In a society that increasingly relies on the web as its first and primary source of information, lawyers need to be cognizant of their presence online. Potential clients, hiring partners, and opposing counsel often form their initial impressions of a lawyer based on the results of a simple Google search. While a well constructed professional web site may provide a boost to that first impression, embarrassing college photos or controversial postings could easily drive the potential client or hiring partner in another direction.

Last week Google offered some advice on its official blog for those interested in managing their online reputations - specifically in the context of Google searches. The post contains many helpful tips, including basics like "think twice before putting your personal information online" and more advanced tips like setting up a Google Profile to put the best information forward.

Another key step in managing your online reputation is keeping track of what people are saying about you. Setting up Google Alerts for your name, the name of your practice, and other relevant keywords is a great way to know immediately when something is put online that may require your attention.