Why should you build your personal brand?
Creating a strong personal brand for yourself establishes you as a natural leader and opens doors for professional opportunities.
If you’re looking for a better job, you want your potential boss at your ideal company to associate your personal brand with something that she needs on her team.
One of the most important brand assets is your personal website. It will communicate your brand message to your target audience.
Your personal website is the most important part of your brand strategy. Securing social accounts and doing other things in this chapter are important, but securing your own domain name is number one on the list. The reason is that you own the content on your own site and you control the platform.
In this post, we’ll share the 5 tips when building your own personal brand online. Follow along, and you can be proud of the reputation and identity you share with the world.
Tips #1: Use website rather than social network
Miriam Salpeter, a job search coach, owner of Keppie Careers, and author of Social Networking for Career Success and 100 Conversations for Career Success, agrees. She adds: “Having your own website allows you to control what people will find when they search for you. More and more, we hear that employers are Googling candidates to learn more about them. When you have your own website, you have an opportunity to demonstrate a portfolio of information about you and to provide further information (via links) so employers can learn more about you.”
Think of your online personal brand strategy like a large tree. The trunk of the tree is the strongest. It’s the center of your entire strategy. The tree trunk is your personal website. You can control the tree. You can nurture it and make sure it’s strong for a long time.
And to top it all off, you don’t really own the content you create on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. When you publish content on your own domain, you are the owner.
Tips #2: You need a good domain name
Your domain name is the first thing people see when they go to your website. It your online address of your business. So a good domain name gives you credibility and helps customers find you.
I recommend getting an exact-match domain for your brand name. Since people generally trust a website URL that matches your name as close as possible.
The best possible domain is the one that fits your preferred name.
Choose a .com domain, but if it isn’t available then .net, .org, .co, or .me are fine substitutes.
If you’re preferred domain name is already registered, see if you can deal with the current owner. If not, secure a name that is similar and use the .com suffix if at all possible.
Then make sure your domain’s spelling is very easy to get correct for someone just sounding it out. This way, you’ll be able to mention your domain easily in casual conversation, and the person you’re talking to will be able to find it without worrying about the spelling.
Once you have a winning domain name, make sure you secure it as soon as possible. The last thing you want is for someone to snatch it before you have the chance to.
You may also want to register your domain name with Wix, they offer a variety of options for managing your domain. You can register a new domain name, or connect your own domain name, and set up your professional email address to match your domain.
It’s very easy to register your domain at Wix, please follow this video:
You can get a free domain name when you upgrade your Wix website to their yearly Premium Plans
Tips #3: Choose a good platform for your website
There are many different ways to build a website and more opinions on what is best.
And one of the best also very easy to build your professional website is Wix Website Builder.
They have everything you need to build a complete online web presence from scratch, with hundreds of designer templates to choose from and a user-friendly drag-and-drop web editor.
Unlike many website builders, there are no creative limits to how much you can customize the templates you use, from fonts and images to page transition effects—but you still don’t have to write a lick of code.
Wix also provides the option for ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), that will learn about you and applies this knowledge to create the perfect website for your needs. From billions of combinations including layouts, images, text, contact forms and more, Wix ADI selects the most stunning just for you – creating a one-of-a-kind free website.
As you can see in this video:
Tips #4: Add content to your website
Before starting on the content, think about what you want a brand new visitor to the homepage to know about you. And consider how they can figure out what you want them to know within a second or two.
At the homepage you can start by add your name, description and taglines. Make sure that you want people to instantly know what you do or who you are. Keep it as simple and descriptive as possible. You can further describe what you do later on the homepage or on the about page.
Then create your about page, a page where you tell your story. You want the focus to be on where you are now and where you’re going in the coming years.
Add portfolio page to show off any kind of work you’ve done – graphic design, programming projects, writing.
And your contact page that tells people how they can get in touch with you. It might have a contact form as well.
Tips #5: Build a blog
Your website isn’t static; it’s dynamic. It’s ever-changing. The moment you accomplish something, you can add it to your website. You don’t need to print new copies of it and send it out to your contacts over and over; you just update it. People can continually come back and see what you’re up to.
With a blog, you can provide fresh, relevant content that appeals to your target audience. You can showcase your expertise, experience and personality on an ongoing basis. With a targeted blog strategy complete with blog promotion, you can attract your target audience to your blog posts and to your website where they can read your content, get to know you and become interested in what you do.
Conclusion
A personal brand is like a garden. Once you lay the groundwork and plant the seeds, you’ll be in a great position to eventually reap the benefits. However, it still takes time and dedication to nurture and expand your creation. As you continue to develop your personal brand, stay consistent with your efforts, pay close attention to how your audience responds to your content, and hone your direction until your focus is razor sharp.
How about your personal website? I hope you found this post is useful. Please don’t hesitate to give your comment below. Thanks!
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