Like this article? PLEASE +1 it!

Do you have Employee Policies to protect your online reputation?

Written by: Ezra Silverton

Article Overview: More likely than not, your employees frequent social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. etc. So does your company need to have a clear policy about the use of your company name and information within social networking websites?

Free Download - Do you have Employee Policies to protect your online reputation? By Ezra Silverton

Do you have Employee Policies to protect your online reputation?

More likely than not, your employees frequent social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. etc. So does your company need to have a clear policy about the use of your company name and information within social networking websites?

Potential for problem arises the moment one of your employees places your company name or website address within their social network profile. A basic scenario easily demonstrates the implications. Let's say your employee has updated their online social networking profile, indicating the name of the company they work for, maybe title and a link to your corporate website. They then go on to post photos from last weekend's bachelorette party. Soon after, a new prospect or current customer decides to do a bit of Internet research on your company name. Within the search engine results, below your corporate website, perhaps a few news articles, and other website business listings, there it is - your employee's profile, with a link to their wild party pics and a history of saucy comments. You can imagine the impression such a finding may have on your new prospect or current customer.

In much the same way that you implement client confidentiality and privileged information policies or corporate strategy security measures, you may want to consider instituting a policy against the posting of your company name, information or website address without approval.

Some of the most common search engine optimization (SEO) tactics involve adding links from other websites in order to help build an online authority. By referencing your company name in their postings, your employees are actually contributing to your website's SEO, and unfortunately also potentially jeopardizing your online reputation. Note that SEO is very different from online reputation management, so be sure your SEO service provider has proper experience in highlighting your positive reputation while optimizing your site.

Perhaps you've already discovered some potentially damaging search engine results connected to your company name. Advisably your first step should be to simply ask your employee to remove your company name from their social networking profile. If you don't have access to this employee or if the negative results aren't related to a social networking site, your best approach is to contact an online reputation management company. ORM professionals can guide you in mitigating the negative results and help to prevent reoccurrences. They can also assist you with setting up your company policies regarding the use of social networking.

Related Articles

Companies should establish clear policies for social networking sites

Why Human Resourses Protect

Plain English Guide to Employee Handbooks

Employee Disciplinary Action - Steps You Can Take To Protect Yourself and Your Nonprofit Organization

Do You Have a â€œReputation?â€

Home > SEO > Ezra Silverton > Do you have Employee Policies to protect your online reputation

Article Tags: bachelorette party, client confidentiality, corporate strategy, information policies, linkedin, network profile, networking profile, new prospect, online social networking, optimization seo, privileged information, proper experience, reputation management, search engine optimization, search engine results, security measures, seo service, social networking sites, website business, wild party pics

About the Author: Ezra Silverton
RSS for Ezra's articles - Visit Ezra's website

Assisting businesses become more efficient and profitable; Ezra Silverton works with small and multi-national companies making use of Internet marketing solutions to achieve client objectives. In 1997, he co-founded 9th sphere ( http://www.9thsphere.com ), now an award winning website solutions company in Toronto. Ezra has a degree in Business Commerce with a major in marketing, a Qualified Google Advertising Professional and a Yahoo Ambassador. He also writes articles around Canadian website best practices on 9th spheres blog at http://blog.9thsphere.com

Click here to visit Ezra's website