Does your Online Profile extend to more than just your ecommerce site? If not, it should. Establishing your name on the internet can be a great benefit to an online business and here’s why.
The Person Behind The Name
Perhaps it is a holdover from the traditional way of doing business, but people are usually more comfortable buying a product from someone they know. Think about this. Are you more willing to buy your groceries at the local market where the sales clerks know your name or from the big-box retailer where your business is unappreciated?
The same concept holds true for online sales, but making yourself accessible to potential customers can be a bit trickier. The key is to create an presence through various online profiles.
Ever since “Google” became a popular verb, people have turned to their favourite search engine to find out more information. Potential employers, a blind date, or even family members often use online search tools to find out more information about a person. So will your customers.
Have You Googled Yourself Lately?
The most successful entrepreneurs can be found all over the internet. They write articles, post comments, become a guest blogger, and generally use whatever means they can to promote themselves and their business. Every instance of their name on a high ranking site gets indexed by the major search engines.
If you are worried about providing too much personal information, create an Online Profile for your business name instead. Include your tag line as often as possible. This is a great way to build a strong identity and brand your business.
The more articles you write and link to, the more you will be seen as an authority on a particular subject. This increases your credibility, and makes customers more apt to buy your products. Why purchase an item you can get nearly anywhere from Joe Blo, when you can purchase the same item from someone who knows what he or she is talking about?
Where To Post Your Online Profiles
There are generally two different categories for sites that contain your profile – professional and social.
Professional sites are those that cater to business people, both employers/clients and the freelancers who can provide a requested service or product. Linkedin, Zoominfo and Ryze are some highly popular sites.
When posting your profile, make sure that it looks professional. Think of it as a job application where you can showcase your invaluable talents and skills.
Social sites are much more relaxed. Facebook, MySpace, and others like them are great places to post a profile where friends, family, and acquaintances are likely to find you. Just because it appears to be all fun and not a work-related site doesn’t mean you should dismiss it, though.
The power of social networking is strong and can often result in a large boost to sales and everything you post online can be linked back to you so it’s important to maintain professionalism. (Think ‘business casual’ on some sites and you’ll be safe.)
Increasing your visibility as a business person through various Online Profiles is a great way to find new customers and enhance your credibility. It is an ongoing project that requires frequent updates in order that your information stays fresh and you receive the maximum SEO benefit.
Just like any anything else, your online presence takes time and effort to be effective but can produce results because of that effort!
See you at the top of Google!
Sean Rasmussen
SEO Australia Pacific
AussieSEO.com © 2007 - 2010
Hi Sean,
I really struggle with sharing information on my online profiles. I’m just not comfortable sharing that much personal information with strangers that I don’t know. Still, I see the benefits of having a complete profile.
I guess that I’m trying to build my online presence through what I do rather than what’s on my profile. I’m getting the occasional request for help with basic stuff like suggestions for blog topics and submission of blog posts to the bookmarking sites.
I’m hoping this means that I’m starting to build the online presence I want.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn Competition – This is It =-.
If you have nothing to hide, I don’t see the problem Jazz. One of the big parts of internet marketing… is marketing yourself! You will get more comfortable with it as time goes by
As long as you don’t share your financial details with them or give out too much information, you should be right. As Sean says, I think its so important to tell people a little about yourself so they feel comfortable with who they are buying from.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Anxiety Separation in Children =-.
Hi Sean, you are correct when you say think “business casual” . You need to target your profile to the audience just as you would in the real world. People act differently in a social situation compared to a business meeting and tailoring privacy settings will hopefully save any embarrassment or loss of potential business. It will be interesting to see how the current trend of over sharing pans out in the years to come.
One of my custom jewelry sales resulted from the customer reading my personal profile and deciding I was the type of person who would best understand what she wanted. So, even though she received offers from 4 other jewelry makers, she chose me because of my public profile. While I don’t get intimate in my online persona, I do believe in letting people see who I am.
Hi Sean
Building a network online requires me to engage in relationship building on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Digg. I am happy to do this and I also like to stay ‘business casual’ myself, especially on sites such as Facebook.
I think it is important to reveal yourself to a point but not to mention your preferences for political parties or religion. I noticed theses questions are asked in the profile on Facebook and I purposely avoided them.
One must be careful to not offend or use offensive language or make derogatory statements on these social sites as you don’t know who reads what you write and who remembers you.
.-= Elly´s last blog .. =-.
What do you do when you have a common name like mine? A Google search of my name only brings usurpers to the forefront. And I don’t think my Ecommerce will benefit from their online profiles.
I guess with a common name you are best advised to develop the online profile for your business name. And when choosing a business name, possibly include your name as part of the business name. Now does that mean that you business name becomes a long tail keyword for your own name?
.-= Don White´s last blog ..You Cant Throw That Out- =-.
I think you are right Don when you say, have a business name – but one that includes your own name e.g. something like Don Whites Single Malt Factory – that’s also long tail. Hey, write an article along those lines and see if it comes up on Google. All the joys of single malts and what makes them great etc!
Hi Sean,
an interesting topic – how much to put out there about yourself.
As you say, if you have nothing to hide there should be no problem, but still there is stuff people I do business with don’t need to know.
So, as always in relationships, it’s important to build trust and revile something about yourself which is important for the other person to get to know you, but that doesn’t include every detail of your whole life.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Self Improvement Books – What Are Your Favourites =-.
Hi Sean,
I can understand Jazz’s concerns. I firmly believe that: You do not have to be doing something wrong to want your privacy. There are predictors out there. It’s a jungle.
Even though I have laxed my security lately I am still not sure it’s totally safe. I think birth dates are a big security risk. I wouldn’t join Facebook for a long time due to privacy issues. I know people who still think this way and they do have a point.
.-= Jill Brown´s last blog ..Couples Marry at Common Law =-.
You can’t be too careful in this day and age of identity theft – and sometimes privacy must be kept really secure. I often don’t even give an address – when its not really needed – I just put in NA if it is a required field on those.
Hi Jill,
Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one with privacy issues. You just never know who is accessing your information and what their intent is.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Finding Your Passion =-.
Hi Jazz,
I believe we do have a reason for concern. People wanting my birthdate is an issue for me. We should not have to give t to anyone.
Recently a company Representative wouldn’t “open” my account without me giving it over the phone. To me, that’s a security risk because I’m not the only one who knows my birthdate. How do they know it’s really me accessing my account?
Having a password is a more secure option than me giving out my birthdate to every Tom, Dick and Harry.
.-= Jill Brown´s last blog ..Couples Marry at Common Law =-.
Personal information like your birthdate or what you had for breakfast is not what I meant when I referred to “marketing yourself” in a prior comment. No one needs to know that much personal info, they do however need to know you exist in order to become successful and make sales online
I get a little confused about my social profile and my business profile. I tend to mix the two up so really need to work on that. It is surpising when googling my name what comes up as I have joined so may sites these last couple of years.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Anxiety Separation in Children =-.
The first time I ‘googled’ myself all that I found was a Facebook profile. Now there are at least a page full of results. It is important to control your online profile and by using sites like LinkedIn and Naymz, you can ensure that the first few pages of results are displaying the information that you control.
.-= Cemil´s last blog ..Keyword Research PLR Articles Released =-.