What is a simple, but effective way of taking control of search results for your name?
These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs.
1. Claim Your Business on Reviews Sites
“Most often when you search for a business name on Google, Bing, etc. the first thing you see is the business’s website and a few important links from that website. You’ll also notice many review sites below the main website links such as Trustpilot, Glassdoor and the BBB. Make sure to sign up and claim your business on those sites to help control what shows in the search results.”
Jared Weitz, United Capital Source
2. Turn on Google Alerts
“Use Google alerts to notify you whenever your name shows up in search results. Then if your name shows up for a negative incident, you should first send a takedown notice and then potentially do damage control by sharing your side of the story or also creating content to override and drown it out.”
Cody McLain, SupportNinja
3. Optimize Your LinkedIn Account
“LinkedIn profiles typically rank high in search results, so you want to make sure your profile is as complete and as polished as possible. Specifically, create an eye-catching headline and summary. Make sure your profile includes at least a few recommendations. It also helps to personalize your URL (make sure it includes your name), and set your entire profile to “public.””
Shu Saito, Godai Soaps
4. Take Blogging Seriously
“The thing about Google is that people don’t often look further than page three. If you want to control the search results to your name, you want to focus on creating blog articles and images that are on the first few pages. Create an in-depth “About Me” page as well as blog posts while researching keywords to focus on writing content people will be searching for.”
5. Create Detailed Profiles on All Relevant Social Media Platforms
“Have a comprehensive profile on social media to dominate search results for your name — sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr and Flickr. If you have a common name, include your middle name. This all may be simple, but it will require time and effort invested, good SEO and backlinks to rank these pages.”
Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors
6. Start Guest Posting on Credible Sites
“Guest posting on credible sites and publications will allow you to take control of search results for your name. The guest posts you write for credible sites will rise to the top of search results so that when people search for your name, they’ll see that you’re associated with the best, most high-quality sites.”
7. Discover How People Are Finding You
“Do prospects search for your product or service by its name? Or, do they search for their problem and possible solutions? If you want to show up in more search results, create content that search engines determine to be relevant and useful.”
Stanley Meytin, True Film Production
8. Spread Your Digital Footprint With Backlinks to Your Website
“When anyone searches your name, ideally your website shows up first. A few ways to assure that happens: buy the domains for your name, backlink all your social media sites to your website, backlink your name and get some coverage via podcasts, blogs, radio and other outlets and have them backlink your website and name to your main site. This will ensure your website ranks for you name.”
David Ehrenberg, Early Growth Financial Services
9. Use a Tool to Monitor What’s Being Said About You Online
“Use a tool to monitor what’s being said about you online. While you can’t control what other people say about your company, you can control how you respond and handle the situation. If someone left a bad review of you somewhere online, you can discover it and reply to them in an attempt to reach a resolution.”
John Turner, SeedProd LLC
10. Google Yourself in Incognito Mode
“First, you need to see what comes up when you search your name. Sign out of your Google account or open an incognito window and search for your name. Look through the results and see what comes up. You might find that years ago you’ve created online accounts that you no longer want to be associated with. When you do discover those unwanted results, delete those accounts or remove your info.”
Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
11. Be Selective With Your Media Interviews
“To effectively manage your public image, including the search results for your name, be selective about the media interviews you give. Work with bloggers and reporters who understand your accomplishments, ambitions and values so they can articulate those well. It’s easy for audiences to misinterpret things, so just be mindful about how others present information about you.”
Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep
12. Flood Google with Information
“To own the SERP for searches of your company name, you must flood Google with information and make it believe that you should be at the top. Do these by getting PR, creating profiles on high authority sites like Crunchbase or Wikipedia, publishing guest posts, adding schema to display the Knowledge Graph and creating a Google My Business listing.”
Colton Gardner, Neighbor
13. Turn to Professionals for Help
“If your personality attracts more and more attention and it’s not always positive, the good news is that you can fix that. There are lots of strategies you can use to take control of search results for your name, but the most effective ones take a lot of time. If you don’t have any, hire a reputation management company and let them take care of all this for you.”
Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS
