What do you see when you Google your name? Do you dominate the first page of Google search results? If you don't, you need to! Maybe you're asking why this could possibly be important. Think about it -- when someone wants more information about something, what do they do? They "Google" it. When someone is intrigued by you and what you have to offer, whether it be a service, a product, or a business opportunity, the first thing they'll do is Google your name or brand.
And what they find can drastically affect whether or not you make that sale or recruit another team member.
You absolutely need to be all over the first page of Google search results when you type in your name. Using the methods I'm about to describe, my wife and I have been able to completely dominate our personal Google search, and it didn't take any longer than a week or two.
I've identified several ways to easily dominate the first page of Google search results for your personal brand. There are many more, but these are my favorite 5:
Press Releases -- In my opinion, press releases are the single fastest way to get high rankings in the search engines when it comes to personal branding. Search engines eat up press releases like turkey on Thanksgiving! Just to be clear, press releases are not articles. Rather, they describe an event or a happening of some sort. Some people have difficulty thinking of topics for press releases, but they shouldn't. You can write press releases on just about anything, including a product or service launch, joining a business opportunity, your intention to attend a live event, a review of the live event after you've attended, an article series you've written, or the launch of a new blog or website. The possibilities are endless -- be creative!
Videos -- Another favorite food for search engines, videos can appear on your first page of Google search within hours after distribution. It's important to use your name (or other brand) in the title of the video, the keywords, and the description. One self-branding video that we did was simply entitled, "Bob and Rosemary Clarke Unplugged", where we simply told our story of where we've been and where we're going. This 5-minute video grabbed the top spot on our search page within hours and stayed there for a very long time.
Blogs -- If your blog URL contains your name or brand, it can appear several times on the first page of search results. Simply place your name or brand in the keywords of each post that you want ranked. If your blog URL does not contain your name or brand, then then you can often get your "About Page" on your blog ranked on the first page. One tip I recently learned is to hyperlink your signature on each post to your About Page.
Squidoo Lenses and HubPages -- Do a "Who is..." Squidoo lens or HubPage to allow people to get to know you better. For example, we did a Squidoo lens called "Who are Bob and Rosemary Clarke" that ranked first on our personal Google search for months. Be sure to include your brand in the title and keywords and you'll be good to go. See now Google Knowledge Panel
Social Networking Profiles-- I've had my profile from YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter all appear on the first page of Google. If you update your profile periodically, this will continue to keep your profiles ranked high in the search engines.
Branding yourself online can be a complicated process, but the first step is easy -- dominate the first page of Google search results for your name or brand. It's easy, it's important, and it's very impressive for a prospect trying to figure out if you're a real person and someone worth following.
No comments:
Post a Comment