Q. What is displayed when you Google your name?
A. Your Internet image.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could control your Internet image? (here’s mine: Google, Yahoo!)
If you’re like most people, when you search for your name you see links to sites you don’t control and information about other people with the same name.
Why should you care?
Your Internet image is priceless. This is what your friends, business associates, and future employers will see. Many times, this is their first impression of you. You should control your Internet image.
How to control your Internet image
Search engines display information that they find. To control your Internet image, give search engines more to find about you. Here’s a simple list of things you can do:
- Get your name as a domain name (e.g., shaunmcnerney.com).
- Create a blog web site (https://shaunmcnerney.com/)
- Sign up for LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunmcnerney)
- Sign up for Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/shaunmcnerney)
- Sign up for MySpace (https://www.myspace.com/bitweld)
- Sign up for Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/shaunmcnerney)
- Cross link every site to every site (https://shaunmcnerney.com/about/)
- Send out tweets, status updates, messages… each time you publish a new blog entry
For the best results, consistently use the same name everywhere. For me, I decided to use ShaunMcNerney (no dots, no underscores). This was to ensure that all of my Internet identities would all be found and linked together. I didn’t want search engines to have to figure out that smcnerney and shaunm belonged to me.
How long does all this take?
Initially I spent a couple of hours to set up my blog and social media accounts. After about 2 months I noticed a dramatic change in my Internet image. Looking back it was easy and very worthwhile to do.
Control your Internet image
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. In many cases, your Internet image is your first impression. Take control of your Internet image.
What have you done to take control of your Internet image?
Shaun McNerney
