I’d like to share an update on a post I made over a year ago. Its about my on going saga of getting the word “Brian Wong” listed on Google’s search results for personal branding.

In my previous post, I talked about how I got the number one spot on Google and then lost it when I screwed up the SEO on my pages when I switched to WordPress and then got it back again after some tweaking. Hey, we all learn from mistakes right?

Now I’m happy to report that my efforts have paid off. Today, if you type in “Brian Wong” on Google, you will see that I have the top position and have become an “authority site” for the keyword “Brian Wong”. This means that, below the search results, you will see other “sub” pages that have been indexed by Google search engine robots.

Now if you can imagine, this is not an easy task. Just imagine how many “Brian Wong’s” there are in this world!!! It took a while to get it right and so I thought I’d share a few tips on how to do this.

Why Do You Want to Get On Google?
Are you kidding? Of course its important!

Now I know that this may seem like its not for everybody. If your success does not depend on your personal brand, you might prefer to be anonymous. Even so, I would still argue that it is in your best interest to try to control the content that shows up when your name or company is “Googled”. The sooner you do it, the greater likelihood you will control it before someone else does. You never know when you will actually want to use this.

For me, as a business entrepreneur, Internet marketer and where my business success depends on my reputation and on the results I deliver, I need to stand out positively. People need to find me, find my website, trust in me and the services I provide. This is a necessity.

Remember the scene in the movie “Wanted” staring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie where the lead character Google’s his own name and nothing comes up? That symbolized the fact that he was completely unimportant.

Have you ever Googled your own name? What comes up? Who is Googling your name right now? Your clients? Your customers? Your employer and future employers?

Your value in the marketplace will be directly correlated by the search results you get on Google. If nothing shows up, the message is literally “you are not important enough to be listed on our search engine”. The sooner you get this, the sooner you will want to take action to claim your name before someone else does.

How Do You Rank High On Google’s Search Results?

Here are some selected tips for securing your online presence:

1. Secure your domain name.

Getting yourname.com is a important if you still can. It costs less than $10 a year to maintain the domain. For me, I had to purchase “brianwong.com” from a professional squatter. I paid $300 for it but its value to me is priceless. If your preferred dot com domain is taken, then you need to go for the secondary domains like “.name” or “.info” domains.

2. Secure your user name.
Go to every social network, social bookimarking website, video upload website, business networking site (
LinkedIn or Plaxo) and get your name registered. Even if you don’t intend to use it for now. Almost all of them will allow you to specify your website. Create a backlink back to your site from each of these sites.

3. On site SEO
On every webpage, use the “Title”, “Description”, “Content” and “Keyword” meta tags to display the exact information that you want. In my case, its says “Brian is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate in sharing his successes and lessons from his business ventures.”.

4. Create an “About Me” page

Make sure that the keyword (your name or company) appears in almost every page where relevant. Also, include your name on the footer of every page. e.g. Copyright 2009 <you name>

5. Create a Site Map

Now that your site is ready for indexing, create a site map and submit it to Google.

6. Use the “alt” tag in images
If you have images on your website, remember to use the “alt” tag and include your name in it.

7. Backlinks from Sites That Are Ranked on Google

Get other websites that are already ranked to link back to you. Here’s a simple example of how you can do this. You could provide a testimonial for a reputable product that is going to be promoted heavily. Ask for a link back to your website. Win-win because the product owner gets a verifiable testimonial and you get a valuable backlink.

8. Start a WordPress Blog
One of the easiest ways to get an effective online presence is to install a WordPress blog. You can create the onsite SEO tweaks above easily with the many free WordPress plugins and it makes it easy to submit your content to Google, blog directories and RSS directories. Here’s a link to a list of some of my favorite WordPress Plugins.

Finally, if you need more information about Search Engine Optimization, I recommend The SEO Book by Aron Wall. It’s the only book that I have on SEO. And that’s because it has everything you need to know about optimizing your website for search engines.

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Tags: brian wong, domain registration, google, personal branding, search engine, SEO, social bookmarking, social networking, video sharing, Wordpress