Should I Respond To Negative Things About Me Online?

Should I Respond To Negative Things About Me Online?

It can be very tempting to want to defend yourself online when people are saying negative things about you. However, deciding to fight back against comments can only increase the negative effects. First, it gives people who are trying to harm your reputation, your job prospects and your relationships fuel to keep the fire going. If you don't respond, they have no reason to continue to make negative posts. Second, your defenses actually wind up making things worse by keeping the pages active and raising them in results from search engines.

You can't just ignore it.

While responding personally is a bad idea, ignoring negative things written about you on the internet can be just as bad. Negative search engine results can hold you back in your career and keep you from getting good jobs in the first place. Negative things posted online now can cost you tens of thousands of dollars of future income. If you find yourself wondering "what will this do to my future? Will my company fire me or pass me over for promotions?" you need to deal with the damaging things said about you online.

Instead, leave it to the professionals.

If someone is publicizing your arrest record, jail photos or other damaging information, the best path may be to seek out reputation management services. These services can negotiate with mug shot sites to remove your pictures and stack Google results with positive mentions of your name to drive down the negative ones.

Look for a company that will give you a free analysis of your search engine results. The no-cost evaluation will allow you to tell whether reputation management will be helpful and whether it is worth the cost for you. Remember that the cheapest service may not be the best value. Many companies use proprietary software to get the best results. Seek out one that refunds your money if they do not provide the desired results.

If you are considered reputation management online, get started now. It takes time to see results, so, the sooner you start, the sooner you will see an improvement.