PR 20/20 Blog

Google Yourself: Claim Your Online Brand with Google Profiles

By Christina Capadona-Schmitz | Posted May 11, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Brand Marketing, Internet Marketing
At PR 20/20, we frequently refer to Long Tail author and Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson’s quote, "Your brand is what Google says it is, not what you say your brand is."

Now that Google has publicized its personal profiles to the mass market and added profiles to search results at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages, there’s an easier way to manage what Google says about you, claim your online identity, build your personal brand, and associate yourself with your preferred Websites and social networks.

According to the official Google blog post, “These results offer abbreviated information from user-created Google profiles and a link to the full profiles,” and “added links so it's easy to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and LinkedIn.”

Sample Profile Search: Christina Capadona Schmitz (no hyphen)

Why set up your Google Profile?

Because the majority of people never search beyond the first page of Google search results, it’s a good idea to claim your Google Profile, which enables name searches associated with you and your business to join the highly favorable top 10 rankings.

Marketing expert David Meerman Scott offers a few more reasons to “Stop what you are doing and get or update your Google Profile Now,” including: job seekers being sought after by potential employers, professional service providers being searched by clients, salespersons being searched by potential customers, and interpersonal communications, such as potential significant others.

For those with more common names, such as John Smith, you can customize your profile to find the correct name when searching. Scott recommends that individuals with unique names, that may be happy with the search results associated with the name, still take the time to create a Google profile and keep it updated regularly. This allows one to claims themselves in Google Profiles and gives another method of access to your information.

A few more reasons to claim your online brand and instances when people may be searching for you:
- You want to volunteer at your community center, coach a youth sports team, etc.
- You have a speaking engagement at a business event
- Someone with your same name is appearing in the news
- Your family or high school is organizing a reunion
Building your Profile

Google offers a How-To online guide to build your profile and utilize the available features.

If you have an account with Google, including Gmail, you already have a profile. You just need to enable it to be searchable.

Users can choose their own profile URL. Please note that once created, the URL can’t be customized again, only reverted to the original, non-customized version.

Here are some of the profile features according to the How-To guide:
- Receive messages. Enable the 'Send a message' feature to allow anyone with a Google Account to email you without revealing your email address.
- Add photos.
- Create a page about you, your work and interests.
- Add your contact information with ability to control who can see it.
- Add links to your other profiles and sites.
- Show your location.
Will Google become the global social Web directory?

With the recent publicity surrounding Google profiles, including Google giving away 250,000 free business cards featuring Google Profile addresses, this could be the prelude to a bigger plan of consolidation of online social networking and directories.

Check out the posts below for further insight:

Google Profiles pave the way for global directory, Facebook killer
Seth H. Weintraub - April 22, 2009 - Computer World Google Ink Blog
“Google is publicizing their Google Profiles for the first time this week. If you do a Google search for your name (and who hasn't), you'll now see your Google profile at the bottom of the search results. This is a big deal...”

Google Wants You to Profile Yourself
Ryan Singel - April 21, 2009 - Wired.com Epicenter
“Google’s information appetite is never-ending , and now the search-and-advertising giant wants your help in building a profile page that will show up anytime anyone searches on your name. Be afraid…”

Google Profiles and Creating a ‘Social Hub’ on the Open Web
Michael Calore - April 20, 2009 - WebMonkey.com monkey_bites
“When Google added the ability for its users to generate a social profile with a vanity URL last week, a bunch of us went into our profiles to enable the new feature…”

It doesn't take too long to set up, so go Google yourself today.
What Can Google Do For Your Business?

By Paul | Posted Dec 30, 2007 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, Technology
On the heels of surpassing the $200 billion mark in market value (which by the way is more than the combined value of News Corp, Disney, Viacom and CBS), Google amassed nearly 4 billion search queries in September, according to the latest report from Nielsen Online.

That's 54 percent of all online queries conducted at the top U.S. search providers. Yahoo! Search is second with 1.4 million (19.5 percent).

So, as Google's influence continues to expand, here are a few practical tips to help your business tap into the wealth of services offered by the search giant:
- Sign up to receive Google News Alerts for your company, competitors and industry.
- Create custom Google Maps of your headquarters to post online, and send in emails.
- Research and monitor discussions and trends in the social media world through Google Blog Search and Google Groups.
- Launch a pay-per-click campaign with Google AdWords.
- Submit your Website to be indexed by Googlebot.
To find even more uses for Google in your business, check out the Google Business Solutions site.