Hey there Socialnomics’ers
In my work as a career consultant I’m often asked to take a look at clients digital footprints and try to explain what they’re doing wrong.
The first thing to understand is that EVERYONE Googles you.
Most people aren’t going to Google 5 pages deep but you can be sure that if something comes up on the first 2 pages your potential employer or clients will see it.
There are two major problems when it comes to your digital footprint.
1. Red Flags – Red flags are things that suggest you are not the type of person a client or employer wants to work with. These include but are not limited to twitter or Facebook rants(My personal red flag), inappropriate pictures, mentions of drug or alcohol use, threats or aggressive bullying behavior towards others (even as “jokes”) and much much more.
2. Incompletes – When you start filling out a profile but forget to finish it or start a blog and update it a few times then forget it, I call your digital footprint incomplete.
Let’s talk about how to deal with both of these different kinds of digital footprint problems.
Get Rid Of Red Flags
With red flags you want to delete, delete, delete. If you, like me, love ranting on Facebook or Twitter, make sure that you make your feeds private and turn off screenshot captures. Before you send out a resume or make a client presentation, Google yourself a few different ways.
Since I have a very common name, I make sure to Google my name along with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and any other social media I use. I also Google my name with my career title, to see what that turns up.
Deleting red flags is easy but that’s only one half of the battle. The next part of red flags is making sure you don’t create new ones! Chances are if you have a few red flags now, you will create more later. If you’re like me ,this means you need to exercise personal judgement on your public accounts and then create a fake name for your private accounts this way even if someone does find my tweets they will be under Rashard Lannister instead of your real name.
Make Incompletes Complete
The last step of fixing your digital footprint is to fix all your incomplete information.
Add your place of employment or any other missing information to Facebook.
Update your blog 3 times a week if you’re going to keep it or delete it entirely. A blog that doesn’t get updated is way way worse than not having a blog to being with.
Add clear pictures of yourself to all of your public feeds.
Fix any broken links on your website ESPECIALLY if they lead to your blog or bio or anything a potential employer or client will want to check out.
Eliminate anything that says coming soon or under construction on your website(s)
Lastly and this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, make your contact information easy to find! If you have one of those contact forms get rid of it, serious people know that you don’t respond to those and it makes you look unprofessional. Have your email address, phone number and all relevant social media information easily locatable on the main page of your site. This alone will get you more business and interviews.
Ok let’s re-cap in today’s article I talked to you about how your digital footprint could be hurting you.
We looked at red flags and incompletes, understanding that you need to delete and control red flags and complete the incomplete information.
Now you know everything you need to fix your digital footprint so that everyone can see how great you truly are!
Best,
Jon Lee
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1H3QvoF via local SEO company
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