{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog","author_name":"Alexandra Gavril","author_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/author\/alexandra\/","title":"Amazing ways Googling yourself can help your business | 123 Reg Blog","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"wRmz86iJXv\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/search-engines\/ways-googling-can-help-business\/\">Amazing ways Googling yourself can help your business<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/search-engines\/ways-googling-can-help-business\/embed\/#?secret=wRmz86iJXv\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Amazing ways Googling yourself can help your business&#8221; &#8212; 123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice\" data-secret=\"wRmz86iJXv\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Untitled-1.png","thumbnail_width":100,"thumbnail_height":100,"description":"Googling yourself regularly may sound a bit self-centred but it\u2019s all part of building your brand, and you need to know what customers are saying about you. This will help make sure people get a positive impression when they search for your name or that of your business. By Googling yourself, you can see if your online presence is an accurate representation of your brand and what it stands for. . If you choose not to keep track of what customers and competitors are saying about you and your products or services, you risk turning a blind eye to negative reviews or concerns that could put a big dent in the reputation of your online business. So here are a few simple ways you can use Google to find out what\u2019s being said about you and your business. Run a search on Google First, you need to make sure you\u2019re getting the same results other people will see. When you\u2019re logged in to your Google account, the search engine provides results that are partially based on your location and search history. In order to get results that aren\u2019t influenced in this manner, you need to logout of your Google account. Next, run a search for your brand name. But don\u2019t stop there \u2013 go even further by using different search terms like: \u201cBrand name\u201d (with and without quotation marks) Brand name + city\/county Brand name + industry \u2026 and any other combinations you can think of. Ideally, the results page will include your site as the first result, then your social profiles and then some mentions on review sites, or blogs. That\u2019s what you want to see. Set up Google Alerts Of course no one has the time to run a Google search every day, and you don\u2019t need to when there\u2019s this awesome tool called Google Alerts. No matter what business you\u2019re in, you need to set up Google Alerts for your brand name \u2013 it only takes a few seconds. So, go to Google Alerts, create a search query for your company name and decide how you want results delivered. You can filter results to include only certain forms of media, such as blogs, news or video, and you can have results sent to your email address or feed reader. You can also choose how often you\u2019d like to receive alerts \u2013 as-it-happens, once a day or once a week. Google Suggest Google Suggest is another useful tool that allows you to see how people search for your brand online. So, when you search for your company name, Google will show you suggestions based on how people search for you in Google. As you can see, people are searching for the 123-reg webmail, email settings and login. What you don\u2019t want to see is \u201cyour company name scam\u201d or anything like that. All these tools ultimately help you to: See what your customers get when they look for you online. Find out\u00a0if there\u2019s any information that is incomplete, outdated or inaccurate that needs to be fixed Find out what former or current customers, partners, competitors and everyone else are saying about your brand. Things you can do to improve your online reputation on Google You\u2019ve seen how you can get this information, now here is what you can do with it: 1. Claim your Google Business Page (formerly called Google Places) Make sure you have a Google Business Page that includes all the important information about your business like its address, phone number, hours of operation, photos and anything else that is representative of your business. Also, if after you\u2019ve performed a search on Google you found local directories listing your business, make sure the information they show is correct. If it isn\u2019t, then contact the webmasters and ask them to update it. 2. Correct or remove inaccurate information If you happen to find any information that\u2019s inaccurate or plain wrong, for example a review of one of your products that mentions it doesn\u2019t have a certain feature although it does or an illegal copy of your tool available for anyone to download for free, you can first try contacting the site\u2019s webmaster and asking him to correct or remove the content. If there aren\u2019t any contact details or if the webmaster doesn\u2019t reply or isn\u2019t willing to update or completely remove the information for some reason, you can try asking Google to remove it. 3. Get your own domain Having your own website allows you to better control the content that appears when people search for your business online. Whether it\u2019s a .com, a short and sweet new .uk that we\u2019ve just launched on 123-reg or a catchy and relevant new gTLD, make sure your own content shows up in the top results, and then everyone else\u2019s. 4. Don\u2019t ignore negative feedback but use it to improve your products and services If you happen to get a Google alert notification where a customer mentions your company name, complaining about your products, services or customer support, don\u2019t ignore it. Go to the source, reply to that customer and then use the feedback to improve your products and services. Feedback from customers is always valuable, whether it\u2019s positive or negative as it shows you what you\u2019re doing right and what needs a little more work. So, listen to everything your customers have to say about your business and fix any issues you may have. This not only shows that you listen and value their feedback but also that you\u2019re willing to do everything in your power to provide a product or a service that matches their needs. In conclusion, it\u2019s just plain irresponsible to be passive when it comes to your brand. You put in so much time into building your reputation and growing your business online that it would be a pity to not have some control over what your audience sees when they\u2019re looking you up on Google. How about you? Got any great tips on"}