The following terms are used frequently in online reputation management.
The quality of being genuine; a valued quality among bloggers and the larger online community.
Content
Information delivered in any medium, whether text, videos, podcasts or images. (When two or more media are juxtaposed it is described as “multimedia content.”)
Forum
An online discussion site.
Link
Also called a “hyperlink.” A URL name or description providing an instant connection to a different Web site or section of a Web site. A Web site’s page rank on Google (and other) searches is influenced by the number of links pointing to it (“inbound links”), and the quality of the sites they are linking from.
Online audit
An assessment of a subject’s online image: typically a person, business or organization. Compiled by analyzing the accuracy and content of information found in the first few pages of results for a Google (or other search engine) search.
Online communities
Social networks where people communicate online. Also called “virtual communities.”
Online image
A subject’s online reputation. Mainly determined by the top results in a Google (or other search engine) search of the subject’s name.
Online monitoring
Daily, weekly or monthly monitoring of the information available about a person, business, organization or other topic online.
Online reputation management
Establishing, improving and monitoring the publicly available online information about a business or individual.
Page rank
A continually changing value assigned to an online page or Web site that determines its position within search results computed by the search engine using a complex algorithm. Google Page Rank once used a ranking system from 1 to 10. Then it rolled out Panda. Since everyone is constantly trying to game their system to move their content higher online, Google encourages website builders simply to follow their guide for creating a high-quality site. You can read their guidelines on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Strategically designing a Web site so it gains a higher page rank. The final goal of SEO is to attract more new visitors to the site. The higher a site’s page rank, the more people find it.
Social media
Online communication between people using a variety of platforms, including blogs, forums and Twitter.
Social network
A network of individuals connected through a social media platform such as Facebook.
Transparency
Openness and sincerity in online communications.
Viral Media
Content that attracts new viewers mainly through word-of-mouth in social networks. Can result in significant and rapid visibility.
