Do You Know Who Is Talking about You and What They Are Saying?

Hint: You should know!

3 minute reading time

Information about your business or organization shows up all over the internet. Have you looked to see that your prospective clients are getting the right message?

One way to know when people are talking about you is to set up a Google Alert for your name, both that of the business and your own as well. You’ll be notified by email when you are mentioned on a website or blog post. This is especially useful to follow the reach of a press release or catch the buzz about a product or event you are promoting.

While Google Alerts will notify you when they notice something new, you should also be monitoring your social media to know when something about you has been mentioned, tagged, or forwarded. If you have your own hashtags, check those as well. 

“Social” media is intended to be more than a broadcast. Use these notifications to connect with people. Answer questions, express your gratitude, and diffuse any negative comments as soon as possible. 

You might be surprised to know how many places your organization is listed in a directory of some sort. There are literally dozens of places that post your information. Some listings you no doubt created on purpose, like the directory of the chamber of commerce you joined. But others are automatically generated from online sources without your input and may contain outdated or downright wrong information. 

It hurts your website’s SEO – and confuses your clients – when your directory listings aren’t consistent. Start by getting control over each listing so you can correct any mistakes. Then build up the listing with your logo, photos, and additional information to appeal to prospective customers. 

The top search engines are all about personalized experience, so making the most of your local citations is key. You should start with claiming your business listings on Google My Business and Bing Places for Business, but there are many other online directories that list your business as well. 

Our team at Sprocket Websites can run a report for you that shows all the directories where you are listed and any discrepancies and missing information. We can even clean up your listings so that you are presenting a consistent image across all of the internet and monitor your citations going forward. Just give us a call and we’ll get you started. 

This article is an update to “Managing your Online Reputation” dated 9/30/2013. 

Photo by Keira Burton from Pexels

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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