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by
Erin Steiner
 Once
upon a time you could control, for the most part, what people knew about
you.
And
then the Internet got invented and all that went out the window. Yes. It
really does suck.
The last thing you want is for a potential customer to choose to do
business elsewhere because a Google search of your name turned up a video
of you (that someone else has posted without your knowing about it) doing
body shots at a friend’s bachelorette party. Or, worse, admitting that
though you do not have children of your own, you can’t get enough of the
VeggieTales videos.
Here’s the good news: Now there are things that you can do to take back
some of the control over what gets posted about you online. This is called
reputation management, and of course there’s an app for that. There are
lots of apps for that. Here are five of the best.
Secure.Me
Secure.Me is a great application for gauging how things sit for you
currently. The focus of Secure.Me is primarily privacy issues. It will let
you know if your actions online (and those of your friends and contacts)
make you easy to stalk. This is one of the best apps to use when you need
to get “the big picture” or some ideas of quick and easy things you can do
to improve your online reputation.
WhosTalkin
Whos Talkin (http://whostalkin.com/)
is free and Web-based. You just put whatever you want to search for in the
field and bingo! It is a great gauge for what people are saying about you
and when they are saying it. Beware, though, if you are active on social
media because scrolling through the results you get are going to take
forever.
Me on the Web
Me on the Web, offered through Google Dashboard, is one of the best tools
out there for monitoring the entire Internet for your name, your brand,
and even the keywords that matter most to you. It also helps you figure
out how to deal with third-party apps that might be posting your
information without your permission.
Reputation.com
Reputation.com is definitely one of the leaders in the field of online
reputation management, so no list would be complete without them. They
have a Web-based app that you can use to monitor your reputation online
for free. Just type in what you want to monitor and viola! You’re on your
way!
Trackur
Trackur offers a free option to help you get started with the service, but
for the most part, the good stuff is saved for people who are going to pay
for monitoring. It’s great if you’re established and can afford such
things, but if you’re just starting out, you might want to stick with the
“all the time” free tools mentioned above.
Making sure that what is posted about you is accurate (and hopefully
positive) is really important! The last thing you want is to be caught
unaware or, worse, to think you’ve got a great reputation only to find out
months too late that someone has been working to trash what you’ve worked
so hard to build.
Erin
Steiner is a full-time freelance writer who
writes
about a variety of topics.
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