What is a Digital Footprint?

The Rise of the Blogosphere and social media raises a number of questions in regards to our own Self Preservation and that of the Business Owner, As a Social Media Specialist who has been actively using Social Media since 2005, I would love to share my thoughts on both with you.

Lets start with the Self…. Social Media has become extremely popular as a tool for communication, now whether you agree or not, is really irrelevant, only because of the mass numbers of people using these networks:

If Facebook were a Country it would be the Third largest in the world and currently has over 900 million active users…

The Question is about our Self Preservation on these networks, when posting information about ourselves, family, thoughts others, work, we are creating a digital footprint; this digital footprint will be with us forever, Your Digital footprint might not mean that much to you now, but it really should, this footprint refers to your reputation online and your visibility when anyone is doing a search on you. Your online visibility is endless, your summer You tube holiday videos, your article about the graduation, your party pictures and then there are those selfies…..

Tell me that you have Never Googled someone’s name…. Your prospective employer has…

So becoming aware of our own self preservation online is crucial, and as Adults I believe we need to educate our young ones about the impact of their online reputation not now but in the future.

Ok… So what about Business I hear you asking… well I believe the preservation is similar.. however maybe a little more complex.

1. Regardless of what type of business your operate, its size, its niche, whether its online or bricks and mortar, People are searching for you and your business online.

85% of Google searches are from mobiles looking for a local business to deal with, this means that they are looking for your business, and if you are not visible in the online world… Well….. they are going to be walking straight pass your door into the competitions.

I know that you need to have a social presence in order to send out what we call Social signals to Google, this puts your business higher in the organic search engines… and will help… its not going to rank you on page one of Google, yet… but if you implement a few techniques it will definitely assist in getting the phone to be ringing.

2. The second point to consider is the online reputation management, Do you know what your customers are saying about your business?

90% of business owners don’t… I do… I have Googled many businesses in Cairns and those that are involved in the Tourist industry and there are some really bad reviews out there online.

So it is important for the Business owner today to have an online presence and to management their online reputation, this my friends is your Business that you have spent many years, tears and sweat to create, why allow one not so happy customer give you a bad review.

For more information on online management please feel free to contact me, even if Social Media is not your thing, at least have a system in place to showcase how great your business is and monitor those reviews. Feel free to connect with me at the next Social Buzz Training event on 28^th July 2014 . Tickets do sell out fast. Leanne.peard@me.com

Alternatively you can access our online

Social Media Training Here .