Tutorial: Get the Most Out of Your BrandYourself Profile

Publishing a BrandYourself profile is one of the most powerful ways to improve your search results because:

It’s a positive webpage you control that leaves leave a great first impression.
It ranks on average #5 in Google results, higher than WordPress, Tumblr, About.me, and other high-ranking sites.
When people Google you and find your profile, BrandYourself shows you who they are, what company they work for and what they searched for.

First go to your Profile tab, then follow the tips below to make your profile rank high in Google and leave a great first impression.

Add your Welcome Tagline:

Your Welcome Tagline is a quick way to introduce yourself in one or two sentences.

If you’re a freelancer or self-employed, briefly describe what you do. “Hi, I’m Pete Kistler. I help people discover their ideal career path.”
If you’re looking for a job, briefly describe the job you’re seeking. “I’m Pete Kistler, and I’m seeking an online marketing position in Boston.”
If you have a job, tell people your job title and employer. “I’m Pete Kistler, Head of Product at BrandYourself.”

Important: Always include your full name in your welcome message. When search engines see your full name repeated a few times prominently on your profile, it lets them know the page is all about you and should rank high for your name. That’s why it’s important to say your full name instead of just saying “I” or “me” in your Welcome message.

Go add your welcome headline.

Add your bio:

Your bio is a very important part of your profile, both for search engines and visitors. To write a bio that’s search engine friendly:

Introduce yourself in the third person. “Sarah Smith is the Director of Marketing at Acme, Inc.”
Immediately say what you do. Example: “She’s in charge of Acme’s online marketing strategy and implementation.”
Include your most important accomplishments. Be specific and include real numbers whenever you can. “Sarah has launched several successful marketing campaigns including a 3-month project for Widgets, Inc. that doubled monthly revenue, and a social media campaign that grew a blog’s monthly website traffic by 245%.”
Include any other relevant information about your work history.

Go add your bio.

Add your location:

This is important for two reasons:

If people Google your name from a computer in New York and your profile mentions New York, your profile will show up higher in their results because Google refines its results based on the location of the searcher.
If people Google your name plus your location (like “Pete Kistler New York”), your profile will show up higher in their search results.

Go add your location.

Add your profession:

Adding your profession is important because:

People often include secondary keywords when they Google you like your profession, so adding it will help your profile rank higher in their results.
It adds more relevant content related to your name, which makes your profile more search engine friendly.

Go add your profession.

Add your industry:

Adding your industry is important because:

People often include secondary keywords when they Google you like your industry, so adding it will help your profile rank higher in their results.
It adds more relevant content related to your name, which makes your profile more search engine friendly.

Go add your industry.

Add your experience:

Adding your experience is important because:

People often include secondary keywords when they Google you like your employer, so adding them will help your profile rank higher in their results.
It adds more relevant content related to your name, which makes your profile more search engine friendly.

Go add your experience.

Add your education:

Adding your education is important because:

People often include secondary keywords when they Google you like your school, so adding them will help your profile rank higher in their results.
It adds more relevant content related to your name, which makes your profile more search engine friendly.

Go add your education.

Add your interests:

Adding your interests is important because:

People often include secondary keywords when they Google you like your hobbies or interests, so adding them will help your profile rank higher in their results.
It adds more relevant content related to your name, which makes your profile more search engine friendly.

Go add your interests.

Add your photo:

Yep, this is important too. For one, it makes your profile more complete. And the image itself is automatically tagged with your name, which is another great place to have your keyword.

Go add your photo.

Apply a custom domain:

As a free user, your profile’s domain name is something like “petekistler.brandyourself.com.” As Premium user, you can apply a custom domain, like “petekistler.com.” This is one of the most important places to have your name; if Google sees that your domain name is just your name (without anything else like BrandYourself), it knows your webpage is very relevant to your name – and thus should rank high when people search your name.

Custom domains also look more professional and are easier for people to remember.

See who’s Googling you.

Once you’ve finished your profile, it’ll take 2-6 weeks for Google to re-rank it among millions of other webpages. Once it starts ranking high, whenever someone Googles you and finds your profile, you’ll be able to see who they are. It’s one of the most fun and addicting parts of using BrandYourself.

If you ever want specific tips about how to improve your own profile, feel free to email [email protected] any time and ask for advice. We’re always here to help!