The advancing technology gives us access to potentially everything online. This makes our lives easier but complicated as well. This is especially true for those who have social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. The information that is released online is visible to the public. As an example, try searching for your name or your company’s name and the search engine will give you a list of information about you or your company. Because of this, it is difficult to control the kind of information you want the public to know. There are information such as your professional history or past medical information that might damage your name or your company’s name. This is where reputation management comes in.

Reputation management gives you maximum control of what others view about you online. Whether it is important information or your darkest secret, you will have the opportunity to control what information is released online. Managing ones reputation is important as this helps you or your company especially for those of have incurred a negative reputation that could potentially damage your future or your company’s future. Clients who are into search engine marketing are usually one of the biggest clients of reputation managing firms. To make sure that their good reputation is maintained, they usually pay a monthly fee for it. They ask for their help in burying the negative search results and promoting the positive content that emphasizes the client’s desired image.

There are two sides in handling ones reputation. These are the white hat firms and the black hat firms. Both differ in how they handle the situation. The white hat firms do things in a legal way by using marketing techniques that do not violate any laws or rules while the black hat firms have people who break rules and sometimes the law. Be careful, you do not want to do any black hat marketing as it may damage your relationship with Google. The rate, however, depends on how damaged the client’s reputation is, the amount of daily work that is needed to bury the negative news or articles, and how much money the client is willing to spend. As an example, the highest paying clients are celebrities, lawyers, and plastic surgeons.