Advanced online reputation management
The internet can be a minefield for your personal reputation. There are around three decades' worth of old news stories and forum posts out there, as well as two decades' worth of social media content. And here's the worrying part: sometimes a simple Google or Facebook search isn't enough to reveal everything.
Even if you follow our tips for online reputation management, you could still miss things with your name on them. Think Facebook comments from 2010, a local news article from 1998, or even an unflattering photo posted on Myspace in 2007. You never know when these may come back to haunt you, either. In this post, we'll go beyond our beginner's guide to online reputation management and explore advanced ways to search your name and track your digital footprint.
Even if you follow our tips for online reputation management, you could still miss things with your name on them. Think Facebook comments from 2010, a local news article from 1998, or even an unflattering photo posted on Myspace in 2007. You never know when these may come back to haunt you, either. In this post, we'll go beyond our beginner's guide to online reputation management and explore advanced ways to search your name and track your digital footprint.
How to go beyond basic search
Use Google's lesser-known search operators
Google has handy search modifiers that most people don't know about. These are called search operators and they help you find more specific content. For example, in the search bar, you can type 'filetype:pdf your name' and it'll show you PDFs that mention you online. Using 'site:url.com your name' and your name lets you search specific websites that have content about you published on their domains, such as local newspapers. To find content about you that appeared online during a certain time period, use 'before:2008 your name' or 'after:2020 your name'.
Set up Google Alerts with boolean operators
Google Alerts notifies you when there are new mentions of your name online. While useful, basic alerts can often miss things or send irrelevant notifications. By using boolean operators - special words like AND, OR, and NOT - you can make your alerts more precise. You can also use punctuation to modify alerts and searches, too. Using inverted commas ("your name") will give you specific matches, while using brackets lets you combine keywords. This is useful if you're worried about a specific piece of information that could appear about you online. For example '(bankrupt or bankruptcy) AND "Your name"' or '(divorce or divorced) AND "your name"'. This will make alerts more specific to you by filtering out results about other people with the same name as you.
Reverse image search
TinEye and Google Lens let you find where your photos of you appear online. To use TinEye, simply drag and drop any photo of yourself into the search bar. It'll show you everywhere that exact image appears online, even if it's been cropped or edited slightly. Google Lens works similarly - click the camera icon in Google Images and upload your photo. You might be surprised to find old profile pictures on forums you've forgotten about or discover your photos being used on other websites without your knowledge. Try searching with both tools, as they often find different results.
Check official public records
Check for your name on Public records and registers, such as Companies House for business and directors details, Land Registry for property records and with magistrates courts for any legal proceedings. It’s a good idea to check these if you were a director of a business that failed or have a spent criminal conviction. Keep in mind though that you may not always be able to control the information here. That’s the personal privacy and Right to be Forgotten debate often clashes with freedom of information and the public right to know.
Take advantage of social media search tools
Social Searcher and Social Mention help you find social media posts that regular platform searches miss. On Social Searcher, type your name in inverted commas ("your name") to find public posts across multiple platforms at once. The free version shows recent mentions, while the paid version reveals historic posts. Social Mention works similarly but adds sentiment analysis - it tells you whether posts about you are positive or negative. For example, if someone's complaining about your business but hasn't tagged you, these tools will find it. They're also useful for finding old comments you've made on public posts or seeing if people are gossiping about you in social media groups.
View archived webpages
The Wayback Machine on Archive.org keeps snapshots of websites over time so you can see old versions of websites. Type in a website's address and you'll see a calendar showing when that site was archived. This is particularly useful for finding content that's been removed from the internet. For example, if you know there was once an article about you on a company's website, enter that company's URL and browse through past versions. The Wayback Machine might catch forum discussions, blog posts, and news articles that have since disappeared from Google searches.
Find old newspaper articles
Local newspapers often keep their own archives that don't appear in regular Google searches. Start by visiting the newspaper's website and look for an "Archives" section - it's usually in the footer or main menu. Some papers require a small fee to access their digital archives. Don't just search your name - try variations and common misspellings too. Remember that smaller local papers sometimes share content with larger regional ones, so check both. For example, if you know you were mentioned in your town's paper in 2005, but can't find it online, check if that paper had a partnership with any regional publications at the time.
What to do if you find old content about you online
Contact website owners directly
Most websites have a contact page or email address. Write a polite, professional message explaining why you want the content removed. Include the exact URL and explain how it affects you personally. There's even a template you can use in our free guide. If it's a story in the press, check out our guide to removing negative news articles.
Request removal directly
Search engines and social media platforms all have their own reporting and removal request tools. Click here to access Google's removal request form. You can use these to request inappropriate links, posts, photos, or comments about you be removed. Each has different rules, so check their removal policies first. Old forum posts can often be deleted by contacting the forum administrators.
Request archive removal
If you find content on Archive.org, they have a simple removal form. Some newspaper archives will consider removing or updating stories, especially if circumstances have changed since publication.
Understand the Right to be Forgotten
The UK's Right to be Forgotten lets you request Google remove outdated or irrelevant links about you from search results. It’s especially useful for removing news articles or forum posts that no longer reflect who you are today. The law is complex though. Our article about when the Right to be Forgotten applies and when it doesn't explains more.
Use a professional removal service
If you're struggling to remove negative content, online reputation management firms like Internet Erasure can help. We employ specialist lawyers who understand privacy laws and your rights.
Internet Erasure and the Right to be Forgotten
When it comes to making a fresh start, we can help. Our privacy lawyers understand the ins and outs of the Right to be Forgotten and have successfully removed thousands of links for clients seeking a fresh start. Check out our reviews on TrustPilot and have a look at our numbers to see for yourself how successful we are for our clients.
