If you don’t have a Google Profile yet, you may want to consider setting one up for a number of reasons. To see what one looks like, take a look at mine.
First, what is a Google Profile?
It’s a personal page where you are able to share information about yourself on the various Google services, but it’s a lot more than that too. It’s a publicly available page you can use to tell people a bit about yourself and your business, and add links to your blog, website, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.
Why should you have a Google Profile?
- Think about it – it’s a Google product! Since they like their own stuff they’re going to make sure your profile shows up when people search for you. If you have a profile, and use your full name, it’ll show up at the bottom of the first page when someone searches for you on Google. (Search for me to see what I’m talking about – Therese Kopiwoda.)
- Your Google Profile can serve as a holding page for all your stuff. Since you can add links to all your social media accounts and websites, it’s a great way to give people a snapshot of who you are. Rather than directing people to your accounts separately, you’ll give them the URL to your page on Google and they can go from there. Better yet, get your own domain and redirect it to your profile. It’ll be easier to remember than the default URL (and probably shorter). Mine is simply www.ThereseKopiwoda.com.
- If you have a business you want people to find it, and since people want to know who they’re doing business with, your Google Profile is an excellent way to give people the info they’re looking for. In this way it helps build your total online presence – both for your business and yourself.
- Anybody who’s looking for a job needs to have a Google Profile! Hiring managers will look for you online before they call you for an interview. If you have a well-crafted profile with links to some of your accounts, and even some recommendations, your potential employer will find it.
How to set up your profile
Google Profiles are super easy to set up. Go to their setup page and follow the directions. It’ll only take a few minutes, and you can tweak it as often as you’d like.
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Since Google + has been deployed, we have been experiencing problems with reviews left by some clients not showing up on Google Maps. There is some information about it in the Google Forums, but not definitive answers – states Google is aware of the problem and is checking on it. Has anyone had this problem and can anyone comment on any remedies? Thanks!
Great post Therese! I couldn’t agree more. As you know, I’m a huge Google Profile advocate as well. Hope you don’t mind if I share my post from last year where I made a how to video that goes through step by step how to make a google profile. Yes, it’s no surprise that Google rankings like Google profiles. Doh!
http://www.socialmediatherapy.com/2009/08/30/want-google-to-find-you/
I don’t mind at all! The more info people have, the better. Thanks, Sue!