Are you connecting? Online presence audit lets you know

Step 3 on the path to successful branding is both the easiest and probably the most overlooked.

You’ve already done the hard parts:

Step 1: Crafting a fully realized Personal Brand.

Step 2: Implementing that fully realized Personal Brand.

Step 3: Determining if that brand is connecting with your audience.

There are simple ways to see if your message is reaching an audience – and more importantly the intended audience.

It begins with an audit of your online presence.

Start by Googling yourself. What comes up? Is it what you want people to see/learn about you? Are there articles that mention you or your brand that you’re not aware of?

That’s not the end though. It’s not good enough to know what’s out there. It’s important to know how people find you.

You need to determine what strangers/potential clients find when they search for you or your brand. Use Google Analytics to determine how and where your work is being disseminated. Use free tools to measure your reach on social media networks, particularly Facebook and Twitter.
SEO, SEO, SEO. The first step in search engine optimization is to determine what it is you’re really optimizing for, according to Tom Demers, the co-founder and managing partner of Measured SEM and Cornerstone Content. “This means identifying the terms people are searching for (also known as “keywords”) that you want your website to rank for in search engines like Google,” he writes. (http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/04/30/seo-basics)
Set up Google Alerts on yourself and brand. Get email notification when new mentions of you or your business appear online. Go to www.google.com/alerts.
Check major review websites to see if you’re listed. Make sure the information is accurate. Then read the reviews – all of them, positive and negative. Learn from them and respond if appropriate.