I’ve been playing with my Google profile, at https://www.google.com/profiles/dick.davies.dc. It’s a very useful tool, providing a launching spot for two websites, DickDavies.com and SalesLabDC.com, and two blogs, Sales Lab Posts, and Through The Browser.
When you start posting there doesn’t seem to be much on your blog or website, but after a couple of months of posting twice a week, there is too much for a casual reader to navigate.
We can introduce gadgets like LinkWithin and Lijit, or even set up manual landing pages (kind of a greatest hits page) around themes or times, but the Google Profile is a “set it and forget it” resource bringing in updated content from my posts. I can choose which outlets to feature, so it has good granularity.
We can introduce gadgets like LinkWithin and Lijit, or even set up manual landing pages (kind of a greatest hits page) around themes or times, but the Google Profile is a “set it and forget it” resource bringing in updated content from my posts. I can choose which outlets to feature, so it has good granularity.
I got many ideas from the people at the Google Technical User Groups. I watched a couple of them use their profiles as their jumping off points to other webapps for their presentations.
The Google profile has a clear advantage over LinkedIn and Facebook. People don’t have to be connected to me to see what I have displayed. It is open to the Internet rather than a piece of the Internet.
I’m thinking my Google Profile could become my primary web address. What do you think?
3 comments:
I would not make a 3rd party site-service my primary web address, not even google. I would steer away from including it on an e-mail signature(s) or other media as my primary web place.
One or the other sites may alienate you because you're using their competition; and you never know if the service you use today will be here tomorrow. Thus folks who have your contact archived in their computer systems will not be able to reach you in the future, potentially…
Use your own site as your primary web contact place when possible, so there will be no corporate bias or SEO neglect from either of the companies you did not to choose to list as your primary web site service…
Interesting points, Ed. I had 14 good years with my AOL site before they took terminally stupid and went out of business. I have a couple of self sites already hosted by googlemand only put up www.dickdavies.com when someone objected to my gmail address. (See http://throughthebrowser.blogspot.com/2009/10/please-welcome-wwwdickdaviescom.html) Ever since I started my two google website and two google blogs, it's like Google opened a branch SEO office at the foot of my driveway. I get notices of new posts and changes withing hours of posting, far better than the old six weeks for new websites. I'll have to think more about it, but I've been through sites being shut down and I'm only as memorable as my last post. Thanks for your comment.
Dick:
You are right on the money about the profile - if I read your post and want to know something about you - click on the profile and I have great access to your background, a means to contact you and your other blogs and websites - all together in one place - one click away.
The Google Profile as you have refined it is like a business card with the features of a Harry Potter tent (although modest from the outside - once inside it is almost limitless).
Thanks for sharing a new business tool which we can add to the other on-line resources we now use.
-- Jack
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