Should I Use a Fake Persona for Privacy on my Site?

[getRichOrBT]

What do you guys do in terms of personal branding?

I'm not keen to have a public facing blog with my real name etc. I've seen some people recommend using fake pictures / names / accounts etc.

But kind of like what they do over at Monevator and just own the whole secrecy thing by declaring article are written by The Investor and The Monevator.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Ryuzaki]

What do you guys do in terms of personal branding?

I'm not keen to have a public facing blog with my real name etc. I've seen some people recommend using fake pictures / names / accounts etc.

But kind of like what they do over at Monevator and just own the whole secrecy thing by declaring article are written by The Investor and The Monevator.

What are your thoughts?

You should have a persona of some type. You should have article authors and bylines and all that. It's good for users and it's probably some kind of trust signal in the algorithm.

A fake pic and name is fine. Being "The Investor" is fine. It's all better than not having a persona at all. There's nothing wrong with desiring and maintaining privacy either. But I'd suggest having something.

 

[thisishatred]

You should have a persona of some type. You should have article authors and bylines and all that. It's good for users and it's probably some kind of trust signal in the algorithm.

A fake pic and name is fine. Being "The Investor" is fine. It's all better than not having a persona at all. There's nothing wrong with desiring and maintaining privacy either. But I'd suggest having something.

Just to note, this is much easier than you think.

Press F5 a few times on https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ until you get a decent photo that has no artifacts; This Person Does Not Exist tends to struggle around certain features - Check the hair, background, eyes, and teeth.

Once you find a photo you like use https://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ to generate a name. I'd personally stay away from stuff like John Doe, Jane Doe, etc.

Then with the above, establish this photo and name relationship via socials to create entities and be consistent. Meaning, make a linkedin, facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, etc. Depending on the niche, using your face as the AVI might be more beneficial. Create an author archive page on your site with the same profile picture and link out to these socials. Ensure each post has this same image via a byline and/or mini author bio.

Edit: Hook these via sameAs schema too!

Unless your niche is super EAT heavy the above should suffice.

As @Ryuzaki said: Something is better than nothing.

 

[bernard]

I just use myself, it's really no big deal and imo just something to get over.

I also sometimes link to my LinkedIn page and the like.

 

[getRichOrBT]

You should have a persona of some type. You should have article authors and bylines and all that. It's good for users and it's probably some kind of trust signal in the algorithm.

A fake pic and name is fine. Being "The Investor" is fine. It's all better than not having a persona at all. There's nothing wrong with desiring and maintaining privacy either. But I'd suggest having something.

Thanks for the advice.

I'll get a persona up and running once I hit 50 articles

I just use myself, it's really no big deal and imo just something to get over.

I also sometimes link to my LinkedIn page and the like.

Do you think having links to your LinkedIn page helps with HARO link building?

 

[bernard]

Do you think having links to your LinkedIn page helps with HARO link building?

Don't know, we don't have HARO here, but I think it helps in creating trust with Google and with visitors.

I do this here, because is in a tech niche and I have tech niche LinkedIn.

On my fitness site, I might link to some fitness profile stuff on other pages. Like if you're active on running forums or bodybuilding or whatever.

 

[Boy]

I just use myself, it's really no big deal and imo just something to get over.

I also sometimes link to my LinkedIn page and the like.

Same. Have had my face on sites for years ranging from the job board to straight-up adult websites talking about the best big booty pornstars.

Not a single thing has ever come of it. People think other people care about them more than they do.

 

[MuffinS]

Hello,
Sorry to hijack. Is the legal niche super EAT heavy?
Personal Injury vrs Divorce vrs Other?
Thanks

 

[thisishatred]

Hello,
Sorry to hijack. Is the legal niche super EAT heavy?
Personal Injury vrs Divorce vrs Other?
Thanks

I mean, think of it like this. Whenever you hear someone talk "legal advice" - Do these people have a law degree? If not, do they preface the conversation with "this is not legal advice." I mean we can even look at the official ABA website and their own disclaimer page:

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/disclaimer/

- Meaning, yes, the "Legal" niche is EAT heavy. You shouldn't be generating a fake persona and you should be using and abusing schema to tell Google who this person is and why they're qualified to be discussing law.

Pertinent schema:
https://schema.org/Attorney

 

[Pagey]

If you have authority in the industry and really know your craft go for your own face.

For example, if you are a big fan of guitars and you make a niche site reviewing guitars, go for it.

Take a look at Matt Giovanisci and his pool website. He does this really well.

Otherwise, just invent a fake persona that that is a fan

Most important is to not leave empty and just be "admin" haha.

 

[jd90]

Do you think it matters having yourself as the persona on multiple websites that are all different niches? E.g. getting links to a fitness site by HARO with your name as a "fitness" expert but you're also the owner of pet and other niche sites that mention your name?