No it is not an original headline but never has it been more true. If you want to stand out from the crowd in today’s on-line age, you simply must rank on the first page of search engines for your own name.
Our personal brand “brand you” is one of our most valuable assets and should be treated with the respect it deserves. Do a global search now and see how you currently rank! If you are doing a great job then most of the first page should be all about you. Of course if you share the same name as a famous sporting identity, politician or actor then you may be in for a tough time.
The age old “must do’s” you can use to assist your personal brand be recognised are options some of us can use such as:
Have a personal website in your name!
Mine is www.adamhoulahan.com if you can, have a bio on your company page that is all about you. If you use a SEO specialist, talk to them about optimising this page for search engines. If your company website has a blog (if it doesn’t then you should start one ASAP!) write regular articles that mention your name. Commenting on other blogs will, over time assist to lift your profile too.
Become an author
Being published is a sure fire way to get plenty of search engine rich mentions on-line, Ebooks are a cheaper alternative to paper back or hard cover options & easy to promote on-line too. It goes without saying these should be published using your real name not pseudonyms as many authors often do.
These options do work, they are also often a lot of work or just not an option for some. Here are some simple options anyone can set up & start using today, the best part is they are all free & all very effective.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
Provided you set our your LinkedIn profile correctly you are almost guaranteed it will rank very high in searches, it is also one of the best options for promoting “brand you” on-line & your business. Setting up a free LinkedIn account is very easy & should only take you a couple of hours of your time initially then a few minutes a day to keep it very active.
Grab a copy of my Free LinkedIn Tutorial if you need any help with creating a highly optimised profile.
About Me (www.aboutme.com)
A great alternative to having your own personal website, About Me is another very effective way of getting your name out there & front page in searches. It will take a little time to get you ranking but well worth the time to set up. Once you have your Linkedin profile set up, you will have the content you need for About Me.
Social Media profiles
Personal profiles on Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc are all perfect search engine friendly tools at your finger tips. The key is to have the accounts in your name as much as possible & be a little active on them every week. One of the often overlooked options is You Tube, again you should have an account in your personal name. Keeping in mind You Tube is owned by Google it is little wonder your account will rank well.
So what are you waiting for, spend some time this week on setting these up if you don’t already have them. Take a screen shot of your first page rankings on your favourite search engine today. Then take another look in 90 days from now and you should see some great improvements.