As social media becomes more popular and search engines like Google and Bing count on social media as a ranking factor, managing your online reputation is more important than ever.

Universal search results on Google and Bing include news, status updates, tweets, videos and lets not forget about websites and local listings. The fact of the matter is the information you put out in the web about your self and your company is public. There is a high chance that this information will be shown in search engine results when a potential customer searches for your name or business.

There are a few steps you can take to make sure you keep your name and your company’s name out of the gutter. Here is how:

Be Careful What You Share On Social Media:

When updating your status on Facebook or tweeting something, make sure it is in good taste. If it is something personal you would not want your mother to see or a potential customer to know, don’t share it. You must also be careful of using location based services like Four-Square. Checking in at strip clubs or other shady businesses can reflect on you negatively.

If you can avoid cursing or updating your status while drunk, we advise you to do so.

Monitor Your Feedback On Social Sites

Monitoring your feedback on sites like Yelp, Angies List and other review based sites can provide you with great benefit. These types of sites offer a direct line of communication with both satisfied and dissatisfied customers. You have the ability to turn a positive review of your business into a champion and a negative review into understanding the users poor experience and making it up to them. This is an area where good customer service can go an extreme long way.

One easy step is to open up a search on your twitter client for your company name, this will allow you to monitor all tweets and updates regarding your company, both positive and negative.

Create Content:

Potential customers, hiring managers or just curios people will Google your name or your businesses name when they want more information. If there is negative feedback in the top three spots on Google or Bing, it could lead to the potential customer not to contact you.

By creating additional content such as a blog or social media profiles you can occupy multiple spots on search engine results pages. This can lead to less spots taken up on the front page by negative results. You can also put out press releases to take up space in the news section and create interactive videos as well.

These three steps can help you monitor and manage your online reputation, but overall it is important to have a out reaching customer service program that can help put out potential fires. Make sure to listen to what people are saying about you and your company because once the info is out there, it is not going away.