This post is about the importance of leveraging google to reinforce your name. Your name is the most important thing to begin building your personal brand.
First off, I am sure everybody knows the significance of googling your name on a regular basis. It’s important to make sure what comes up is an accurate representation of who you are (so no embarrassing Facebook photos), and to make sure that what comes up is impressive! So, ask yourself:
When was the last time you googled your first and last name? How about nicknames?
If nothing embarrassing comes up, you may think you’re in good shape, but not quite yet.
What about remarkable stuff? Were you involved in great projects in school? Did you volunteer for an event and had it covered by the newspaper? Any awards listed for freelancing projects?
If nothing GREAT comes up, then you’re in trouble too; especially if you’re in the field of marketing.
If you find yourself in this position, here are 5 tips to help your improve SEO for your name:
-
Choose either: full first and last name, nickname and last name, or pen name. (Yes, just one)
Focusing on only one will make your efforts more efficient and effective.
-
After you’ve decided on that name, make sure your LinkedIn Profile matches that name exactly.
A majority of the time, LinkedIn will be the first thing that pops up in google searches. If you make sure your profile is complete, you can have a great first impression on a potential employer who may be googling you.
-
Publish an article to LinkedIn Pulse
Make sure you type your name again in the bio. LinkedIn Pulse has the potential for high visibility rather easily, thus pushing the article to the top of the google search page. Again, great impression.
-
Go on popular marketing blogs and submit thoughtful comments.
Make sure your username is the exact same as your name. (Including spaces). This will show potential employers that you are active in the marketing community. This is also a chance for you to display your critical thinking skills and creativity to them. Popular articles on big marketing websites get a ton of traffic. Therefore, it will also get pushed to the top of the page in the search results for your name.
-
Make sure your name is on your personal website more than once.
An easy way to do this is to create a bio page and write it in the third person. If you don’t have a personal website, I highly urge you to create one for free on WordPress.com or other platforms such as Tumblr.com
The five steps above should serve as a springboard for you. They are very basic, don’t require money, and don’t take up a lot of time.
Surprisingly, not a lot of people do this. If you are a young professional, doing this will give you one leg up on your competition.