Controlling Your Google Results: The Art and Science of the Personal Press Release

  • 1 min read

Problem: Googling your name doesn’t accurately reflect who you are or what you do.

Solution: Issue a personal press release about a recent accomplishment or noteworthy event to fill Google results for your name with relevant, on-brand content.

1. Choose a topic

First, decide on a newsworthy event or accomplishment you will announce, such as:

  1. Launching a new website
  2. Receiving an award, honor or recognition
  3. Starting a new business
  4. Speaking at an event
  5. Offering a free eBook, newsletter or white paper
  6. Giving a workshop or seminar
  7. Providing pro bono work

2. Write your press release

I wrote the example press release in the gray box for a fictional job applicant named John Stamos looking to control his Google results. Use it as inspiration and follow these steps in writing your release:

  1. Write a headline and sub-headline that summarizes your news
  2. Include your location and the current date
  3. State the event: you launched your website, you received an award, etc.
  4. Write in the third person as if you were a reporter describing the event
  5. Include a quote from yourself
  6. Signify the end of your main content with three pound signs “###” (traditional press release formatting)
  7. Add a short bio written in the third person with your full name spelled out (so it can be found when your name is Googled)
  8. Conclude with your contact info and a link to your website, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles

3. Submit your press release

Now that your press release is written and links to your main sites, it’s time to get it published across the web. Submit your press release to these five free high-ranking newswires:
Every time you submit a press release that links to your website, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, Google sees those links as a “vote” that your profiles should show up closer to the top of results. The more votes you build, the higher your sites rise to the top of search results for your name. Use your press release to boost your main profiles closer to the top of search results.

4. The next step

Once you’ve submitted your press release, you should make sure you’re effectively building a visible and professional personal brand across the web. From here, I recommend reading my personal brand audits, which walk you through the process of building a remarkable online presence:

Good luck and have fun! I’d love to hear your comments below: what do you think about the idea of submitting personal press releases? Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you think it would be difficult to find something to write about? Are you having trouble deciding whether a specific event in your life would make the cut? Let’s keep the discussion going below.

Author:

Pete Kistler is a leading Online Reputation Management expert for Generation Y, a top 5 finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine’s College Entrepreneur of 2009, one of the Top 30 Definitive Personal Branding Experts on Twitter, a widely read career development blogger, and a Judge for the 2009 Personal Brand Awards. Pete manages strategic vision for Brand‐Yourself.com, the first online reputation management platform for job applicants, named one of the Top 100 Most Innovative College Startups in the U.S.

Picture of Pete Kistler

Pete Kistler

Pete Kistler is a top 5 finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine's College Entrepreneur of 2009, a leading Online Reputation Management expert for Generation Y, one of the Top 30 Definitive Personal Branding Experts on Twitter, a widely read career development blogger for Brand-Yourself.com, and a Judge for the 2009 Personal Brand Awards. As CEO, Pete manages strategic vision for Brand‐Yourself.com, the world's first online reputation management platform for job applicants, named one of the Top 100 Most Innovative College Startups in the U.S. He has won a number of top honors for his writing, presentations and business plans.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

A 2026 study of search behavior found that 68 percent of Google searches now end without a single click, and small publishers lost 60 percent of their referral traffic in just two years.

A 2026 study of search behavior found that 68 percent of Google searches now end without a single click, and small publishers lost 60 percent of their referral traffic in just two years.

The Blog Herald
Despite decades of TV detectives insisting that liars can’t hold eye contact, a review of more than 100 scientific studies found no reliable link between how much eye contact someone makes and whether they’re telling the truth

Despite decades of TV detectives insisting that liars can’t hold eye contact, a review of more than 100 scientific studies found no reliable link between how much eye contact someone makes and whether they’re telling the truth

Global English Editing
The Blade That Keeps the Altar Clean: On Skepticism as a Devotional Practice, and the Guru You Meet in the Mirror

The Blade That Keeps the Altar Clean: On Skepticism as a Devotional Practice, and the Guru You Meet in the Mirror

The Vessel
The Body Was Never a Project: On Returning to the First Altar You Ever Knew

The Body Was Never a Project: On Returning to the First Altar You Ever Knew

The Vessel
Across seven studies, on average more than half of the children identified as mistreated at the time did not report it when researchers came back and asked them years later

Across seven studies, on average more than half of the children identified as mistreated at the time did not report it when researchers came back and asked them years later

The Vessel
In Denmark, a retired wind-turbine blade was cut and rebuilt as a bike shelter, turning one of the hardest-to-recycle parts of a wind farm into a roof people lock bikes under every day

In Denmark, a retired wind-turbine blade was cut and rebuilt as a bike shelter, turning one of the hardest-to-recycle parts of a wind farm into a roof people lock bikes under every day

The Vessel
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore