A to Z Challenge: D is for… Digital Cleanse

The Visibility Planner is all about raising your profile and visibility through the things you do focusing on 4 main areas: PR and Marketing (inc Social Media), Networking, Presenting and Writing. For the 2020 A to Z Challenge we decided to focus on one of these aspects – writing! As the world continues to go into lock-down due to Covid-19, it is the perfect time to work on raising your visibility through your writing as you can do it from the comfort of your home.

D is for… Digital Cleanse

If you have been writing for a while, it is important to carry out a digital cleanse and assess any digital assets that you want to remove or delete to ensure that your writing and online presence are all on message.

What makes a good online presence will depend on what you do; your industry and your audience. However, you should instinctively know from looking at peers, colleagues and your competition what is good and what is bad.

01 Find out what is out there

Start by finding out what is out there, google yourself, your company. Find any old accounts and content.

02. Make any personal accounts private

For any personal accounts that you want to keep private, make sure you update your settings and choose only “friends” to see your activity.

Also, if you really want your profiles to remain personal, maybe only accept friend requests from people you know and not anyone in your professional network, like old bosses or co-workers.

That said, if you want to remain public, you should have some professional guidelines to ensure that you are posting content that is on-message.

If you have any old accounts floating around (e.g. from your school or university days – give them a full cleanse or deactivate them)

03. Hide or Delete Any Inappropriate Posts

These posts don’t need to go away completely! You can always archive Instagram photos, save Snapchats to memories, hide content from your Facebook timeline, or set your settings to “Only me” so certain posts are private. Otherwise, delete delete delete.

04. Use Professional Photographs

Do a sweep of your photographs and profile pictures. Make sure that these photographs are professional (or portray the image/message you want). You don’t need to have a professional headshot or logo. Just make sure they look professional (and that you have one).

05. Add a Professional Bio

You should hopefully, already have a professional bio on your blog and social media accounts. But if you don’t, make sure you write one (even better, write a tailored one for each account).

06. Edit Your Handles and URLs

Finally, use professional handles and URLs for your social media accounts – if you didn’t update them during our social media A to Z – do them now!

Further Reading:

• Guest Blogging: How to write a Guest Blogging Bio
• Tips for using the Right LinkedIn Profile Picture (on a budget)
• U is for… URLs