My Personal Branding Experiments

As you know, having a personal website is crucial if you want to build your personal brand online.

Last week, I decided to update my own – AlaaHassan.com.  Why? Well, not only did I just feel like it but I noticed that my traffic was increasing especially from mobile devices.  I honestly felt the website wasn’t too mobile friendly (layout, navigation and content).

I will write a detailed post about the whole makeover but for now, someone asked me this question via Facebook:

Which pages should I include in my website?

While you can add as many pages as you want, I always recommend you have at least the following 4:

1. The “Welcome” page (homepage)

It’s the first page that any visitor will see and it has 2 main purposes:

1. state your value proposition (who you are, what you do, what’s so special about you)
2. move people to other pages on your site using navigation or banners/links.

You gotta make sure you don’t overwhelm users with too much content but you need to make sure your message is clear within seconds of landing on the page.

Here’s an example of my new welcome page.

2. The “About Me” page

Now that you state who you are, I want to learn more about you.  That’s where the About Me page comes in handy.  On this page, I would simply focus on your skills, expertise and overall experience.  Here’s an example of my new about me page

3. The “What I do” page

Now that I know a little more about you and your expertise, tell me what you currently do.  This is where show what you do for living.

For example, you can mention which company you work and what position you have.  You can mention your company name if you work for yourself.  You can also mention projects you’re working on.

Whatever you state on this page, it must support who you are.  It’s somewhat a proof of what you really do and what you’re known for.

Here’s an example of my new What I Do Page

4. The “How to Contact Me” page

Finally, now that I know who you are and what you do, how can I get in touch with you if I’m interested in getting know you more or possible work together.

You can add a contact phone number, email, a contact form or social media links.

Here’s an example of my contact page which I named Pick My Brain

Your personal brand wouldn’t be complete without you being active on Facebook.  I currently have a personal profile as well as a Facebook page.

Here’s how you can design your Facebook page cover photo to better showcase yourself.

What to include:

1. Your name (Alaa Hassan)
2. What you do (eCommerce Advisor, online marketer, conversion optimizer)
3. What differentiates from everyone else (14+ years of experience)
4. Your picture
5. A supportive background (keyboard)

You can use Canva.com to create the image (it’s free).  Make sure the size is 851 x 315 pixels. Learn more about image sizes on Facebook.

Click here to create a Facebook page for your personal brand.