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Next Time, Think About Your Username

Boost Your SEO with a Good Username

No. Really. It's True.

The next time you sign up for Squidoo, My Space, Active Rain, etc., think about your username. Here is the trick. Most sites use your username as the link to your profile. For example the link to my Active Rain Profile is www.activerain.com/realestatewebdesign. So why didn't I just sign up as BradCarroll or something unique? Three letters - SEO.

Keywords In Your Link

With An Added Bonus

Google pays attention to keywords in the address bar. When they see the keywords "real estate web design", they think, okay, this page/site must be about real estate web design. In addition, Google will bold any keyword in your address that matches the search term. This means that the link to your site is stands out when a user sees your site in the search results.

Keywords, Not Cute Names

Think Keywords Next time You Sign Up

Take 5 minutes and visit the popular Social Network Sites and grab those keyword rich usernames before your competition does. It just may be the extra boost you need to land on page one!

div.cpad {border: 1px solid #213755; background: #FBFAEA; padding: 10px; font-family:arial; font-size:13px; line-height: 2em;} h2 {border-bottom:1px solid #990000; color:#990000!important; font-family:Trebuchet MS,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:22px!important; font-size-adjust:none; font-stretch:normal; font-style:normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:0pt; line-height:24px; margin:0pt 0pt 2px; padding:6px 0pt 5px; } h3 { color:#DDA603; font-family:"Trebuchet MS",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:15px!important; font-size-adjust:none; font-stretch:normal; font-style:normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:normal; margin:0pt; padding:0pt; } .cpad h2 {border-bottom:1px solid #000000; color:#000000!important; font-family:Trebuchet MS,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:19px!important; font-size-adjust:none; font-stretch:normal; font-style:normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:0pt; line-height:24px; margin:0pt 0pt 2px; padding:6px 0pt 5px; } a { color:#356D9E; text-decoration:underline; } a:hover { color:#ffffff; text-decoration:none; background:#356D9E; border 1px solid #DDA603 } div.logo {display:none;}

Posted by Brad Carroll - Real Estate Web Designer on 05/25/2007 11:27 PM

Comments (30)

real estate web design, seo tips

Post is included in group: Blogging & SEO
Post is included in group: Tech Corner
Post is included in group: Online Marketing Help Center

30 Comments on Next Time, Think About Your Username

MAY

2007

Nice tips Brad - I was tossed when I setup my ar account. I wanted to use something SEO powerful but I also just wanted to get my name out there and have a personal presence for the first time. From a SEO standpoint you're right on, but some sometimes you might want to do something more fun or personal. And this sounds weird because I'm an SEO guy too.

I need help in that area. I did exactly what you said not to do, used my name. Would I have to start over with ActiveRain if I chanegd user names?

What are Social Network Sites and where would I look for the rich user names you refer to?

Thanks. Every incremental step that I can learn, is one more step in the rigtht direction.

MAY

2007

Brad...ditto on what William asked!

Abraham, That's true. But I think you can accomplish both. Choose a username that's SEO friendly, then brand yourself in your articles, profile, etc. But I do see your point.

Good post. Thanks.

Carolin Benjamin
Bob and Carolin Benjamin
The Benjamin Team
Keller Williams Integrity First Realty
Gold Canyon Arizona

Joan and William: I just did a post about Social Networking Sites so hopefully this will answer your questions. If not then just let me know. You should also check out an article I wrote for ePOWER News. It goes into a little more detail about using these sites to enhance SEO. You can read the article here.

I have had the same problem. I have sent emails to AR but gotten no response. What do you have to do in order to change your username. Do you have to start all over?? When I signed up for AR I did not know anything about SEO and did not even know what AR was all about. If I could do it all over I would have chosen a different name but I thought the username was only to sign in to the website. i did not know it would be linked to a profile.

