1. Just Google me
How to control your first impression on
the web

2. What We’ll Cover…
1. How important are your search results and why?
2. What is SEO and how can it help?
3. Controlling your own results – the most important
tactics to get started
4. Emergency tactics: How to handle an unwanted
result on your first page
5. Our Story: Why BrandYourself is dedicated to
making this easy for anyone 

3. How important are
your search results?

4. Very important:
1 billion
names are Googled everyday
&
75%
of HR departments are required
to research candidates online

5. The Problem:
Most people are not
represented by well-branded
content about themselves
Most people fall into 1 of 3 categories…

6. ...the negative category

7. ...the irrelevant category

8. ...the “hey that’s not me” category

9. And It’s not just about suppressing
negative content to protect your reputation…
Negative
Negative
Content
Content

10. It’s just as important to promote positive
content that helps your reputation
Positive
Positive
Content
Content

11. What can you do?
Create positive content and make sure it
shows up over negative, irrelevant or
other people’s results

12. Simple, right?

13. Wrong…
Because, search engines make mistakes

14. Many people create all types of content about
themselves but it doesn't’t show up
• Search engines don’t understand what it’s about
• Search engines don’t think it’s a credible source
• Search Engines simply can’t find it

15. Question:
So how CAN you control your
search results?

16. Answer: SEO
“Search Engine Optimization” is the process of creating or
improving content to make sure it shows up as high as
possible for a specific keyword (YOUR NAME)

17. SEO Basics: Factors You
Should Understand
vs.

18. Techniques to Avoid:
Manipulative or “black hat” tactics
•Cloaking
•Link stuffing
•Keyword stuffing
These are tactics that commercial sites use for high
traffic keywords that get them banned
Rule of thumb: If you ever hear anyone guarantee results, run

19. Now It’s Time to take
control

20. Step 1: Get Your Domain Name
• Cost: $5 a year
• Make sure you use yourname.com or some
variation with your name in it (petekistleronline.com)
• Register it for as long as possible (2 years or more)
– Even if you don’t plan on using it immediately, it keeps
someone else from taking it and hijacking a result on your
first page
• Where to get your domain: Namecheap.com

21. Step 1:
Build A Personal Site
There are so many free & easy ways to build a site
These rank highest:
• Wordpress • Tumblr
• Weebly • About.Me
• Blogger • Many Others
•Our recommendation: Wordpress (flexible design, very SEO friendly)

22. Step 1:
Structure Your Site Well
Make sure your name exists in all of these places and
you’ll be off to a good start:
• Title of website
• Headline of each page
• Navigation
Tip: Use WordPress All-in-one-SEO-Pack plugin

23. Step 1:
Fill it with relevant content about
YOU
Tip: Use your name wherever you can

24. Step 1:
Start Blogging
Google loves updated/active content.
Blogging is an easy way to keep your site ranking high
Unless you are an objectively terrible writer with no
intention to improve, you should be writing blog posts
Tip: Subscribe to relevant RSS feeds in your industry and write one
reaction a week

25. Step 2: Get on Social Networks
Search Engines love ranking social networks high because they
are credible and constantly updated
Our Favorites:
• Twitter • Google +
• Facebook • Meetup
• LinkedIn • Quora

26. Step 2:
Keep it clean or keep it private
Keep in mind: Nothing is really private online

27. Step 2:
Use your REAL name
Good:

28. Step 2:
Use your REAL name
Bad:

29. Step 2:
Link to all your other content
Let search engines know they are all “voting” for each other to rank high

30. Step 2:
Fill it with well-branded content
If you create good content that people care
about, people will share it and like it, and
search engines will notice

31. Step 3: Create Online
Profiles & Directories
Here are some high
ranking places you can put
your name and bio.
** Use your full name, add your bio,
and add links to everything

32. Bonus: Emergency Tactics
How to handle negative content…

33. Bonus:
Create High Ranking Content Quickly
Get as much new content as possible onto the first
page to push other stuff down
• Write a press release Might cost you $300 dollars, but it will probably show up
in the first page (write about the fact that you just made a website)
• Comment on relevant news articles Not the most “branded” result, but it
shows up fast
• Throw an Event on MeetUp Use your name in the title. Actually invest in a
good event
• Create profiles on your local college and government sites
Search engines love .gov and .edu profiles the best. Be creative. There is
somewhere you can create a profile

34. Bump it off
Google doesn’t play favorites.
Generally speaking Google only ranks 1 result
per domain for your name

35. “Bump it Off” Example:

36. “Bump it Off” Example:

37. How to Bump it Off:
1. Go create a reader profile on HuffingtonPost.com
2. Optimize it
1. Make sure you use your name
2. Fill it out with as much info as they let you (use your optimized
bio)
3. Link to it from as many of your profiles and websites as you
can
4. Keep it active: commenting on articles and tweet it out when
you can
Tip: Most news sites let you create a profile, but there are other ways to create
a result for your name. Example: commenting on an article using your name.

38. BrandYourself has a free product that’s easy
for anybody to do
“It’s the absolute best - there’s nothing like it - and their
management team is handsome and single”
– Patrick Ambron, CEO of BrandYourself

39. How we came up
with BrandYourself

40. BrandYourself started as a problem, that turned
into an idea, that turned into a mission

41. The Problem: Pete Kistler, a co-founder, was a model
student, but couldn‘t get an internship
3.9 GPA
Successful entrepreneur
Leader on campus
Founder of multiple clubs
Several relevant internships

42. He was being mistaken online for an ex-con with the same name

43. He couldn’t change it, because he wasn’t:
This Guy This Guy
Or
A tech genius who could A high net worth individual
do it himself who could pay thousands
for a reputation firm to do it

44. The Mission:
To help anyone get some control over
their search results with a simple and
free do-it-yourself platform

45. Accomplishments
Where we started
• Launched in 2010 from a dorm room at SU
• No Marketing Budget, no resources, no idea what we were doing
Where we are Now:
• 11 full-time employees
• Over 160,000 customers
• Named top 5 collegiate entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur magazine
• Named #1 Emerging Business in NYS ($200k prize)
• $1.5 Million in Funding

46. How BrandYourself Works
Our tools simplify Search Engine Optimization so
anybody can do it

47. “But my Google results are fine!”

48. BrandYourself can still help you!
Our FREE Product will still:
• Alert you if something troubling ever does
appear in your top results
• Keep track of your favorite content’s ranking in
search engines and alert you if it changes.
And if you ever do need a boost in results, you
can log in and use it for that, too

49. Check us out at:
www.BrandYourself.com