Managing your Law Firm’s Online Reputation
One of the greatest things about Web 2.0 technology is its accessibility – the ease with which someone with little technical knowledge can set up a social networking profile or blog and start sharing information and interacting with a worldwide or local community, depending on their preference. With this ease comes a problem, though, which is why it’s important to preserve your professional integrity with online reputation management.
What is Reputation Management?
Online reputation management, or ORM, is the practice of monitoring your online presence. There are many avenues that anonymous and identified users can utilize to provide information about you and your firm, or you on a personal basis, to the internet community.
Websites that review businesses and rank individuals are one area you should keep an eye on. Although everyone is entitled to have an opinion about you or your work, someone posting untrue or slanderous comments online can have a negative impact on your status. You may also be able to gain valuable insight into what your clients are happy or unhappy about regarding the services your practice is providing via review-style sites.
Guarding Against Social Media Identity Theft
As mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog, it’s easy to set up a social media persona. It’s also easy to impersonate someone else if you are so inclined; and many social media sites do not check the identity of their users or regulate this aspect of their communities. Basically, users are on the honor system as far as their identity is concerned, and you are at the mercy of the site administrators if someone happens to steal your good name.
Luckily, there are a few great services out there that your marketing guru can utilize to safeguard your reputation online. One site charges a one-off fee to register your chosen name on over 120 popular social media sites. Whether or not you choose to make use of the accounts is up to you, but you’ve taken a great step towards preventing others from impersonating you online and damaging your status.
There are many other services available to help protect you and your firm’s interests in the world of Web 2.0 and social media. Some offer to establish one login ID for all of your accounts and others offer identity verification for your logins. You can also be proactive on the review/ranking front and sign up for a site that allows you to invite clients to provide reviews and feedback about your firm.
