If you are a recent grad or someone looking to make a career move, make sure to think about your presence on the internet. Last year, 92 percent of recruiters used social media in the recruiting process. If a hiring manager looked you up online, what would he or she find? You can give yourself that extra edge and stand out from the crowd by taking control of your digital footprint. And, the easiest way to do that? Register a domain name and secure your professional space online to show who you are and what you can offer. In fact, 56 percent of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool.
Here’s how you can start building your personal brand online:
1. Define Your Brand
The most critical decision in personal branding is figuring out what you want to be known for. For instance, do you want to showcase certain skills, values, knowledge or experiences? The more you can focus in on your unique talents and point-of-view, the better. The goal is to stand out from your peers and establish a narrative that is authentic and showcases the very best of what you can offer to a potential employer.
2. Register a Domain Name
Once you know how you want to define your brand, get your own space on the Internet and register a domain name (or Web address) that reflects your brand’s direction. Registering your name is always a safe bet, but a descriptive domain name can better convey your brand (and also be more memorable). You should select a domain name extension (i.e., the part after the “dot”) that is credible and well recognized, like .com or .net so that it supports your personal brand. Read more on how to choose a domain name.
3. Choose the Right Vehicle
>Next, consider how you want to communicate your message. Your social media pages may be sufficient to carry your brand, but a personal website can also provide additional flexibility, control and maximum awareness. If you choose to stick with social media alone, let’s say your LinkedIn profile, you can redirect the domain name you register to your profile page. Increasingly, people are taking advantage of this Web forwarding feature. In fact, redirects from .com and .net domain names to LinkedIn increased 16 percent from Q1 to Q2 of this year. Doing this not only gives you a branded Web address to highlight your resume and experience, it also eliminates the work of creating a website from scratch.
4. Be Consistent in Your Delivery
To build trust and confidence, consistency is key. Like strong corporate brands, strong personal brands carefully choose a set of core principles and messages and focus on them throughout all aspects of the brand’s execution. Consider creating a branded email address that matches your domain name to create a sense of professionalism and extend your brand. If you already have a Gmail account, learn how to forward your new branded email to Gmail.
Start creating your personal identity online today and begin your search for a domain name on personalspaceonline.com
