Personal Branding in the Digital Age
Are You Managing Your Online Presence?
Yes, People Are Googling You
They truly are, whether you like it or not. You extroverts out there might feel excited about it, and you introverts might just be panicking!
Yes, your boss is probably googling you.
The HR Manager at the company where you applied for the new job is googling you. Your neighbour is probably googling you.
Your date for Saturday night is definitely googling you.
Know Your Current Online Identity
Google yourself. Now google yourself again from an incognito browser. What is your online identity? Depending on your name, you may be more difficult or more easy to find online.
Manage Your Online Identity
Existing in modern society in 2015 means you needs to manage you digital identity online. Regardless of your opinion on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, ask yourself what do you want to portray?
And then, take these 3 first steps.
1. Own Your Social Media
Use a service like namechk.com to try to register your name for all the standard social media services. Even if you don’t want to use the services immediately, it can be prudent to squat on your name or something close to your name just in case!
2. Manage What Ranks
Popular sites like LinkedIn and Facebook have A-grade SEO so it is worth your time to make a little effort in maintaining these profiles. It doesn’t have to be daily posting but at minimum consider -
A photo that is reasonably up to date (< 1 year old)
Clear contact information
Also, don’t ignore Google+! Even though not as popular as some of the other social media services, Google ranks it highly - so make sure you manage your presence here too.
3. Setup a Google Alert for Your Name
No, this is not some narcissistic obsession. This allows you to track when new content is published about you. If your name is very common, append your location or something about your work to the search string. Do it at www.google.com.au/alerts
Invest a Little Time
This doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Just take the time to be aware of what your online identity is, and make sure it is saying what you want it to say. It might just make all the difference to land you that new job, or even a second date!