I just finished taking my first online class, an Intro to Social Media through Algonquin College. Overall, it was a fun experience and our last assignment on personal branding got me thinking. I’ve always been into blogging, but never really had a cause. I just liked doing it. I’m glad I’ve always had a blog though, because it means that I have control over the first thing that comes up when you search my name in Google. For some folks who haven’t had an online presence as long, their names can get buried by another professional with the same moniker, or, even worse, a criminal, leaving potential employers finding negative results when Googling them.

BrandYourself.com is the solution to this problem. Not only does it help you take control over your search results, it allows you to bury negative content and boost positive links. It’s super easy to use. I’ll walk you through my account:

The home screen gives you a quick overview of your results in Google. Here’s mine for today.

As you can see, I’m doing all right. I have a B+ Search Score, which means that most of Google’s first page of results for the search “Lindsay Casey” are about me, but I could do better. One of the ways is by submitting positive links about myself, which I obviously haven’t done much of yet. Another is by boosting my current links, which BrandYourself helps you to do by suggesting ways to optimize your online profiles.

I signed up for this site a few weeks ago. Let’s have a look at my progress.

When I signed up, this website was the first result. That’s because I bought my domain name years ago and always kept something on it just in case. There are of course other people named Lindsay Casey out there and I wanted to stake my claim. This is always a good idea. However, there were some old links showing up too. Nothing negative, but results from my younger days that I wouldn’t necessarily want a prospective client or employer seeing as their first impression. I buried them using BrandYourself and it seems to have worked. My Twitter account, however, has fallen a point, which I don’t quite understand as I have a steady following and am always updating my account, but the site does say this could happen.

Overall, I think this is a great tool. I’ve only signed up for the free account so far, but I’m thinking about going pro. Anyone interested in boosting their personal brand should definitely be utilizing this tool. I’ll keep playing around with it and report back in a few months. My first priority? Knocking that other Lindsay Casey’s Facebook account off the first page of Google search results. Sorry Lindsay, but I’ve got to do it!