Web Presence: What’s in a Name?

June 28, 2010 - By Dieter Schweiss

In a previous post on personal branding, I wrote about the importance of managing your web presence. One of the most obvious ways to do this is to take ownership of the information that people may find when they search for your name on the Internet. However, this is easier said than done. If you have a common name, like John Smith, then you know that searching for your name will likely turn up more information for other people than it will for you. Even if you have an uncommon name, like–say–Dieter Schweiss, you can find information that may surprise you.

For example, I recently searched my name on Google, and I found a page for me on a site where high school students can rate their teachers. Once upon a time, I taught Physics and General Science courses for a high school in Florida. Luckily, my stats were pretty good, but I was very surprised to find that page. (What does your name say about you?)

Quiet Rumbling

Many books on personal branding recommend using your real name in your personal brand whenever possible. However, one way to make your name stand out, especially if you have a very common name, is to create a web persona. When I first started using Twitter, I decided to use Quiet Rumbling (@QuietRumbling) as my Twitter name because I wanted to be relatively anonymous while learning my way around the micro-blogging service. Later, I added my real name to my profile on Twitter, so that I could associate my real name with my web persona. (I did not intentionally plan for Quiet Rumbling to be the name for my personal brand on the Internet, but that is what it has become.) I even created a blog called Quiet Rumbling on Blogger to further expand the web presence for my brand.

Miss Destructo

One person who has done a masterful job of building a personal brand is Amber Osborne, better known by her web persona of Miss Destructo (@missdestructo). Her web site, Destructo Deviations, is the home of her blog, and it’s also the front end for her business. Since I first started following her on Twitter, she has greatly expanded her web presence to include a Facebook page for Miss Destructo. She has also started attending social media conferences and representing the Bruce’s Yams brand (@brucesyams) on Twitter and on Facebook.

Naming Is Key

Consistency across various social media sites is very important. You should claim your name on as many sites as possible for future use. Whether you use your real name or create a web persona to manage your web presence, one tool that I have found invaluable is the name checking site of namechk.com. This site allows you to enter a name and search over 70 popular social media sites, to see if that name is available on each one. Before you push forward with your web presence, be sure to use this free site to check for your name. If it is not available on key sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, tumblr, etc., then you may want to reconsider the name for your personal brand.

Above all else, before moving ahead with your web presence, remember to have a plan. Carefully consider who you want to be and the best way to present yourself on the web. Once you choose a name, stick with it. (Note that on Twitter, short names are generally better than long names for a variety of reasons, including for retweeting and for ease of remembering.) For better or worse, this will be the name people will know you by, so choose wisely.