How to Balance Personal Branding With Personal SEO

Both personal branding and personal SEO are critical components in successful executive job search today . . . and they go hand in hand.

But many people don’t know how to strike the right balance between them, as they write their job search marketing documents and online profiles – executive resume, biography, LinkedIn profile, etc.

Let’s first look quickly at what these two components are, and how they impact job search:

What are Personal SEO and Personal Branding?

Personal SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about the relevant keywords and phrases (typically your “hard” skills) you possess that recruiters and hiring managers most search online to source and assess candidates like you.

Personal branding is also about those keywords, so branding does incorporate personal SEO.

But personal branding goes beyond that and incorporates “softer” skills – those personal attributes and qualities you possess that people rely on you for, and that indicate the kind of person you are, what you’re like to work with and how you get things done . . . that is, your personality.

Get a Handle on Sameness vs. Differentiation

To take this a little further, personal branding is all about differentiation.

Defining your personal brand is wrapped around identifying what makes you unique and different from your competitors, and communicating those qualities in personal marketing content (resume, biography, LinkedIn profile, etc.) designed to position you as a good fit for your target audience.

Conversely, personal SEO is more about sameness

Working on personal SEO is wrapped around uncovering and incorporating in your content the same relevant keywords and phrases that your competitors will also be using to help them get found online.

Hmmm . . . Differentiation vs. sameness. Can these two opposing imperatives come together harmoniously?

When writing your personal brand content, you need to strike just the right balance of personal SEO vs. personal branding . . . or hard vs. soft skills . . . in a way that will make you stand out and above your competitors, and resonate with your target employers.

Spice Up Your Personal Brand Content

Unfortunately, many job seekers, and many career professionals (some of them self-proclaimed “personal branding experts”) who write resumes, LinkedIn profiles and other content for job seekers, get stuck on personal SEO, and neglect the full personal brand story.

They string together relevant keywords and phrases (or “hard” skills) in a dry, lifeless paragraph and call it a personal brand statement. They do a good job with SEO, but forget all about the “personal” part.

The way to truly differentiate yourself, and attract your target employers, is to find a compelling balance of personal SEO and personal brand qualities, and wrap them all around concise, to-the-point content that markets your unique ROI (Return on Investment) to your target employers.

Be Authentic and Get Personal

Go beyond personal SEO when writing your content. Be authentic.

Don’t forget that executive recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies want to get a feel for what you’re like to work with and how you will fit their company culture. Culture fit is very important to them.

Never underestimate the power of personal or softer touchpoints in your job search marketing content to generate chemistry, and make the content a much more interesting read.

Mixing it up well with Personal SEO and personal branding will help you do a better job of capturing the attention of people who may be reviewing mountains of content when assessing candidates.