Digital marketing has evolved a lot in recent years. People have realized that using digital tools is not a fad but a necessity. If you use technology resources to project yourself as a professional in any field, you create a Personal Brand. To build their brand, most people turn to social media. But they forget that a sentinel is dedicated to tracking everything published on the Internet: Google, the well-known search engine. Now, everything that has to do with the operation of the Google search engine is a matter of SEO. How do you do SEO for a personal brand? This is what you will see in this article.
What does Google know about you?
Before working on your personal branding, find out what information the search engine shows when people type your name. Those are your SEO keywords for personal branding. Review the content of the first 5 or 6 results pages: news, blog articles, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, etc. Not all of them refer to you but to someone with the same name as you. Sometimes, you will find documents, such as lawsuits, official appointments (if you have worked as a public official), or other sensitive information you cannot modify or hide.
How do you prevent Google from showing personal information?
Google collects information from different Internet sites. Suppose you think Google is showing something that may affect you (a photo, video, or whatever). You should contact the site owner who published that content in that case. You have at least four ways to do it:
- Through the contact page of the website.
- Through a message on social networks, if the social profiles are indicated on the site.
- Use a Whois service to find out the owner who registered the domain. For this search, I recommend Who is from Domain Tools.
- If the user has registered the site privately, their name will not be visible through Whois. But you can take it one step further: view the domain’s name servers. This way, you can, through a reverse search, identify the hosting provider in charge of the field. Contact them to obtain the contact details of the site owner in question.
Suppose, for some reason, you need help getting the information to disappear from the website. In that case, you have one last resort: request to remove your personal information from Google.
Define your Brand Name
Searching your name on Google also helps you find out who is already positioned for that keyword (your name). Use an alternative name if someone is famous or well-known in your industry. You can combine it with another keyword from your business area. For example: Your name is Leonardo Messi, and you are dedicated to coaching.
Reserve your social profiles
When we talk about personal branding, social networks are critical. Once you have found the name for your brand, you must create your social presence. The idea is to get an identical username on all your social profiles. To save you the trouble of checking the availability of the name on each social network, I am going to mention some free web services where you can verify:
- Namecheck
- Knowem
- Check usernames
- Claim brand
You should be aware that if a new social network emerges, you should use your username.
Acquire your domain
- Think big: Do an excellent job of branding and the corresponding SEO for your personal brand. Your name will be a benchmark in the sector. Sooner or later, you are going to want to have a website. At first, you may consider it an unnecessary expense. But, in the long run, your website will bring you more benefits than you now see.
- A good idea is to reserve your domain name from the beginning: Of course, try to match it precisely with your personal brand. You don’t have to purchase hosting if your intention is not to set up the website now. Purchase the domain name:.COM, .IN., or whatever extension you prefer. Generally, they are at most 20 dollars per year. One service to check name availability for your domain is Namecheck.
Once you have purchased the domain, keep an eye on its renewal.
Monitor your online reputation
Fame has a price. Making your brand known means being attentive to what people say about it. If they speak well, it means you are doing branding correctly. But there can also be negative comments about the brand. How do you know what is being said on the Internet about your personal brand? Through online reputation management software.
To get started, you can use Google Alerts. This free Google service will notify you when keywords you define are mentioned. There are also specialized platforms where you can monitor the competition, attract potential customers, obtain statistics and trends, and perform other functions. Evaluate various online reputation tools before deciding on one.
