Unifying Your Online Presence

D.J. Polbeeta is all over the web — really all over. Several websites, podcasts, videos, newspaper articles, fan pages, blogs with a few posts, active and inactive social media.

Now, getting ready for a major show, he wants to create a more unified, mature impression online.

You  may need to do the same thing. Here’s how:

• Clean up anything that needs cleaning. We haven’t seen anything like this yet for Polbeeta, but there are over 38,000 listings for him, so we’re not through looking. That blog you’re embarrassed by now, or the old company site for a company that no longer exists should just be taken down.
• Develop a clear vision for your business. Polbeeta has some specific qualities that make him a good choice when you want to hire a DJ, and you doubtless have some clear advantages in your field, too. Figure out what they are, and make sure your website conveys that information.
• Pick a site to focus on. You can have multiple sites, but it makes sense to have one that is your basic, central website. Choose the one that performs best, the one you like best, the older one, or the one that can most easily be updated to fit with your eventual goals. Make that site your main focus and direct your social media there most often. We’re rewriting the content at Polbeeta’s chosen site to communicate what’s so great about him as clearly as possible. When we also direct people there as consistently as possible, that image is the one that will dominate.
• Link up what you can link up. You don’t have control over everything on the web, but if you are like Polbeeta in having lots of real estate all over the internet, you can go in and add a link to your central site at each of the sites you control. Not only does this strengthen your main website, but it helps search engines understand how the various sites are related. Since links from your own sites are not as valuable as links from other people’s sites, you should also ask for links from the people who are writing about you, embedding your videos on their websites, and so forth. If they like you well enough to do that, they like you well enough to link to that central website.
• Aggregate what’s left. Use a service like Spoke, About.me, Google Places, Flavors.me, Squidoo, or LinkedIn to gather everything up into one secondary spot. Why do this instead of having everything at your main website? Put simply, your website has other goals. If your website looks like a mishmash of stuff, it won’t be able to do its job. A Spoke page or Squidoo lens, on the other hand, is designed to be a collection of links. LinkedIn can sub for a resume. Flavors.me conveniently gathers your social profiles together. Which service you use depends largely on what you have to offer and who you’re offering it to. Polbeeta has videos and plenty of links with dates, so Spoke will be a good choice for him. If he had a building and plenty of photos, Google Places would be a better fit.
• Maintain a consistent brand. You don’t always have control over the look and feel of every site you’re using, but you can choose a logo, a style of photo or illustration, a tone for your text, and keywords. Fans who find Polbeeta on one site shouldn’t be uncertain, when they see his name at another, whether it’s the same guy or not. Choose elements that support your main message and stick with them.

Make all your pages look as good as possible, with well-optimized content and attractive design (when you can control these things). The results will please you.