DENVER -- When's the last time you Googled your own name? You can admit it, almost everyone has done it.

"If you haven't Googled yourself, you really need to," said Zack Katz, of Katz Wed Design.

That's because you could find something online about yourself that is not flattering. And in a day and age when your profile on the Internet can affect everything from jobs to personal relationships, managing it is very important.

"I am probably one that shares too much," said Dennis Bauer, an elementary school teacher who participates in several social networking Web sites. Bauer retires next month and sees cyberspace as an important part of his new life.

"It is really fun to have a community out there in cyberspace that you can just connect with," said Bauer.

Bauer said he enjoys that people can find him online and that he can reconnect with old friends and colleagues. But sometimes, it's hard for people to find him.

Bauer shares his name with a man who lives in Germany and apparently is a little bit more popular -- at least when Googled.

Bauer set up a Google profile, and now when people Google his name, he appears on the bottom of page one.

"I am always on the bottom and I will hike my way to the top," joked Bauer.

In April Google started posting its social profiles on the bottom of its first page.

"Google is giving everybody an opportunity to rank well for themselves," said Katz.

Katz builds Web sites and does search engine optimization, known as SEO. He said if you are on any social networking site, you need a Google profile.

"There is no reason not to and I encourage everyone to," said Katz.

Google gives a person 100 percent control of his or her profile contents -- something you can't say of the World Wide Web.

Bauer said he doesn't hold back.

"I am very open," said Bauer. "I am very transparent about the good, the bad, and the ugly if you will. I share about my two marriages, my two divorces, my two sons."

But not everyone wants everything out there.

"If you see things you don't want others to see, you should take measures to counter that," said Katz.

Especially with new Web sites that allow people to rate you without your knowledge or consent. The good news is that you can clean up your image online yourself or hire a company like Mango Media to do it for you.

"It is really up to the individual user to go on and figure out how to take ownership of his or her name and his or her identity," said Nathan Joynt, of Mango Media.

Joynt said the easiest way to take control is to start your own Web site using your name. For those who do not want to spend money, Joynt said you can start your own blog. He also recommends getting on as many social networking sites as possible.

"Anybody who is really good at a particular aspect or profession can suddenly become really well known online," said Joynt. "They can literally create a nice following of people by creating blogs and by creating these social media profiles."

Joynt said doing these simple steps can help push those less than flattering items off the first page of a search. So forget the days of just watching your reputation at work or school, now you have the entire world watching.

To set up a Google profile, to google.com and type in "me" in the search box. You will then see a blue box with instructions on how to set up a profile.

For tips on how to optimize your Google profile, go to www.katzwebdesign.net.