Enterprise Nation

In the latest edition of his Homeworking 2.0 series, San Sharma is keeping a watchful eye on the web and monitoring his online reputation from his home office.

Reputation management and your home business

In recent years, Google has become more than a search engine. It's become a verb. We 'Google' the people we meet at networking events, we 'Google' the competition, we even 'Google' potential dates, a practice made famous by an episode of Sex and the City.

But a quick Google search of your own name - or the name of your home business - is more than just an ego massage. It's one way to check your online reputation. With websites springing up trashing bad dates and bad businesses, you might want to keep an eye on the web and monitor your online reputation.

How to monitor your home business's online reputation

One of the easiest ways to track what Google knows about you and your home business is to subscribe to Google Alerts. Give it a search keyword or phrase, like your name or the name of your home business, and Google will email you as soon as its mentioned on the web and tracked by Google.

If you're a blogger, Technorati tracks the 'blogosphere' for any mention of you, your home business or your blog. And a new service called co.mments tracks blog comments so you can follow ongoing conversations about you or your home business.

How to control your home business message

Once you start to monitor the things people say about you and your home business on the web, you might spot some inaccuracies and misquoted statements. The best way to control your message and that of your home business is to keep a blog. The easiest way to do so is to set up a free blog with Google's own Blogger.

Address inaccuracies by keeping on message, use the keywords and phrases you think potential customers will use to find your home business and update your blog regularly. Google loves fresh content. The more you write, the closer to the top your blog - and your home business message - will appear in search results.

Social media websites, like Flickr, YouTube and Facebook, offer new ways to control your message, increase your search engine visibility and participate in rich communities.

Here are some tips to make the most out social media websites:

• Flickr: Use your name or the name of your home business in the title and descriptions of your photographs. You can even link to your website or blog in descriptions and comments. And don't forget to make the most of tags!
• YouTube: A popular video can mean excellent exposure on video sharing website, YouTube. Carefully word your titles and descriptions as popular videos rank high in search results.
• Facebook: In order to make your Facebook profile appear in Google search results you need to change your privacy settings.

Use your online reputation to grow your home business

These are just some ways in which you can manage and control your online reputation. But the web is all about interconnectedness, so one of the best ways to enrich your online reputation and grow your home business is to get involved in the community.

Make links with others in your field, offer to write a guest post on a complementary blog or website and participate in online communities and forums (Enterprise Nation forums are a good place to start!).

Have you got your own ways of managing and controlling your online reputation? Do you worry about the information that is available about you and your home business on the web? Join the conversation in the comments below. – San Sharma