Sometime last year Google+ began rolling out personal URLs for notable people and organizations.

Just yesterday I received my invitation to do the same, and I gladly accepted. Why?

The Social Web and Search are Getting Personal

The implications of this are more than just shortening your Google+ URL to something that is memorable. This speaks to Google’s mission to deliver the most relevant results for every search query as quickly as possible.

Relevancy used to be associated recency, and it still does. However, moving forward relevancy will also consider the authority of the information being shared, and that makes it personal.

Authority and Influence are Personal

Before digital, media authority was consolidated within organizations and media outlets.

Now, social has democratized media to effectively make every individual their own personal brand. Google understands that authority and influence is now everywhere. This is why they are interested in what you and I have to say.

Regardless of extent of your circle of influence, Google wants to know about it. The reason for this is that influence is now specific, and that means they want to get to know you – and what you know.

Are you ready for this?

Business is Now Personal

It is a fact that most consumers do not trust businesses until they get to know the people within them, especially their leaders.

If you are a business owner of one of its leading managers you can positively affect the authority of your business via your personal brand. You are probably not a celebrity, and neither am I, but we nevertheless have specific influence within the communities that we serve.

And Google wants to know more about that.

The truth is that even remarkable companies can fade away if they are not engaged with the communities they serve. This is now an expectation of your current and future customers.

Therefore, embrace this and commit to being a more personal business.

Obviously, Google is now prepared to help you with this endeavor.

Note:  This is not something you can do on your own. Google will send you an email with a pre-approved URL. You have the option to suggest another, but my decision and that of others has been to accept Google’s suggestion. 

Also, it appears Google’s convention with these URLs is to capitalize the first and last name. Again, probably a good idea to fall in line with Google and stick with that format.

 

About the Author:  Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.

Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – (Wiley 2013)