Editor’s note: Doximity Advisory Board member Bryan Vartabedian, MD, is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Texas Children’s Hospital and blogs at 33 charts.

Go to Google right now, type your name and see what comes up. For better or worse, that’s what people understand about you when they search for you.

As scary as that may sound, you have more control than you think. In fact, if you don’t take charge of what’s created about you, someone else will be glad to take care of it. Lee Aase, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media tells marketing professionals that “the solution to pollution is dilution.” In other words, you can’t control the negative, but you can sure create lots of other stuff for people to see. Here, six powerful ways you can influence your own online identity.

Create a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is basically a digital CV on steroids. It’s where you park your current position and work history for everyone from your future boss to your college roommate to peruse (if you don’t want patients to link to you, be sure to shut off the “connections” feature). The most effective profiles I’ve seen are those that have taken advantage of the biographical “summary” feature. Check out Wendy Sue Swansons’s page to see how she’s used it to promote herself as an advocate and media spokesperson.

Join Doximity. The profile that you create on Doximity is visible to the public through the search engines, and I’d argue that it’s better suited for physicians because it allows you to effectively highlight specific details of medical training and practice settings. It’s also very tailored in terms of connections: Doctors can colleague you, and patients can’t make that kind of contact but will see relevant-to-them data such as your public phone line.

Write something. Perhaps the most powerful way for people to understand what you’re about is to write about it. A move like launching your own blog allows you to create an empire of tailored information. If you’re not inclined to start your own site, see if your local hospital has a blog. More than likely, they’ll be happy to add another good, original voice.

Tape something. Don’t like to write? Then grab a Flipcam and start your own channel on YouTube. People love to watch videos, and YouTube searches beautifully. Better yet, create your own videos and park them on a blog. Bottom line, find the medium that’s comfortable for you and run with it.

Make use of SlideShare. In all likelihood, you have brilliant material sitting on your computer right now. I’m talking about your old powerpoint presentations. They can be a great way to tell about you and your expertise. Use SlideShare to upload them for public viewing, making sure your name is prominent on your account and in the description of the program.

Sign up for about.me. Some doctors may find about.me too flashy, but depending on your practice and what you’re looking to achieve, this service’s one-page profile-generator can be a simple way to push out a little more content.

Bottom line: There’s no one “right” way to build your footprint, and a lot of your choices will depend on where you want to go professionally. If you’re looking to recruit patients as a cardiologist, for example, your approach may be very different than that of a budding physician executive. My strongest advice is to find a role model who’s doing what you want to do–don’t be afraid to take a page from his or her playbook. Finally, always remember that what you do and what you post is a reflection of you. Be smart.