In more than a billion people on earth, no one is like you. You are unique. However, your name may not be unique. Chances are with many people migrating to other nations and with inter-racial marriages, there’s a high chance that you have a name sake.
Among all the people with the same or almost the same name, how’d you differentiate yourself? How’d you like to stand-out first? Or be the first in mind when that name pops-up?
With the Internet being more social, many have treats the web an extension of themselves.
No wonder, people ask for your URL on Facebook or Twitter, and many business people expect for you to include your social accounts or website on your business card.
While businesses now NEED to have a website(s) now and social networking accounts for easier communication with their market.
So it is just essential to manage your online reputation, whether for personal or corporate, to start-off by getting your name online right, on the most important places on the Internet.
LESSON ON ONLINE REPUTATION
This is a thing I learned in 2007 when out of nowhere, I googled my name Rey Belen on the Internet. Voila, I am not alone. In the Philippines, I have many namesakes. Plus, there are other Rey Belens from other countries.
So, what did I think of that time?
Well, first, I searched if there is a ReyBelen.com already. And good thing, nobody, with the same namesake thought of buying the domain first.
So, even if I was busy that time and do not intend to blog yet, I decided to buy the domain and get it for myself.
I chose dot-com since most people think of websites normally with a .com suffix.
Next, is that I reserved my preferred name on social networks with their vanity URLs. Since I registered ReyBelen.com as my site, I opted to add the “ReyBelen” extension (website.com/ReyBelen ) for myself on Friendster, Multiply that time.
Then, during recent years, I made sure to get it on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Google Plus, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
It is a usual policy of sites to just allot a vanity URL, virtually for life, to one user. And even if the user deletes the account, or was removed by the site provider, it cannot be used by another user anymore.
This is a good practice for brands and people who wanted to grow their presence online. Making it easier to promote “ONE” name across all platform and easier for people to add or follow.
After this, I hope you bear in mind that one of the first things you need to do now as part of your branding and online reputation management, whether for personal or corporate, is to claim those vanity URLs available for you.
- Reserve your preferred domain name
- Claim (if still available) vanity URL on social networking accounts
- Align all your network under one name (eg. @ReyBelen or @MyCompanyName)
In essence, buying a domain and claiming vanity URLs on social networks with your preferred name is similar to reserving a lot for your home. It is best to get it as early as you can, so you have the “luxury” to choose the best place for you.
In a “shrinking” world we have now due to technology and increasing population, I wouldn’t be surprised if somehow sometime, you have a slimmer chance of claiming name on the Internet.
Law of supply and demand. 😉
Rey Belen