Increasing Your Internet Presence: Do You Exist?

Do you exist in the ether of the internet? Having a presence in the internet environment is particularly important especially in light of today’s highly competitive job market. Having an internet presence means you can be found in a search, and being able to be found in a search gives you a certain amount of credibility over someone who does not have an internet presence.

When you put your name into a search engine can you be found? If the answer to that question is “No” be ready as the information that follows will forever change that answer to “Yes.”

Today, many human resource department’s search the internet for profiles, photos and other information, good or bad, to learn about and judge prospective new employees.

So it is especially important to think about what you post as your current job or future job search could be affected accordingly. I’m sure most of us have heard of someone in the news who lost their job as a result of some unflattering information or pictures showing up on the net. So think about your internet presence as your internet resume. You wouldn’t put unflattering information about yourself on your resume, don’t put unflattering information about yourself out on the internet!

With that in mind, let’s look first at what I call “Safety Tips” before moving on to increasing your internet presence.

Probably the most important thing you should know, if you don’t already, is never to post any information about yourself you don’t want the whole world to know; only post information that you are comfortable with others seeing and knowing. Never post your social security number, bank account or credit card numbers anywhere in a public internet area unless you want your identity stolen. If you have any suspicions, feel threatened or uncomfortable because of something online, report it to the police or the F.B.I. immediately.

Remember, once you post information online, you can't take it back. Even if you delete the information, older versions exist out there somewhere either on a server or on someone else’s computer.

Seriously, in my own very narrow, biased and warped opinion, I recommend not even considering posting your photo. You have no idea how it can be altered. Your face could be photoshopped onto someone else’s body in an unflattering position or setting, or posted in a way you may not be happy about and have no control over. And, if you are like me, dynamic and charismatic in person but look hideous in print, people may judge you by your photo and you could lose out to an interview or a job simply because someone doesn’t like the way you look.

Also, many companies are doing internet searches to supplement their background checks and declining candidates based on what they find, and what they are finding is quite revealing. Like candidates lying about their qualifications, undisclosed criminal behavior, posting unflattering gossip about a former employer, boasting about drinking and doing drugs, revealing confidential information compromising a previous employer’s competitive edge, provocative photographs, and even unprofessional screen names that reveal personal weekend preferences that are better left behind locked doors.

So, let’s try and define an internet presence. I define having an internet presence as when YOU can be found in a search. So, how do you do this? You can do it in several ways and my favorites are; listing yourself on networking sites, becoming an internet author, creating a personal website, and journaling a Blog.

You can start by listing yourself on networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace. There are other sites available out there, but these are the most popular. LinkedIn positions itself as a network for professionals of any age. You can post your resume, link up with past and present colleagues and associates, and probably not find any drunken party pictures.

Facebook, positioned more as a social network for professionals, typically attracts the over 30 crowd. Here you can also post a resume and link up with past and present colleagues and associates. My research on this topic indicated that you might find some drunken party pictures here.

MySpace on the other hand, is arguably the most popular social networking site on the net and is primarily aimed at people under 30. It has a wide following and is used by individuals and groups who want to widen their appeal as well as others with unique talents who want broad exposure. With a wink and a nudge I say this site is also a resource if you are looking for pictures of young people having a great time. But like I stated earlier, human resource departments search the internet for profiles, photos and other information to learn about and judge prospective new employees. So it is especially important to think about what you post as your current job or future job search could be affected accordingly. Remember, once you post information online, you can't take it back. One of my fears is many of today’s young people will come to regret in their later years what they have posted in their younger years.

Next, let’s take a look at becoming an internet author. In my opinion, this is one of the most important activities you can undertake to increase your internet presence. By publishing what are called “authority documents” you set up and establish yourself as an expert on your topic or subject and you become a so called “SME” or subject matter expert.

The easy part of becoming an internet author is that there are so many free internet publishing sites to choose from where you can publish your article. Just do a search with the keywords Free internet publishing and you will be presented with a cornucopia of sites eagerly awaiting your work. You will find these sites are writer friendly, easy to use, and your published articles show up in search engines a few days after acceptance and publication. Keep you eyes open, as I do when reading internet content. You will find additional publishing sites that you may not have been aware of were you could publish your work.

So how do you go about doing this? I do it this way:

Pick a topic you know something about. Research the topic on the web, in the news and at your local library. Write a draft of the article and spell check it. Then read it. Rewrite the article and spell check. Read the article again. Rewrite the article and spell check it again doing this as many times as you feel necessary until you get the article to flow just the way you want it. Then publish the article.

My advice to would-be writers is to follow the steps listed above. Unless you are a master writer, your first attempt at any article should always be viewed as the first of several drafts. The last thing you want to happen to your fledgling internet authoring career is to be banned from a free publishing site for the poor quality of the writing.

Creating a personal website is also another great way to increase your internet presence. As suggested above in internet publishing, do a search with the keywords Free web hosting and you will be presented with many free web hosting sites. In the beginning days of the Internet, one needed to be schooled in the likes of HTML, a computer code designed to have your site show up a certain way. Today, free web hosted sites are extremely easy to set up; select your format, point, click, write, paste and create a very professional site that shows up in search engines a few days after its creation.

You can also increase your sites’ searchability by submitting it to the major search engine crawlers. Go to the sites’ Site Explorer page and enter your web page URL into the appropriate box. This will tell the search engine that your site is out there and available for others to search rather than waiting for web crawlers to stumble upon it.

You can also increase your Internet presence by creating and journaling a Blog. It has been estimated that over 1.6 million blog posts are created everyday and I have read that search engines find Blogs very easily. With that in mind, one could surmise that journaling a Blog is a very good way to increase your internet presence.

Let’s start by defining a Blog. A Blog is a noun which is short for Web log; a web page that serves as a publicly accessible, personal online journal were readers have the ability to leave comments in an interactive format.

Typically, Blogs are updated daily and may even be updated almost immediately depending on the site. People who Blog write in a conversational manner, and the posts are usually listed in a chronological order with the most recent additions first. If you are familiar with posting on Internet Forums, you will be right at home in a Blog.

You’ll find, like creating your personal web site, a Blog is also very easy to create. Again, search with the keywords Free Blog hosting and you will be presented with many free Blog hosting sites which are easy to set up. Just as in setting up your personal web site, you just select your format, point, click, write, paste and create a very professional Blog that will show up in search engines a few days after its creation.

Next, link all of your sites and articles together. The one most important attribute to increasing your internet presence is to make sure your name is in everything you post. Now link your networking sites, articles, web site and Blog together by including the URL’s from each one in all of your other sites and articles. This way, as people read your article, they just have to click on the links to go to your other postings. The idea is that whenever someone puts your name into a search engine, everything that you have out there comes back with your name. Now that is Internet presence!

So, be careful of what you post and how you say it. Now go out there and post, post, post.