How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation in 2024?

First, Remove Negative Results

So, you have pointed out the negative results, and the red flags. Now is the time to remove or delete those negative results (if it’s possible).

It will be easy to delete the results that you have control such as the form of blogs, websites, or search profiles.

However, it’s going to be hard or in some cases impossible to delete the results that are not in your control.

In that case:

You Can Put a Request for Removal

If the negative content is ranking on the top or first page of search engines, it will damage your reputation badly.

To get them removed, one way is to ask the website owners who are hosting your negative content. Outreach them and be polite while doing so. Explain to them how the content they are hosting on their site is hurting them.

Remember that being rude won’t help or threaten to sue them. So, be calm and composed while making removal requests.

Further Reading: A No-Fluff Guide to Requesting Content Removal from Google

Get Help Legally

If request removal doesn’t work and negative content has put your life in a mess, it’s time to take some legal action.

Sometimes, sharing sensitive personal information about someone online is illegal. The advantage of this can be taken. Also, look for copyrighted content because that can be the ground of a legal scenario.

Online defamation case is also something that can be pursued against the publishing site. But make sure you are careful and have evidence and backing for all the claims.

Secondly, Push Down Negative Results

You know what? – deleting negative search results won’t work in every case. Matter of fact, deleting works very rarely. That being if you are lucky.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t fix your negative online reputation. If you can’t delete it, you can suppress it. Yes, suppression. But how? Suppression of negative search results works when positive content is created, promoted, and positioned on the search engines in such a way that it outranks the negative content.

It’s all about making the person a positive brand using techniques:

Own a Domain First

Doing this is very important. Having a personal website shows how authoritative your online personality is. It instills a sense of trust in the people who are searching for your name.

A personal website only costs a few dollars per year. On the website, you can showcase what you do, about your career, a little bit about your personal life, and share positive content related to yourself that can further help clean up your online reputation.

Be Authentic

Yes, be a real person. This is the first step to establishing a position of reputation online.

Everything related to you must be real, authentic, and as it is in real life. Real name, legitimate social info, a professional and clear photo showing your face.

Create a Blog on Your Website

It’s not that you have to become a writer or something. Instead, share some blogs on your website (from time to time) that would showcase your expertise, what you do, and what’s going on in your life.

Blog is something that is ever-trending and search engines prefer websites with blogs. The more you are active with blogging on your website, the more your website and blog content will be shown on the search engines.

Link All Your Positive Results to Your Content

Segregate all the content you’ve been publishing whether it’s on your website, your LinkedIn, your other social media platforms, etc., and link it with the positive results that you have.

The positive press releases, the news stories, the videos, and whatever else that’s positive out there, link them all with your content and social profiles.

Start a Community or Be Active in One

One of the most trending things in today’s internet space. Choose a niche related to your expertise, and what you do and start a community related to it.

Ask people to join the community online via your social media handles. The best way to take your online community to greater levels is to stay active in it every day, engage with the members, and share valuable stuff in it.

Your activity in the community is important as it signals the search engines and the internet web that you are a real and authentic person. Just make sure nothing negative or red-flaggish is thrown up.

If you aren’t interested in starting a community or don’t want to take the toll of managing it – just be an active member of anyone else’s community. Be active in it, share positive stuff and you are good to go.

Be Professional and Showcase Your Skills

Create a professional aura of yours online. Show that you are mature and intelligent. Add some professional videos and photos online.

YouTube, Behance, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc. Are some of the platforms that allow you to do so?

One important thing is that make sure there are no typos or grammar mistakes while you do all the stuff online.

Thirdly, Build a Strong Social Media Presence

Social media is the absolute essence of the internet. A person who’s regularly active on social media platforms reflects to be of a positive character and is given more weightage when it comes to job screenings.

In case you are looking to clean up your online reputation, having a good social media presence can be your biggest weapon. Here’s how you can use it:

Be Present on Social Platforms

You can’t ignore the social media aspect of the internet. No, no – not at all.

If you are a working professional, get on LinkedIn, get on Twitter, get on Facebook, and get on every good social media platform out there.

Doing this will help you create a personal brand of yours. Doing this will allow you to connect with other professionals online. Doing this, ultimately, will allow you to share positive content related to yourself that will eventually suppress anything negative that is related to you on the internet.

LinkedIn is Effective – Use it Correctly

Don’t just create your profile on LinkedIn and leave it as it is. Update it instead – add as much information as you can to it.

Connect with as many people as you can, like their posts, comment naturally, and engage with people on the platform.

One of the most underrated things on LinkedIn is recommendations. Recommendations are showcased on every person’s profile and if you ask for recommendations and get some positive ones, then that’s some positive content related to you online.

Be Careful with What You Share on Social Media

One of the best advice for people who are new to social media. Think, think twice, think thrice before you post anything on social media.

We get it – you want to clean your reputation and you are positing as much positive as you can but there must be some capping, and there must be some caution that should be practiced.

No vulgar comments, no embarrassing posts, or no illegal info – and most importantly no negative comments even if anyone is provoking you to do so.

Once your goal of reputation clean-up has been achieved, put on the post filters to prevent engaging in negative social media stuff.

Do Not Connect with Anyone Randomly

Always think before connecting with anyone online. People are going to send you requests and will want to connect even if they don’t know you. But you don’t have to do the same.

Before accepting any request, make sure to research who the person in question is, and what their online presence, good. bad? Are they going to influence your presence negatively?

Only after some initial assessment, accept any connection request.

Be as Active as You Can on Social Media

Don’t sign up and show up after months. You’ve got to stay active on the social media platforms daily. If you can’t do it daily, do it on alternate days.

Search engines prefer showing up profiles of people on the SERPs who are active unless your social media handles won’t show up on the top of search results if you are not active.