Why You Must Own Your "Digital Real Estate" (Before You Do Anything Else)

Before you worry about what kind of content to create, what camera to buy, or what your brand colors should be, there is one foundational step you absolutely must take.

You need to secure your Digital Real Estate.

In the physical world, we understand the value of owning property. But in the digital world, your most valuable asset is your name. You must own your exact name across all major internet platforms and web domains.

Here is why: Whenever a potential client hears about you, whether from a referral, seeing you speak on stage, or clicking an ad... their very next step is to search your name. They are looking to validate their "gut check." If you haven't secured your digital real estate, they won't find anything. That lack of presence instantly makes you look less credible and will cost you business.

Here is your 3-step checklist to locking down your digital real estate today.

1. Secure Your Social Media Profiles

Even if you aren't ready to post a single piece of content, you need to claim your profiles right now so the assets are ready when you need them.

Go to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Pinterest, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube. (Pro tip: Anytime a new app launches and gets popular, go claim your name immediately).

Because usernames must be unique, your exact first and last name might already be taken. If that happens, I highly recommend adding your middle initial (like I do with @henrydsims). If that fails, try adding "the" or "real" to the beginning. Even if your @ handle requires a middle initial, you can still set your actual Display Name to your exact first and last name.

2. Own Your Personal Web Domain

You must own your exact personal name as a website domain (e.g., henrysims.com).

When you attach a simple website to your name domain, Google leans heavily on it, pulling that information into search results and AI overviews. Plus, it serves as a highly effective, easy-to-remember Call to Action. When you are on a podcast interview, it is much easier to say, "Just go to henrysims.com" than trying to spell out a complicated business URL.

If you don't buy your domain, someone else might. Actually, my dad (Steve Sims) had a very unique sense of humor. Before I got around to buying my own domain, he bought it. I spent a couple of weeks dealing with GoDaddy’s domain broker services, getting incredibly frustrated trying to buy my own name from an anonymous owner, only for my dad to finally reveal the prank and transfer it to me. Don't let that happen to you!

3. Own the Misspellings

To truly own your digital real estate, you have to account for human error.

People are going to misspell your name. To fix this, purchase the domains for common misspellings of your name and set up "domain forwarding" to direct all that traffic to your main, correctly spelled website.

I actually own 5 or 6 variations of my domain because people sometimes spell Henry with an "i" (Henri) or Sims with two "m"s (Simms).

Lock down your digital real estate today so you control the first impression when your dream clients come looking for you.

If you want support engineering your identity, schedule a Brand Audit with me here: https://www.henrysims.com/brand-audit

Talk soon,

Henry Sims