Knol and you

Knol made its public debut almost a week ago with a lot of controversy and skepticism. Many call it a wikipedia killer and others question the implications of a possible google bias on search results. Beyond the heated discussions around the launch, we will focus here on how you can use Knol to improve your social media presence.

So what is Knol?

In short, According to Knol:

A knol is an authoritative article about a specific topic.

At length,

“scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions.”

Knol pages are “meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read”

That’s cool, but what does it have to do with me?

A lot. Primarily to enhance your personal, brand or corporate online identity, to increase your SEO and overall to enhance your Social Media presence.

Personal Brand and Online Identity

So you already have a LinkedIn profile (if not, read more about online identity management), but it does not hurt to establish your presence with google as well. After all, you do want to show up first when someone (most likely you) googles your name.

More likely than not, you do not have a page on Wikipedia, and if you were to write one about yourself, it would probably be deleted rather quickly. Knol, however, wants you to write about yourself, so go ahead and write a Bio, consistent with what you have in your LinkedIn.

Tips:

• Verify your name and identity with google by phone or credit card
• Write a short but powerful summary about yourself
• Post links to your company/blog/twitter
• Post your education and work experience, as well as anything else that makes you stand out

For the More Daring: Show Off your Expertise

Write about something you are really knowledgeable about, this will help you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. If you are not in the internet industry or health industry, you will probably have an advantage over your competitors as you will be one of the first to write something industry specific. Pick a topic, any topic and start writing.

Tips

• Publish your content as Creative Commons with attribution, this way people can share your knowledge easier while at the same time giving you credit.
• Even if you are a genius at what you do, cite some sources to back your claims.

Your Company

Also unlike wikipedia, you can publish a page about your company, website, product, or service. Try to do that in Wikipedia and you won’t last more than a day before your post is deleted.

Tips

• We know your product/website/company/service is the best in the whole wide world, but leave the superflous language aside.
• Remember, this is a reference page for when people search a term for the first time. Keep your information simple and straight to the point.

Be couragous and take a dive in Knol, if you don’t have time to publish your theories about quantum physics and string theory, at least go ahead and publish your bio, it will help you establish your online identity and social media presence further.

Check out my Knol Bio: Andres Barreto on Knol