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?

Now everyone has personal website by Tony Green

Nowadays almost everyone maintains a personal website. A website is similar to having a mobile phone; a person may not need one, however, no one wants to feel excluded by not owning their own Universal Resource Locator (URL).

The only problem is since you have no idea what launching a website involves where do you start?

A good place to start is a name. Your given name works best. In the event it is not obtainable due to the (URL) being taken by someone else other options are available. Examples include if you are a senior or if you hold a title such as Ph.D.
Once a name for the domain is chosen it will need to be registered. There are many wonderful Web hosting programs to take care of this. Some include 1-on-1,Go-Daddy, and Yahoo!.

Assuming the chosen name is accessible and you encounter success in registering your domain a plan of what you want your website to be think of the following question: what do you like people viewing to find out about you?
This will, as you would expect, lead to the content you will include within the website. In the end, the material you write will pull readers in at first and keep them coming back. The best material to include is anything you may think someone else may find interesting. Examples of content would be ideas you are passionate about, your life story, hobbies, jobs, family, etc.
Now we will need a format to present this information. Infinite ways exist to arrange the contents. Regardless, the one item which needs to be established is home page. This is the first page a viewer accesses and gives visitors and idea of what your site contains. Some good things to add are your picture and links to everything else that is included.

No hard rules for material, although within the sections enough information should be enough to get to know a person. Popular choices include professional background (breathe life into your VC), Fast Facts (public associations, and schools and universities attended). Add a resume for kicks, or a video of yourself to complete the package.

Whew! All done! Now the fun begins on maintaining the website by updating with new content……..

I maintain a personal web site if you wondering …..http://www.tonygreen.name

Someone actually looked at my website? By Tony Green

A year ago I started my personal website partly because, at the time, creating a website seemed like a neat thing to do and I had seen some other good personal websites and technology has made it easy to get a site up in a small amount of time.

The idea was to make information available about myself which may not come across during a job interview. I wrote the content in attempt to capture the highlights of my life, professional work history, and my ideas and interests.

I tried to utilize the principles of search engine optimization (SEO) to make my name appear as high as possible in the rankings. Additionally, I launched a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program with the aim of getting the name Tony Green to the top of any searches in case building my ranking too longer than I had planned.

Unfortunately, I neglected to update the content as often as I should by neglecting to add new content which is required to keep your rankings high. In any case, since I am looking for employment I have less time to work on the original content which the Google spiders love to index. The key is to contain enough content in place at any one given time to ensure an online presence is established.

Many employers are trying to find out about their prospective employees by running their name through a Google check in attempts to try and find out more information about a candidate. I discovered one of my prospective employers found my website through Google. The recruiter I was working with reported they were impressed with what they found. It convinced them I was someone they wanted to add to their team.

As a result my new employer identified the possibility of other assets I could provide value for the company. (Other than the sales job I was trying to be hired for) I shouldn’t complain though, if no one checked your site how good is that?