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Everyone is talking about personal branding.
And I can almost hear what you're thinking. “I have no desire to be an Instagram celebrity. This is completely irrelevant for church designers.”
But there's something those Instagram celebrities know that you may not yet:
Potential clients look you up online before they ever contact you.
In fact, according to the Revenue Path Group:
70% of a person’s decision to work with you is formed based on a potential client’s internet search before you ever have a chance to speak with them.
If that statistic makes you feel totally helpless, and has you checking your budget to see if you can afford an SEO consultant, don’t worry.
There are things you can do on your own to boost your personal brand, that are actually simple to implement.
What comes up when you “Google” yourself?
If you want to see what people who don’t know you find when they search for you online, you need to pull up a browser that isn’t tracking you. Google, Edge and Firefox get to know you over time and tailor search results to your geography and history. To get uncolored results, try searching on DuckDuckGo.com—which doesn’t track you—or pull up an incognito window in your browser of choice.
If you are like most people, your LinkedIn profile comes up high in the list—but what about the rest?
What would someone who doesn’t know you think about you after clicking the first three links? Are you happy with the results?
What would someone who doesn’t know you think about you after clicking the first three links? Are you happy with the results?
If you share a name with an NFL player or a Spice Girl, you may not be able to affect the first page results, but for the rest of us, a few tips and tricks can make a big difference in shaping what comes up under your name.
Here are five things you need to know in order to improve your personal branding online:
1-Big sites that are linked to by a volume of other big sites get priority in the search ranking. So, grab your social media real estate—even if you don’t intend to use it.
The search engines prioritize the large social media platforms because of their size and authority. After all, if so many people use them, and so many websites link to them, then they must be important.
While maximizing your profile on LinkedIn should be a no-brainer, you may also decide to grab Pinterest and Twitter—even if you don’t plan to post often. Why? Because you get to choose the content that goes on those sites when you fill out your profile, which gives you a few more entries on the front page of a search for your name (that you have control over). Facebook has a setting that allows you to determine if you come up in search or not, but it’s a good idea to treat your Facebook profile as if you do.
Most of the social media profiles allow you to select a user name that becomes part of the URL link to your profile. Wherever possible, choose your full name or a close version of it.
2-Consider what your photo tells people about you.
That whole cliché about a picture being worth 1,000 words is overused because it’s true. Your image communicates. The thing is…what is yours saying about you?
Does a smile make you friendly and approachable? Does what you are wearing say something about your professional life? Do you have an accessory like glasses that adds flair? Does the background give context to the type of work you do?
By naming your photos firstname-lastname.jpg (or png or tiff), you improve the odds of having them come up in search. If you upload IMG8675309.jpg, the search bots who are scanning the text won’t notice that it’s you. But if you take the time to label the photos correctly, they are usually found in search.
Which is great—as long as what they are communicating works in your favor.
3-Identify the big idea you want to be associated with.
Your photo isn't the only thing that speaks. You can also post words.
In describing yourself, you can talk about your career, your family life, your education, your hobbies—or you can associate yourself with a big idea. What problem do you most want to solve in the world? What is your life's work?
When you identify the idea you most want associated with yourself, it not only makes writing your bio easier, but it also prompts opportunities to write online articles or speak at conferences—which each have their own online footprints that can be found in a Google search.
4-Purchase your name as a domain.
If a search term is part of a domain name, it is given priority in search engine results. After all, if you search "Your Name" and there is a yourname.com, then the search engine assumes that site is probably all about you.
Having your own domain is the ultimate in being able to influence what messaging and images are associated with you.
Having your own domain is the ultimate in being able to influence what messaging and images are associated with you.
Here's the thing: this doesn't have to be complex. A single page website is enough. Wix.com has some great one-page website templates that are easy to craft yourself.
5-Online magazines and business journals usually place well in search results.
News sites can rank very high in search results along with trade publications and business journals.
One way to get published in these sites is to submit a press release. (Of course, whatever you submit has to be of interest to the site’s readers.)
Large blogging sites such as Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Company accept guest posts. GuestBlogging.com offers quality training in how to get published on these sites. (They also have a free download with some good counsel just for giving them your email address—even if you decide not to invest in the course.)
Be proactive in shaping what people see about you.
And this publication—Church.Design—is always looking for great stories on projects to feature. You can use this handy form to submit: https://church.design/tell-us-about-your-project
Be proactive in shaping what people see about you.
Part of our natural resistance to self-promotion is a pushback on vanity. But you aren’t fated to become a Kardashian just because you spend a little time to make the search engines work for you.
In fact, if you don’t invest in your online presence, then you take the risk that people find nothing at all. Which in today’s digital world, feels like you haven’t done enough great work to take notice of.
While we can't control online media, we can definitely influence it.
No selfie sticks or posting of lattes required.
