Is your Google Profile Up to Date?

I may sound like I'm harping on the same things all the time, but it's because I love you! Nearly everyday I talk to a client or colleague who isn't aware of the myriad possibilities for maintaining and controlling your online brand and reputation.

An article in the New York Times on How to Manage Your Online Reputation gives excellent tips on how to dominate search results for your name by making sure you set up a profile on every social site there is (where have you heard that before?). You don't need to be active but make sure you have the minimum amount of bio details, a photo and links back to your blog or site. The bottom line is that you want the first 2-3 pages of search results to be content you WANT people to see, not embarrassing stuff.

Of of the main points of the article was to announce that Google is now displaying Google Profile results on name searches! This is huge. Make sure your Google profile is up to date and complete! You can check out my Google profile here. I've got a link to my Flickr account so photos I've posted show up; I've got links to all my social networking sites, my blogs, even a free audio program.

There's also a link so you can easily and immediately share your profile on Twitter.

Go set up your Google Profile now.

Related Posts:
Is Your Social Networking Profile Up to Date?
Are You Managing Your Online Reputation?
Consultants: Are you ready for a Google search on your name?

Comments

[Denise Wakeman]

Make sure you go through the extra step of verifying your name on your Google Profile. Here's a link to an article that explains how and why:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/04/22/want-to-get-your-google-profile-verified

[Joko Susilo]

Good information. It's good way to branding our name in digital age.
Salam ACTION!

[Ebay]

Yeah, google profile is very important. I really agree with you. Thanks for the tips.

[Stephen, the-freelance-editor]

This is indeed helpful, and I've spent hours trying to get my profile online numerous times over the past few months. BUT, am I the only one who has trouble getting the page to update correctly and not erase all or random pieces of existing data as I work on it? I've found the entire process to be VERY infuriating-- and I'm a VERY calm and patient person!! What am I doing wrong?

[Connie Ragen Green]

Denise,
Great info here. Do you have more details on how we can get our profile to look more like yours?
Connie

[Melanie Kissell]

Thanks, Denise!

The timing of your post couldn't have been any better. I created a Google profile some time ago, but it definitely needed some updating. Quite a bit of the information was stale and invalid. Also, Google located some additional links for me that I was able to quickly and easily add to my profile.

At this moment, I'm not certain I'll go through the "name verification" process. At some point, it may become a necessity.

Write On!

[ashley Mahaffey]

Thanks for "loving" us so much to make the tech part of our lives so much easier. I appreciate this tons. Now off to do my Denise Homework.

[Debra Simpson]

Thanks for the info Denise. I can't believe I could get "Debra Simpson."