If your company is serious about marketing, odds are you are already heavily involved in the social media aspect of it. We here at Point & Click have a put together a few tips from the experts on how to protect your online reputation to make sure that people not only find you, they also find the best version of your company possible. The main key is to be proactive, make sure that your content is optimized for your company and consistently monitor your companies search results.

Tip – Spread Yourself Out.

Use as many social media sites as you can, especially highly recognized sites such as Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This will help Google recognize you as an established, trustworthy company, which will rank you higher.  There is no way to stop negative reviews from happening, but there is a way to make sure people see the positive first. Keep in mind to be realistic with your expectations. There is virtually no way to own all of Google’s first page, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Tip – Use your companies name to optimize your website.

This shows Google that you are the ultimate authority in your company and will help get you those first page results you are looking for. Put your company name wherever possible, both behind the scenes and in the content directly. If you are torn between writing your content in first person and third, know that Google will like you more if you write in the third person and you want Google to like you. Also put it in the HTML title tag and your URL if you can, especially on the pages that are directly about your company.

Tip –  Monitor your search results.

Do you ever Google your name just for fun to see what pops up? Well do that with your company name at least one a month and don’t just look through the first page and call it good. Really dig deep, go a few pages back and look for any negative content. Track what you find, so you can address it. When you do find negative feedback, immediately contact the author of it. Ask if there is anything you can do to change their bad opinion. If that is not possible, respond by leaving a comment, explaining your side of the story and what you are doing to remedy the bad feedback.

Tip – Wikipedia ranks high, pay attention to it.

There is nothing you can do to directly change your Wikipedia entries, the company considers that a conflict of interest, but you can contact he Wiki community to fix any incorrect or negative information.

Lastly make sure to keep your expectations realistic.Don’t expect to see a miracle overnight, but if you are proactive and keep your social media presence lively you will see a difference.