Create a Personal Brand Worth Finding in Online Search

Until Google stops being the most visited website in the world, I'm going to keep creating content for search. Right now I make video content for YouTube and double tap Google, because they're by far the two most visited sites on the planet.

I've spent the last few years building a personal brand and a one-person online business with free, evergreen content for search engines. I walk you through how I create a personal brand worth finding in online search, and how I then put my products and services in front of the people who find me.

Key Takeaways

• Google and YouTube get more visits than the big social platforms put together, so search is where I focus my content.
• A YouTube video can rank in YouTube and in Google, so one video a week gets found twice and compounds over time.
• Being found is only half of it: capture an email with a free resource, then follow up and position your offers.

Why I Build My Personal Brand on Search, Not Social

I teach my students two things: how to show up online, and how to position their products and offers in front of the right people. My discovery platforms are YouTube and Google. My delivery platform is Kajabi.

When I looked up the most visited websites in the world on Semrush, the top five were Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and ChatGPT. Google was still way out in front, with almost double the visits of YouTube in second place. The two of them combined were well ahead of Facebook, Instagram and ChatGPT put together.

Coming In Through the Back Door With YouTube

Creating content just for Google is hard now, with AI and bots writing article after article to rank. So I come in through the back door with a YouTube video. Google's parent company, Alphabet, owns YouTube, and Google is showing more and more video in its search results.

I still think YouTube is the biggest opportunity online to build a business. I publish at least one video every week, aiming to rank in YouTube and in Google. Search engines show your content over time, so the results compound.

Step 1: Get Found in Online Search

My channel has just over 5,000 subscribers, which isn't huge, but it has generated over $250,000 for my online business. My channel strapline is "learn how to create a brand that is worth finding online". You have to be discoverable, and then you have to create something of value.

That starts with keyword research, to see what people are searching for. I explain how I do it in my post on YouTube keyword research.

An Example: My Hotjar Tutorial

One of my popular videos is a Hotjar tutorial. Hotjar is a plugin that shows you how people navigate your website. When I searched "Hotjar tutorial" on YouTube, my video came third, just below the sponsored ads. It has over 30,000 views and good retention. Here's the Hotjar tutorial post that came from it.

In the video I walk through how to install the plugin. In the description there's a link for anyone who wants to go deeper and see the tools I use to run my business.

Turning a Viewer Into an Email Subscriber

The link takes people to a really simple page on my site. They enter their name and email, choose which stage of business describes them, and get my free checklist of the tools I use to run an online business. I cover the whole process in how I turn YouTube viewers into email subscribers.

How One Video Ranks in YouTube and Google

In YouTube Studio analytics, set to lifetime, my channel has had 5.7 million thumbnail impressions. That's just from one video a week, over time. People find me through YouTube search or external sources, and those external sources include Google.

When I searched "Hotjar tutorial" on Google, the videos ranked above some of the articles and even above the AI Overview. That's the double tap: one YouTube video ranking in YouTube and in Google. More on this in how to optimise your YouTube channel for search engines.

Like a Gym Membership

I liken it to a gym membership. Small, consistent amounts of effort over time have a big compounding effect.

Search Your Own Name on Google

This is an exercise I'd really encourage you to do: open Google and type in your name to see how discoverable you are. If your name is fairly unique, like mine, great. If it's common, add your niche, like "John Smith fitness".

When I type my name, Google suggests "Tim Peakman Kajabi" and "Tim Peakman YouTube", the two things I teach. People are searching for me alongside my topics. There is another Tim Peakman who has ranked well for a long time. My Kajabi content has overtaken him, but my YouTube is yet to.

You can't fake this, and there's no shortcut. If you create content regularly for YouTube and Google, you'll start to show up in these predictive searches. That will matter even more as AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on search results. I go into that in why your content isn't showing up in Google AI Mode.

Step 2: Position Your Products and Services

The second thing I teach is how to position your products and services in front of your customer. Once someone has given you their email address, they're interested in learning more about you, so you can simply follow up with them by email. It's that simple.

I do all of this in Kajabi. It hosts my domain, my website and all my landing pages, so I only have one platform to learn. From the back end I build my home page, landing pages, library, newsletter, blog and store, and link my programmes to landing pages so it all fits together.

Everything on timpeakman.com is built with Kajabi, and it all links back to my YouTube channel. You can see the full picture in the simplest one-person business setup.

Conclusion

To create a personal brand worth finding in online search, focus on search engines over social. Find out what people are searching for, make a YouTube video for it every week, and let it rank in YouTube and Google.

Then capture an email with a free resource and follow up to position your products and services. Treat it like a gym membership: small, steady effort that compounds over time. For more on the brand side, see what personal branding is and why it matters.