With the start of Google+ your Google Profile is more important than ever. I’ve seen lots of Google Profiles that were broken in one or more ways recently when trying to find out who the people are who put me in their circles. Also

my name is by no means easy to remember, so I had to optimise my profile as well.

Let me tell you the most important ways to optimise your Google profile.

1. Make sure you use a bigger image than just the tiny thumb you’ll see elsewhere on Google+. On your profile it will look awful. Google simply scales it up. It needs to be 200 x 200 pixels or bigger. Also, be sure to choose an image people can recognise. Use an actual person as an image or an avatar people already know. I won’t follow logos or graphics in most cases. Last but not least, don’t take an ugly or scary one like some people do.
2. Below your real name you have a 100-character one line description. Use it to explain who you are and what you do in a very short form. Many people don’t use this it all, so other people might not recognise them. If your description is Arabic or Thai only, I won’t add you back, sorry.
3. The ‘About’ tab is very important. In case I haven’t recognised you by your name and short description, I will start looking here for who you are, where you work and what circle you may fit in. Mention SEO somewhere and I’ll add you to my SEO circle.
4. Also in the About section you can add “Places where you lived”, which is crucial in order to help me remember where I know you from or which circles to put you into. I might add you to US, UK, Germany or Poland for instance.
5. Adding links to your other social media profiles and to your sites is obvious I think. You can also add links in your actual About description as well.
6. Use bold to highlight more important facts about you in the About section. I won’t read everything. I will skim it in search of clues about you. I have to sift through hundreds of profiles.
7. If people may know you from a company you worked at in the past, or you want to stress your experience, make sure you fill in the employment part of the About section.
8. If you use Google Buzz and +1, make sure that the latest sites you have shared don’t make you look bad and that they are somewhat relevant.
9. Occupation and employment in the About tab may help you to get work or clients as well, so add your actual job title and company there.
10. “Other names” and “nickname” in the About tab can help people to identify you. In my case I added Tad Chef and onreact there to make sure people who don’t remember my Polish real name find out who I am.

Last but not least link to your Google Profile. This is mine: Tad Chef. Here is the rest of the SEOptimise team:

Kevin Gibbons

Rachel McCombie

Marcus Taylor

Matthew Taylor

Daniel Braddock

Daniel Bianchini

Shaad Hamid

Mike Browne

Carla Nadin

Any other ideas to improve Google Profiles? Add them in the comment section please.

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SEO 2.0 living and working in Germany as a blog & SEO consultant. I'm blogging in English for SEO blogs around the world. My real name is Tadeusz Szewczyk but my friends who don't speak Polish - my mother tongue - call me Tad Chef or onreact.

Follow @onreact_com

Add to circles