10 recommendations for personal website optimization by Tony Green

You have finally decided to launch your personal website. The primary goal is to own your name on Google. Even if you are not ranked number one then, at minimum, to place consistently on the top of the fold of Search Results. Where do you start? Google uses over 200 parameters in order to choose the most relevant ranking for a given keyword what can do to get a good start on improving your showing on Google?
Here are my recommendations that I found effective in getting started on working my personal website to the top of the results for my name.

1. Personal Name in URL

The key word on the URL is exceedingly important. For a personal site you want to ensure your name in included in one way or the other. In the event you are unable to get the URL you desire a URL with your name included will suffice, example, www.tonygreen.name. In my case www.tonygreen.com was already taken so I used mytonygreen.com

2. Personal Blog link to and from website

It is worthwhile once a website is created to try to launch a blog was well and ensure they are linked to each other. This maximizes your chances to places well for your name and allows the possibility of one visitor to visit both sites. The links which are established will give a boost to your results.

3. Use name in as many anchors as possible

In order to maximize the chance of your name placing well in search results anchors are a good tools. This involves including your name in any links going to other pages on your website or to an external location. As an example on the homepage of my website I have the link to my blog as “Tony Green Blog” instead of the full URL which is http://www.markanthonyblogspot.com

4. Use name in website page Title

One of the items that you should think about when deciding the name of the heading sections is trying to include your full name. Heading sections are important as it tells Google what the site is about. Try to ensure the subject of the page, you, is contained in the heading. For example on my website the site I dedicated to marketing is called Tony Green Marketing. Be sure to make the HTML as H1, H2 and simply increase the font size of the header.

5. Use personal name in alt image tags for all pictures posted to the site example tony photo

Ensure all photos placed on your site have in the alt tag. Not only will this enable those who are disabled to know what your picture is about but allow your name to show up the results under images. The alt tag in contained within the html that accompanies the image. For example a personal photo in my case could use Tony Green’s photo in the alt tag.

6. Use name in file names

When you load you file to the server try to include your name whenever possible. In the event you want visitors to your website to download files try to have the file with the name included. Example if you wanted to post a copy of your resume a possible name for the file could be “Tony Green’s Resume”.

7. Use name in H1 tag

Try to use your name in any headings, if possible. This should be implemented not only for the title but any situation where content is classified by use of a header.

8. Use name intermittently in text

In attempts to indicate a page of your website is about you try use your name while trying to maintain readability. Your name should be used in enough frequency to let the search engine spider know what the page is about. A good guide is to refer to your name page in 2-5% of the word on a page.

9. Use name in Title Tag

The title tag is what tells what the page is about. It is what shown up on a browser in the upper left hand corner. Example, Tony’s Green Website

10. Use name on Meta Description

Include the name in the character text that tells the search engine spider what the site is about. In my case in the homepage of my site I use the terms, Tony Green website, Tony Green’s professional life and Tony Green’s life story.

These tips will not ensure you will be able to place your personal website at the top of the search engine rankings. Your content and the time that your website exists in addition to your completion will have a great influence on your placement. From time to time the criteria search engines use to determine page rankings change. However, these ten tips should put you well on the road to placing well for your name. Why not own it? It is your name, isn’t it?