If you are online in hopes of earning a living in one way or another, you are likely already aware that building a strong brand isn’t just about you. It is about the value you are providing your readers, customers or clients as a whole. That means bringing them great content from others.
As much as we think Google gets it wrongs around here, there are some things they get right. Search, Plus Your World can be one of those things for you. It can be a great way to build your reputation as a valuable resource in your community.
How It Works
I asked about LinkedIn experiences yesterday on my Facebook Page. At the end of the day, the final word was that not many of us are using it effectively…but, we would like to! I set out this morning to find us some information and/or tutorials.
As is always the case, I want the recommendations of those I follow. That is why I follow them after all. 
Rather than waiting around for responses from social media or email, I can easily pull up LinkedIn-related posts and conversations that people in my social circles have shared publicly with a quick Google search using the Personal search parameter.
The results I am returned are all from those in my Google+ circles. Some are posts shared on Google+. Others are posts authored by those in my Google+ circles. Still others are simply discussions about LinkedIn that were conducted on Google+. Regardless, I’m rather confident these are all results that will provide me value. In turn, these folks get a nice bump on my Online Reputation Meter.
How to Work It to Boost Your Reputation
Create a Google+ Profile
- Share valuable content created by you and others (in many cases, this can be done without leaving a blog now)
- Add a little introduction for your followers (what Google returned me for “LinkedIn” came from the text added by the sharer not the link or preview. This is something I need to work on.)
Add the Authorship Markup to Your Blogs
Your readers are not watching your online activity 24 hours per day. They are not going to see everything you share. Even if they did, they may not need it at this moment. Make it easy for them to find it when the time is right.
Do you use Google’s Personal search option? If not, do you think it could cut down on your research time?
About Angie Nelson
Thanks for this, I have been meaning to do this and add authorship to my posts but still haven’t gotten around to it so your post is a motivator for me.
I hear ya, Leah. I think the instructions were entirely too complicated at first. They are much easier to implement now, and there are some great tutorials available if needed.
I was just reading something yesterday about how to add Google authorship to Thesis! I really need to go do that
I also appreciate your recommendation on using the social search parameters to find things from the people you follow. I do believe that would save me a lot of time!
If you need any help setting up the authorship markup, let me know.