5 tips on building your digital footprint online

If you are in the process of building your personal brand or generating more awareness for your business on the web, you have to understand that basically everything you do online is recorded. Every blog post, status update, Tweet, +1 and comments you leave on forums or blogs adds to your digital reputation.

If you are interested in building a name for yourself online with digital marketing, you should know and understand that online you should always follow a couple of simple rules to get the best results. The opportunities online are endless and here’s a couple of tips I follow on a daily basis so that everything I do contributes to my digital footprint.

Be yourself
This is the most important rule you should always follow. Be genuine and yourself at all times. People like to do business with real people that are trustworthy and credible. Be transparent about who you are and what you believe. Engage with people online and share valuable content. Never start building your digital footprint by only focusing on “look at me” self-promotional campaigns. Yes it’s good to promote yourself, but actions speak louder than words.

People have been doing it for years with traditional offline networking. The same rules apply with online networking. If you are yourself and build your credibility by helping others online, you will build solid relationships that can be a key driver of your digital campaigns.

The internet doesn’t sleep
The internet is always active and never sleeps. This doesn’t mean you should be online and stare at your screen 24/7, but it’s good practice to respond to mentions, comments and even emails as soon as possible. When someone asks you a question online on a public channel like Twitter or your blog, respond positively and on time. Thank people politely that has given you a compliment. This shows that you are human and not a robot on autopilot mode.

Sharing quality content
By sharing magnetic content online that your target audience will find interesting, you can build a lot of credibility and authority online. People consume content and when you focus your efforts on always using the best content in everything that you do on the web, you can build a name for yourself and add value to your personal brand. The online world is noisy and can change at a the speed of a tweet. Be present and always be alerted on changes in your industry and news that your target market would like to read.

Thank other people
When you mention people on public channels like Twitter, Google+ and even your blog, link to these people directly. Everyone online has a digital footprint and building their own personal brands. Help others and it will get back to you. By always helping others you are making a difference, even if it’s just a little bit. Always share quality magnetic content and answer questions to show that you care. An easy way to start this is by looking directly at your target audience and helping them with their problems. What questions do they have?

One of the first things you learn as a toddler is to say thank you and please. Thank the people that contributed to your online profile by mentioning and sharing your content online. What you say and what you do online tells the world who you are and what you are.