With identity theft and online security breaches on the rise, Don Sorensen, CEO and founder of online reputation management firm Big Blue Robot, today posted guidelines for individuals and companies interested in protecting their identity and personal reputation online.
Personal identification is a standard in today’s society. Typically it is in the form of a driver’s license, a credit or debit card, library card, or any other number of cards that display an individual’s name and possibly an image. However, with the advent of the Internet, personal identification has become vulnerable at many levels.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
Every year, an estimated 9 million U.S. residents are victims of identity theft, according to statistics compiled for 2010 and documented by Javelin Strategy and Research, the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS.
Identify theft is rampant and the sophistication level of professional identity thieves continues to grow, along with the methods they develop. From phising scams to hacking of corporate databases, there is an ever-increasing threat to online identities.
“It’s so easy for anyone to hide their identity online, or assume the identity of someone else,” says Sorensen. “It is imperative for individuals and companies to claim their name online in as many forms as possible, in order to prevent fraudulent use of your name. Or, from a more pragmatic approach, to prevent a rival company from claiming your domains and profiles.”
Claim personalized domains
Sorensen first advises individuals and companies to claim personalized domains. “Not only do you need to own yourcompany.com, but also other domain extensions, like yourcompany.net, .org, .tv, and more,” added Sorensen. “Owning these various domains will keep others from buying them up and hijacking your corporate brands. It will also have the benefit of allowing you to create microsites or informational sites about yourself and your company that can appear in the SERPs and push down more negative links.”
For individuals, Sorensen suggests securing firstnamelastname.com domain—if it isn’t already taken—and then consider buying other extensions as well. These domains can be used as blogs or as a hub for your identity online.
Register branded social profiles
Sorensen points out that social profiles tend to do very well for both company and individual name searches and can bump negative content out of the search results. However, more importantly, individuals want to protect their online reputation by making sure someone else doesn’t claim these profiles and use them for their own purposes.
In fact, just last year, a prankster registered the profile @MayorEmanuel on Twitter and commenced to tweet as if from behind the scenes of Chicago Mayor Rham Emanuel’s election campaign. The profile gained a number of followers who thought they were following the real Rham Emanuel, only to find out it was a hoax.
“Claim all your branded social media profiles immediately, so something similar doesn’t happen to you or your company. Using a website like http://www.knowem.com can simplify this process.” advises Sorensen.
Monitor your Wikipedia page
Although Wikipedia has in some instances been proven more accurate than the Encyclopedia Britannica, it’s still an online playground rife with fraud and misinformation. “If you don’t have a Wikipedia page for your company (or if you are famous enough to warrant a personal Wikipedia entry) go ahead and create one before anyone else has the chance to do it for you,” suggests Sorensen. “However, keep an eye on it. Because Wikipedia is an open community, any editor can change the information on your profile. If this happens, make sure you correct the information quickly and alert the Wikipedia editorial board if malicious acts are being perpetrated against your page by other users.”
Grab business listings
Sorensen then recommends claiming your company name on business listing websites and searching local and niche directories for instances of your business or personal name. Sorensen then suggests creating listings that reflect your actual information, pointing out that they can be great places to link to a company website, blog, or other web property and rank better in the SERPs.
Don’t forget variations
“Lastly, don’t forget about variations of your business or personal name,” comments Sorensen. “For example, if you are a car blogger, purchase domains like yournamecars.com or yournameautoparts.com. For social profiles, think about various ways you could be represented online, like “@MayorEmanuel,” so that you can avoid unnecessary confusion over fake profiles. It’s also a good idea to hold on to common misspellings of your personal or company name to avoid potential problems as well. You can even use those misspelled domains as redirects to your main site, so you can capture anyone who is looking for you online.”
Although there are many aspects to reputation management that will keep your SERPs looking good, companies and individuals can avoid potential disasters by claiming any and all instances of company or personal name online before anyone else does.
Mr. Sorensen has merged his 25 years of public relations and marketing experience with SEO expertise to improve and manage the online reputation of public and private companies and corporate executives. Sorensen’s complete post can be found here.
About Big Blue Robot
Founded in 2003, Big Blue Robot (BBR), http://www.bigbluerobot.com, helps corporations and high profile individuals improve their online reputations through search engine optimization of positive web content. BBR has developed state-of-the-art online reputation management strategies for companies doing business around the world, including Germany, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and France. Sorensen has been featured in The New York Times and other publications on the subject of reputation management and is now educating, individuals and corporation on defining and executing online reputation management strategies.
