Taking control over Brand You online requires that you are active, otherwise other people will define the image of you. By using different types of social media you can influence your own brand because many web 2.0 services like blogs and micro blogs rank very high in a Google search. Already back in 2005 I noticed that journalist blogs trump articles in traditional media - an entire career on a newspaper can't match the high rank of a personal blog.

My own blog and social media tools have ranked high in a search for "Hans Kullin" on Google but other channels are beginning to eat their way into the very top results. Tags are beginning to have a huge impact on Google. The top ten results for my name on Google.se are:

1. The "About me" page on this blog
2. This blog
3. Blog posts tagged with my name on www.s-bloggar.se
4. Blog posts tagged with my name on mindpark.se
5. Blog post at fyranyanser.se with my name in the headline
6. My profile page on profsweden.ning.com
7. Blog post at bisonblog.blogs.com/blog with my name in the headline
8. My page at micro blog service bloggy.se
9. My page at micro blog service jaiku.com
10. Blog posts tagged with my name on sv.wordpress.com

So this blog still claims the two top spots, although I have chosen 1) not to name the blog after myself, 2) not have my entire name as the domain name and 3) not have my name in the title tag.

The first traditional media link comes in at result number 16 and the first professional link (my employer) is at #25.

It is interesting that two blog posts from 2006 still rank so high (#5 and #7) on my name. I wonder why that is. Either way, the conclusion is that although I am extremely active on social media I only "control" five of the top ten results. And although I am certainly no SEO expert, here are some quick advice on how to make your own channels rank higher up in Google in a search for your name.

1. Choose your name as the domain name for your blog.
2. Put your name in the title tag of your blog.
3. Name the title of your "About me" page with your name.
4. Publish at least one blog post with your name in the post title (see title of this blog post), especially if you already have your urls set up so that they match the title of the blog post.
5. Where suitable, use your name as a tag in your own blog post.
6. Register for a few micro blog services and use your real name in the profile.

But what about Facebook and MySpace? Yes, valid question. I thought that these pages would rank high but I guess no one is linking to my profile page which means that my Facebook profile is only at #52 in Google. But of course, a presence on networks like Facebook, Ning or LinkedIn is important too.

These are my random thoughts. Any SEO experts out there that would like to add comments?

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