The new work-from-home economy may have been spawned by the Coronavirus pandemic, but get used to it because WFH is not going away. Now more than ever, your online presence needs to reflect your professional reputation. By taking these five small steps, you can significantly enhance your digital image and professional reputation.
1. Google yourself.
Go ahead and open a second browser in "incognito" mode and type in your name. No cheating, an incognito browser gives you the true prospect experience. When a prospect first hears about you from a referral, chances are they will google you and/or your business name before they do anything else. We want to learn what their search yields.
Let’s assess your search results. How easy (or difficult) is it to find you? Do you come up on the first page? How about the top three results? What websites came up? Is it your company website, LinkedIn profile, or is it something different, like your after-work softball league?
Search isn’t the only result worth reviewing; click over to images and videos to learn what else is online and about you.
How satisfied are you with the results? If you like them, great! If you don’t, the good news is that the internet is editable. It just takes a little patience and persistence. To accomplish this, you need to post more content about and by you so that that is indexed by Google.
Quick Tips:
• Own your name, literally. Go buy yourname.com (if you don’t already own it) then redirect to your website or professional bio.
• Wear a digital name tag. If you were less than satisfied with your image results, take your most recent, highest quality, favorite headshot (or few) and rename them with your name and company name, e.g., John Doe_Retirement Partners.jpg, and repost those everywhere.
2. Add a banner.
While you’re still in incognito mode, go to your LinkedIn profile. What do you see? Is your smiling face looking back at you, or is it a Darth Vader-like silhouette? What about a banner? Custom banners add depth and personality to your social media profile.
Quick Tip: Visit canva.com/create/banners/linkedin/ to personalize a banner. As an idea, use your company logo, a stock image of boardroom, a beautiful landscape, and/or design your own.
3. QC your website.
Find any hour that works next Wednesday and block it off. Then review your website in that allotted hour. Start with the navigation. Then read the text. Are there any typos? Any misalignments or out-of-place spacing? Then look at images; do they tell a story? Assess your brand consistency: what colors and fonts are used; are they consistent throughout? Do you have any “coming soon” pages? If you do, hide them. What year is the copyright on your website? When was your last blog post? What else could use some updating?
Read more commentary by Rebecca Hourihan here.
Also, don’t forget about mobile. Take out your phone and repeat the QC exercise. How does your website appear? Is the font too small or too big? How is the spacing (white space, overlapping content)? How is the navigation? In 2018, more than 51% of searches were conducted on cellphones, so while mobile might not seem as important as desktop, it’s actually more important. Take the time to shore up your mobile website for a great digital impression.
Once you have completed your list of preferred edits, send it to your website team. Give them a week and schedule a call for the following Wednesday to review together.
4. Record a company video.
What a nice way to “meet” you. As we continue to practice social distancing, a company video has the power to showcase your professionalism and personality and demonstrate your experience. It doesn’t have to be long; 60 to 90 seconds will do just fine. Use the video to introduce who you are, what you do and how you can help your clients.
Then post this video on your website, social media profile and YouTube. This will index the video with Google and thus immediately improve your search results.
5. Get social.
While social distancing has shut down most in-person events, there is no reason to let that keep you from connecting. A lot of networking has moved to social media and video conferencing; this presents the opportunity to engage without having to commute, meaning more time and opportunities to connect digitally.
Quick Tip: Consider joining LinkedIn groups, small business associations and local networking groups. And don’t forget to actually engage: connect with them on social media, and like, comment, share and interact with your new connections.
By taking these five steps, you can greatly improve your searchability. This will help you get noticed online, all while enhancing your professional digital reputation as a retirement plan expert.
Thanks for reading and Happy Marketing!
Rebecca Hourihan, AIF, PPC, is the founder and CMO of 401(k) Marketing, which she founded to assist qualified experts operate a professional business with professional marketing materials and ongoing awareness campaigns.
