”

Hunter was very clear in his blog that his word choice was wrong but that he was in no way racist. Still, the blogosphere isn’t going to let Truth stand in the way of a good story that will drive traffic.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35802036/ns/sports-baseball/

Where did Toyota go wrong? Well, producing flawed cars to begin with was a bad start. But, as the following article points out, it was their response to the issues (or the lack of a response) that really injured them.

There is every reason to believe Toyota will fix its technical and management problems. The question is whether, panicking in the very un-Japanese glare of the American media and political spotlight, it will dig a deeper hole by losing the air of trust and reputation for competence among customers it has spent so long building up. That would be bad for Toyota and for America.

If Toyota wants to rebuild trust with consumers, and its reputation, it will have to do two things. 1.) Put out safer vehicles. 2.) Launch a comprehensive online reputation campaign.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.toyota02mar02,0,6420503.story