What to do if Your Mugshot Appears Online

Article provided by Pierre Zarokian of Reputation Stars.

If your mugshot appears on Google, should you call an attorney? Should you complain? What if the BBB won’t listen to your complaints, who will you go to then? Google doesn’t offer an easy way to remove content you don’t want posted about yourself online. The burden is on you. If you don’t know your rights, that can be a scary feeling. These are the best options you have if your mugshot appears on Google.

Manage the Fallout

Rule number one of public relations is figuring out how to respond, and most of the time the answer is “do not respond.” Don’t validate the accusations or grant them any kind of legitimacy with your response. Consider how it would look if someone searching you came across a page where you were defending yourself or even suggesting a hint of guilt.

Instead, make note of the mugshot websites that host your mugshot or criminal record and try contact those webmasters to see about removal.

Clean Your Image

The most effective form of image scrubbing involves removing your mugshots from the websites that host them. If you pay for removal from one website, there is nothing stopping someone from utilizing the Freedom of Information Act to query your arrest records and re-post your mugshots elsewhere. So the first approach involves creating a plan to find additional records as they appear and remove them as soon as possible to minimize damage.

The next step is focusing on building your reputation so that you and your Web properties can outrank competing websites that might be sharing unfavorable information about you. You can create bunch of new social media profiles so hopefully they would rank batter than the mugshot sites and push them down.

It is best that you hire a reputation management company. They can help you not only with removal, but also creating additional assets to make them rank higher and give you future protection.

Move Forward

Your final step is moving forward and focusing on your career, your image and your life. Part of that focus involves monitoring your search presence and cultivating an image online across multiple platforms. Make a YouTube video, open a blog and maintain a social media account. A well developed online profile can assist in job or house hunting, and give you a generally spotless reputation.