In order to have a successful business, you must be easy to find. In times past, learning the name of a band responsible for a song required waiting for a radio DJ to tell it to you, now when you hear a song you just look online to find out who recorded it. You might look for them on Google, iTunes, Facebook or even MySpace.
Generally people will look for:
- Your company name if they know it (eg: School for Startups, Apple, Microsoft, Gucci)
- The names of your products and services if they know them (eg: Big Mac, 7-Up, iPad, iPhone)
- The keywords that describe what they want (eg: Designer Motorcycle Clothes, Ethical Florist, Sheffield Gifts, Sheffield Events Planning)
In the best of all possible worlds your customer will know your company name and they will look for you online. They will probably search Google for you, but they may also look you up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin, or any of a hundred other sites.
When establishing your Brand Identity, it is best to make sure that your domain name incorporates the name of your business. Ideally the company name should also incorporate high value keywords related to your business. For example, a company name like “London Cleaners” with a domain www.londoncleaners.co.uk will generally get more business than one called “A Nice Dust Up” with a domain name like www.neverdusty.com.
Once you’ve secured your domain name, you will want to go and secure identity on sites your customers frequent. You do this to make it easy for them to find you, and to ensure that someone else doesn’t do it for you. For example, the greeting card company Hallmark doesn’t want someone else to be Hallmark on Facebook.
To see if your identity can be easily secured online, use tools like namechk.com and knowem.com.
These tools let you search for any company, product or service name. In a perfect world you would register your company name across the social media sites your customers are inclined to frequent. You do not have to register your company on every social media site, just the ones most likely to have your customers.
Registering your identity on these sites serves several purposes:
- Your customers can find you.
- Your customers will find it easy to refer other customers to you
- Links from these high value sites to your website can make your company appear closer to the top of Google search listings for businesses with your keywords.
- You can use these companies to drive traffic to your website
It takes just a few minutes to register your email address and company name on each of these sites.
Securing Your Identity on Twitter
The procedure for securing your identity on most social media sites is very straight forward. You provide your name, company name and email address and then click a link in a confirmation email. You can then begin posting content.
To secure your identity on Twitter.
- Go to Twitter.com
- Click Signup
- Enter your full name and email address.
- For username, specify the name of your company.
- Click Create my account.
- Check your email and click the confirmation link.
You can now log in to send tweets and text messages to your followers. Your website should include a link to your Twitter page so you can use it to let people know about new blog posts, discounts, events and opportunities. You can use hash codes, like #shoes, in your messages so that people who are looking for tweets about specific topics can find your posts.
Take time to register your business name on multiple social media sites in order to secure your identity online.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?