7 Critical Items to Include in your Social Media Profiles

Your Social Media Profiles work just like an Online Business Card.

I know …  not everyone likes using social media for their business, and many of us have been changing how we use all the various channels… even me.

I am mad at LinkedIn right now (I go through phases like this) so have not been there a lot, and Twitter has turned into more of a news feed channel, and these feelings have changed how I use them. But there is still a key component in every social media profile you have set up that can actually help you when it comes to Online Visibility and helping people find you online. And by people, I mean even strangers, not just folks who know us, or have heard of us.

This means that even if you do not use your social media channels daily, weekly or even monthly… you need to make sure your profiles are optimized in the right way … because they can still work for you, even if you are not working them!

Want to know how? Read on my friend… read on…

The problem is, many people underuse and undervalue the importance of these areas. Not only can they be the direct link to you from an online search, but they can ‘sell’ people on whether or not to connect with you to take that 1st step in online relationship building; which in itself is a key factor in an online marketing funnel.

One of the main reasons small business owners and entrepreneurs use social media is to build their online visibility and create a digital footprint. Unless you have created some new website I have not heard of, websites like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn all are better ranked with the search engines than your website. (I do apologize if you are Mark Zuckerburg 3.0 and I have not heard of you).

These are highly ranked websites, which means if you have your name, business name and other info on these sites, there is a bonus to you – you will be more visible online. Test it out right now. Google your name (potentially in quotes if it is fairly common) and your city too, try this and if no results, then add the word LinkedIn or Twitter or Instagram or your company name – what comes up first on those Google results?

It should be something like this picture but may depend on the commonness of your name. This picture is my name only and check out the results. My website is #1 (Phew! my SEO has been working). But look at #2, 3, and 5 – they are LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and YouTube is there in many ways. This is a clear indicator that your social media profiles can help people find you. And not just by random search but think about referral searches too.

Referral Search is what I call people doing their ‘due diligence’ when someone has referred them to you. Most people will still check out someone online before making a call. They have your name and type it in; If it is a unique name they will hopefully find some of your digital footprint. (A unique name can be a blessing is some ways when you think about it. I am quite happy to be a Colaiacovo versus a Cook when it comes to having a unique name in business). Your social media profiles are part of this… so having key and critical elements as parts of them are very important.

If you are like me and have your profiles optimized, then most likely you will show up when your name is Googled – or Yahooed/ Binged. If you do not have them optimized, then we have a problem.

You cannot try to get too ‘fancy” when it comes to your social media profiles. It can work against you if you do.

Here’s a perfect example… several years ago my city, Halifax, rebranded their logo (and changed it to this image here. A lot of people who worked for the city, started using this in their social media profiles as their location or part of their BIO and one was a friend of mine, a city councilor at that time, who I had helped with several of his election campaigns.

I reached right out and explained he had to get rid of his ‘fanci-ness” because it was useless and actually hid him from people. People looking for a councilor in the city of Halifax would always – and I guarantee this one – always type in the word “Halifax”, not “Hᴧlifᴧx”.

Social media profiles are the areas of our online foundations that many business owners undervalue and neglect. They don’t think it really matters as much as it actually does. You need to optimize this area more than ever and especially on Instagram, where you cannot post links in all your posts. You need to be very strategic with your BIO area here more than anywhere else, but having said that, your about and BIO area matters on all of your social media profiles.

Here is how you can ensure you optimize it as much as possible to make it work for you and not against you!

The Top 7 Items to Factor into your Social Media Profiles:

1. Your REAL name as the account name. This is so important, use your real name in your account so people that are looking for you and using your real name, can find you by your real name. The same goes for usernames. One of them has to be real. On my accounts you see Kathy Colaiacovo or pepperitmarketing or PepperIt_Mktg (Space limits). One way or another, my name / business names is there.
2. Your City / Location. If this is an option, enter it if it is important for people to know. I have always used Halifax or Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and not my phone location as you can see on some people’s accounts. (There is a big rivalry here about which side of the harbour to live on. I live in Dartmouth which is part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, but Halifax is the city most recognized). No one is ever going to search online for a dietitian in a certain longitude/latitude location versus a dietitian in Seattle etc etc.
3. BIOs / About areas – Make this an area of content rich in keywords that lets people know what they can expect from you. How you help others and what benefit they get from working / connecting with you. Some are short areas, use your words wisely and incorporate your top keywords. Only add info in these short ones if there is space and your main message gets across. (See the lesson on Keywords here for more help on keywords.)
4. Info areas – This is another keyword rich area that you have on Facebook Pages and YouTube and other channels. Enter as much about your products or services as you can. Add keywords into that content too.
5. Profile Images – Be cautious about using your logo as a profile image… unless you are a major Franchise do not use your logo here, use it in a cover image. People want to get to know you – let them see your picture especially if you are a service-based business, ie. solopreneur, in private practice or have a small business. If “YOU” are the business, get your pic here – and a close up one of your face, not a distant one of you standing on a mountain ledge hiking.
6. Website links / URLs – Your website domain should always be there somewhere – make certain to include it and on the social media channels with limited space. And most importantly Instagram. I suggest sending them to your lead generation page where they can sign up for your lead magnet and get on your email list. Change things up a bit and don’t always use the home page – get some traffic to your other pages too.
7. Use a trackable link. If you want to know what traffic and click action you get on these links? Create a special link that you can track, use something like bit.ly to make a short link and one where you can check stats on clicks. This will give you an idea if people are clicking, and how often. If you do a monthly check / record it, you can track change over time and this will be your best guide to know if you need to keep it the same or change it up.

The words you have in your Social Media BIO are the most important parts of your profile. The biggest piece of advice I can share is for you to think of your ideal client when creating your social media profiles information and speak to them with the info. Ideally this info should all be more about them, a little about you and then a way to reach you or connect and a little bonus gift for them in the form of a lead magnet they can download… and this HAS to be something that will help these people.

Take your time and review all of your social media channels, start a document to list out each and update them to optimize them … one at a time. Make certain the 7 elements above are included in your social media profiles.

Whether you actively use your profiles or not, these updates will help optimize them, so they help you reach more people!

Do you still have some questions about all of this? Connect with me in my Pepper It Marketing Facebook Page and ask away.

Your social media profiles are only one part of your online foundations. These foundations are what make up the hub of your business online. If you want to get more results from your marketing,  and need help, consider the Inner Circle. Helping members clarify their issues, optimize their online foundations and develop marketing strategies to help them achieve their goals are some of the main items we deal with in the Inner Circle every month.

I love helping confused business owners overcome their roadblock and make their online marketing work to get them results – that is why I do this.