Being found online is one thing, but what are you being found for?

What struck me was that as I was rambling on about the fact you want to be found online and you want to produce quality content for your prospects to consume – it's not just about being found online, it's what you're being found online for.

Not earth-shattering I know, but it got me thinking about how too many companies don't invest the resources to even keeping a basic website up to date. You are under the microscope these days of real-time news and information and you are transparent whether you like it or not.

You can no longer control the media or your brand for your benefit; you can only shape your brand and messages as best you can, produce quality product and services, create compelling content, and attend to your customers.

Todd Defren at PR-Squared wrote a blog post recently titled Not All Social Media Fun & Games. He had met with the marketing team of a Fortune 500 company and during his presentation he "pulled up some videos from YouTube in which the creators attacked the company by remixing the company's slickly-produced television advertisements."

They were shocked, dismayed, even angry. But they had no control over it. Nada. The beast is out of the cage, on the prowl and posts on sites like glassdoor.com and you have a Daisy Red Ryder BB-Gun, paper clips, broken Web links, and a press release from May of 2004.

All right MacGyver, get to work.

• Get your website search-optimized and appealing to your prospects – it's the face of your company.
  
• Develop quality content regularly – white papers, research reports, case studies, Webcasts.
  
• Execute regular direct marketing and PR campaigns to promote your content, products and services.
  
• Keep that steady stream of positive spin flowing out your doors.
  
• Start a blog, record and distribute regular podcasts, participate in other social networking sites.
  
• Repeat everything above and don't let your content get stagnant. Invest the time because it doesn't take much money.
  
• Fix broken links on your site, on buyer guides you list on keeping them up to date, and update your profiles regularly on sites like our HR Community.
  
• And so much more.
  

No, you can't control the conversation anymore, but you can be part of it – the good, bad and in between.

Oh, and be wary of what your employees are posting online (but don't be Big Brother). HR guidelines abound here. By all means don't let your COO post a video of himself on YouTube riding naked on an ATV while wearing Elton John 70s sunglasses one of those colorful blinking Coors Light beer hats with the drinking tubes.

No, that wasn't me. I swear.