How to Create a Powerful Online Reputation

What Is a Powerful Online Reputation?

According to NAR's Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, when asked what the deciding factor was in choosing their real estate professional, home sellers prioritized the agent's reputation over other factors.

As defined by Merriam Webster, reputation is your "overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general" and the "recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability," such as being clever or good at problem-solving.

In today's world, the impression of your reputation often begins online. Even with personal, word-of-mouth referrals, people are likely to hear good things about you and then go online to validate that impression.

So you have to ask yourself: What are the qualities I want to be recognized for and how do I make that part of the impression I give online?

Google Yourself

To begin taking control of your online reputation, you must first understand what impression is already conveyed about you. And the only way to do that is to search for yourself!

In an incognito browser window, open up Google and type in your name and "real estate." As you scan through the results, consider the following questions:

• If a prospect searched for me, what kinds of questions would come into their mind as they viewed these search results?
• Would they think I am competent?
• Would they think they could trust me?
• What kind of impression would they have based on what they see?
• Would they think I stand out from other agents they may know or have heard of?

If you don't like what you see, that's okay! Just follow our "Formula for Online Reputation Enhancement," described below.

Formula for Online Reputation Enhancement (FORE)

In the FORE, you will create objectives to proactively improve each of the components of your online reputation. These components include:

• Websites (yours and other sites that reference you)
• Social Media (yours and your engagement with others online)
• Online Reviews (Positive and your response to negative ones)

To create a powerful online presence, you will need to do the following activities to enhance each of these components.

Updating Your Bio

As you can see, the first component of FORE is to update your bio. Check out expert Jim Pruitt's bio-writing process below.

When Jim writes bios for his clients' websites, he has several items he makes sure to include. Check out the video above for the full list.

Following Jim's checklist will yield a long bio. This is something that you would put on your website under an "About Me" section. You'll then use a shortened version of this bio on your social media profiles and other web properties.

Videos on Google Search Results

Properly named YouTube videos will trigger Google to display them as relevant search results when someone looks for you online.

Make sure your videos have descriptive titles and include your name and location in the description for each one. On your channel description itself, use a hefty segment of your updated bio.

Check out the Paperless Agent's Channel for an example.

Consistency

Remember, consistency is key. If you're currently sharing the first page of search results with someone else who has your name, don't worry. Organized and consistent effort following the FORE checklist will soon win you that top spot.

To view the original article, visit the Paperless Agent blog.