Type your name into a search engine, and what do you find? Is it good? Bad? Are there links to shady people with your name who might be confused with you? These days, your online reputation matters.
Employers, financial partners, and even friends would almost be remiss if they didn’t avail themselves of the opportunity to find out about you by searching for your name online. How can you be sure that what they find won’t end up causing you problems? Read on for some tips.
Q: When I type my name into a search engine, some unsavory information about other people with the same name appears. I don’t want people to confuse them with me. What can I do?
A: When it comes to removing information about other people who might be mistaken for you, your options are limited. You cannot, after all, approach Web sites and ask that pages containing information about others be altered or deleted because those pages might reflect badly on you. You can, however, create your own web presence — through a home page or blog, for example — so that the information you want to be known about you is available.
Blogs tend to get indexed particularly well, so look at setting up a WordPress or Blogger blog. Or create your own site and post your professional credentials. That way, at least, you’ll have a fighting chance of appearing on the list of search results when someone types your name into Google or another search engine.
Q: Some information about me appears on the Internet, and I wish it didn’t. How can I get it removed?
A: If the information is located on sites you have some control over — including social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter — exercise the control and either shut down public access to…