In June of this year we will celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday and all over the country people are cleaning up for the Queen by tackling the enormous problem of litter on our streets.
Local authorities are handing out free rubbish pack sacks, and already a huge number of MP’s, councils, businesses and schools are contributing to the big clean up. 5,828 volunteers registered, with 1,844 events happening over the country so far.
However, it isn’t just the issue of litter on the streets that is a problem – it is also extremely important to make sure you are clean and tidy online too. So what better time to evaluate your online presence and make sure you are putting across the right image?
Is Your Digital Reputation Messy?
Your digital reputation and online presence is extremely important nowadays, and it isn’t hard to make sure that everything looks spick and span! Why not take a look at what comes up when you search your name or business name through Google? Is the right information appearing? Are there any old addresses that you need to amend? It is very easy to forget each and every site where you have a presence so it is always useful to keep checking what is being said out there.
Monitor Your Online Presence
Monitoring your online presence is important so you have an opportunity to respond to anything that is incorrect, or reviews that you may have missed. There are a number of tools that can help you monitor, from Google Alerts, to Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. Be aware of what people are saying about you or your business and respond appropriately.
You can also use apps such as Warble Alerts or Nutshell Mail which give you all your notifications throughout your social media into your inbox at the end of the day. You can set up what you want to be notified about and these apps will inform you of everything that has been said about that subject – whether it is you or your business or something further afield.
There may be out of date products or services that are coming up on your search, or a phone number that is no longer in use, so please do change accordingly. It is extremely important as a business to remain transparent and accessible whichever online platform you are on, so please do make regular checks that the information that is coming up when people search for you is the right information.
If you have a location based business it is also important to make sure a map comes up when you are searched for. Make sure you audit your maps regularly and remove any old profiles and add more reviews as and when they come in. If you are on TripAdvisor, responding to your reviews is also important – especially if they are negative. Please see our blog on customer service for more information on handling negative feedback.
With regards to your social media channels it is important to have consistency throughout. Make sure your profile pictures are exactly how you want to be portrayed – whether it is a logo or a clear, in focus headshot of yourself. Your biography should say everything you want potential customers to know about you. Make it easy for them to understand who you are, what you do, and where else you can be found. Don’t assume that customers or potential clients make one certain journey to find you – you never know where you might pop up and that is why it is really important to remain accessible wherever you are.
Your social activity is a real reflection of your business, and so by being out of date on there will mean that customers get the wrong information and may cause issues down the line. Be in control of what others see – you can generate some great content to go out over your social media, and keep your followers really updated with what is new and exciting within your industry.
Say it How it is
It is vital that you project the right image throughout your social media and all your online platforms. Bear in mind the following:
Name
No nicknames, shortened or otherwise
Username
This is what people will see – make sure it reflects your business well. Use your full business name if possible (limited character numbers may limit this)
Profile Pic
Clear, in focus and well lit. Use just head and shoulders and not full length if it is of you. If you are using your logo make sure it fits the frame well and is consistent with all your other channels.
Link
Always link back to your website or blog, regardless of what channel you are using. Your potential clients and customers won’t have time to be clicking around searching for how else to find you.
Biography
Why should people follow you? Make it clear and concise and relevant. You have a couple of seconds in which people decide so how will you make them want to click?
Your interests & background
It is good to give a little of your story – what made you take this business route? How did you establish yourself and what else do you do that may be of interest? Remember people buy from people so it is nice to hear a little about the face behind the business.
Your privacy settings
On your private profile do make sure your settings are private. There may be things you don’t want potential business colleagues to discover!
By keeping all of your online presence consistent and relevant, and doing regular clean ups of your online profiles you will give the right impression to your customer wherever they may stumble upon you!