Increase Your Scholarly and Professional Visibility

Your scholarly and professional presence is made up of all the components of your professional, academic, and scholarly life online: publications, presentations, personal website, blogs, profiles on networking sites, social media accounts, and more. Another, shorter definition is "what people find when they Google you." That makes Google a good starting point for you to assess your current online presence. When you do a Google search for yourself, what do you find?

• Is it easy to distinguish you and your work from others with the same or similar names?
• Is there outdated or missing information about your employment, publications, professional affiliations, or current projects?
• Can you easily find a complete list of your publications? Or, if you've shared a CV or resume online, is it current?
• Do you have unused or underused profiles on social media or other networking websites?

You don't have to create a personal website or multiple professional accounts on social media or networking platforms to increase your visibility. In fact, less may be more when you take a proactive and strategic approach to managing your online presence.  There are many reasons to take a proactive and strategic approach to your online professional presence:

• Making your research, teaching, and professional service activities more visible
• Increasing the chance that your research and teaching materials will be used and cited
• Increasing your visibility to potential collaborators and media professionals looking for experts
• Ensuring that as much of your work is counted in assessments as possible

1. Use a consistent name across all websites, publications. If you change your name, you can use ORCID to create a unique identifier and add all names you have used on your ORCID profile. Visit this guide's Get an ORCID identifier page to learn more.
2. Keep your CV or resume, webpages, and professional profiles consistent and up to date.
3. Use a consistent profile picture across all platforms. VCU students can contact VCU Career Services to schedule an appointment for a professional headshot.
4. Find out what professional networking platforms are most commonly used in your discipline or profession. Don’t use platforms where your peers won’t see what you’re sharing.
5. Add current research interests, courses, or projects to your online profiles to give a more holistic picture of you and your work.
6. Don’t overdo it! Consider the time needed to keep each profile or platform up to date or to create a steady stream of new content. This is especially important when it comes to blogs or social media accounts.
7. Schedule notifications on your calendar to periodically review and update your online presence.