How to audit your Digital Footprint in 3 easy steps

Our?previous article?discussed what a digital footprint is and why you should care about it. In this one, we'll be looking at how to audit your digital footprint to help you maintain a healthy online reputation.

But why do you need to audit your digital footprint in the first place?

The answer is simple. It helps you stay on top of things.

You can detect early if something goes wrong and stay clear of any drama. For example, if someone publishes an unfavourable review about your brand or gives you bad publicity, a simple audit will help you detect it on time, and you can take the necessary steps to get out of the woods.

3 Ways to Audit Your Digital Footprint

If the prospect of auditing your digital footprint sends shivers down your spine, don’t stress. For such an important task, it’s surprisingly easy. We’ve shared three easy ways to run an audit that you can try today.

1. Google search yourself

If you want to know what people see when they Google you, the best thing to do is Google yourself!

All you have to do is Google your name or your brand name and see what comes up. Aside from your own website and socials, keep an eye out for mentions in social media or blogs and reviews. You can also explore other search options such as Google images, videos, news, maps, and books.

It's always best to turn on the privacy mode (private browsing or incognito mode depending on your computer), so your stored data doesn't interfere with your search results. Even better is searching from outside your home/work PC network, using a public Wifi, as searching from your own home or office will distort your results.

2. Set up Google Alerts

Prefer a more passive approach? Try Google Alerts. Setting up Google Alerts helps you monitor your brand presence by notifying you of any new mentions without you having to sit in front of a search engine and sift through old results.

The Google alerts application sends you an email whenever it detects a result that matches your search terms. You can choose what type of results you want to follow and select the frequency of updates. You can also choose the email address you want your alerts sent to or create a feed.

If you already have a Google account, you can set up Google Alerts in a few minutes. Head to the?Google alerts web page and follow the guided steps.

3. Use social media tools

Social media is a big deal when it comes to creating digital footprints. The amount of social media content brands create is amazing. Sometimes, you can't even tell the volume of content you've created until you dig into the archives. You would appreciate this if you've ever been haunted by a tweet you made when your brand was still unknown.

One of the best ways to do a social audit of your digital footprint is by using social monitoring tools. Tools like TweetDeck, Reputology, and Keyhole all have the capability to help you track your brand mentions, mentions of your competition, and industry trends.

You can also deep dive into which topics your target market is discussing, their core interests, and who they're communicating with. Finally, social monitoring tools are priceless for the (hopefully rare) times when you have to address negative reviews to protect your brand reputation.

Wrapping Up

You know the importance of auditing your digital footprint. You've also seen how simple auditing your digital footprint is. But how often should you audit your digital footprint? While there are no hard and fast rules, regularity is the key to auditing.

A digital audit is a continual process. It should be a preventive measure rather than an emergency procedure and should be viewed as a part of the overall marketing process to reap the full benefits. While it may seem daunting, the results always pay off regarding market dominance and improved branding.

Ready to push your marketing in the right direction??Get in touch with us today?for a quick chat.