Kimberly: Since today is only my second day on Active Rain, I am still pretty green. I am not sure if they will allow you to change your username or not. If you already have an established account with Active Rain then please do not start all over! I think Google cares about the age of the resource more than they care about keywords in your address path. This gives me a great idea for another post. "The common misconception that Google likes to see sites that the content is always changeing!" That's simply not true. It's just the oposite, Google loves what SEO guys call "crusty old links". Tells Google that you are established. Okay I have to stop, this is turning into a post and not a comment. :)

MAY

2007

Love the tip on the user name! Thanks!

JUN

2007

Brad,

Great tip about the user name idea. Now I've got to try and remember all the places where I can use that!

Brad, thanks for the tip. I hadn't seen this one before.

JUL

2007

Did anyone find out if we can change our user name on activerain withour loosing all our content.

JUL

2007

Good information Brad. As you can see I have used SEO branding in most of my recent Google, social and printed activities. I like the folks at my Realty firm but their brand does not represent the clients I like to attract. My personal name comes up in web seaches but my branding pulls in more targeted prospects.

Marion Laney

www.ForgottenGulf.com

AUG

2007

I wish I'd have found this post prior to my signing up. It should be required reading prior to setting up a profile.

SEP

2007

Great post! I just signed up for AR yesterday and I thought very carefully about my user name. I chose "dallastexas" as my user name to identify what city I sell real estate in.

Is there anything else I should have added to my user name or is "dallastexas" enough to help with SEO? Is my username too general? Thanks for the help-

Maribeth Peters - Dallas, Texas

I would also like to change my username. I had no idea it would be seen by the public! I'm going to rate this post/flag/whatever and hope our AR people find it... *wish*

When I signed up for AR, the instructions on the Sign Up Form stated the following...

"The first step to creating your profile on the ActiveRain Real Estate Network is signing up for a free account. Simply fill out the information below, and a confirmation email will be sent to the email address provided, containing a link to finish create your public profile.

Choose a user name carefully, as it will also determine the final location of your profile.

For example: If your user name is "mattshomes" the url will be http://activerain.com/mattshomes"

This text may have been added recently to the Sign Up Form but this helped me strategically think about what my username should be. I signed up for "dallastexas" as my username instead of my usual "maribethpeters". Hope this helps-

User names - soooo important and so many people don't think of it! Great post!!!

FEB

2008

Great idea....I'm on my way over there today!

MAY

2008

thanks brad. I had to think for a while on getting a good one for my site www.huntsvillepr.com are there unique user name builders out there?

Brad - I think you have opened a can of worms my friend. I never gave it a second thought when creating user ids on here or any site. There should definitely be some way AR can make it possible for us to log in and change our user ID on our profile page.

I also checked your post on Social Networking Sites. I always learn so much from your posts. I try to read as many as I can every day. Thanks for being such an integral part of this communty.

JUL

2008

Great stuff. I too wish I had known this prior to signing up with AR. I guess I will know better from now on. I have read a couple of your blogs now, and they are very informative. I'm new to all this, so thanks much for enlightening me.

I also just learned that you need to be signed in to AR to leave comments that generate points! Duhh! Sorry for the duplication.

OCT

2008

Ok questions never answered. Can we change our user name.

Pam Conley, Coldwell Banker Burnet, Apple Valley, mn

Great post I will have to remember this as I always use the same old login.

DEC

2008

DID ANYONE ANSWER IF/HOW WE CAN ACTUALLY CHANGE A USERNAM WITHIN AR WITHOUT LOSING ALL OUR POINTS????

I did not know that! That is a really good tip, thanks!

JAN

Brad, I am late in reading this but really appreciate the information in the post.

FEB

I too never gave it a second thought when creating usernames here or on any site, and it seems like I have scoured AR for this answer. There should definitely be some way AR can make it possible for us to change our user ID --I''m seeing this question over and over, and I see a couple of replies from you to folks on this piece Brad. But lately, where are you? Have you a way to close this "can of worms?" Thanks again

btw, do you twitter? You should :-)

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