Your Name Is Already a Search Term, You Just Need to Searchable
That's why your personal brand matters, I'll convince you in this article
A strange thing happened when I was reviewing my search performance recently. Out of the 231 articles (omg how did I write this many) I have written over the last 5 years, all the book reflections I have shared, and all the deep dives into automation, architecture, CI/CD pipelines and blogging tips, the highest traffic query on my blog is not “GitHub Actions,” or “GraphQL,” or “tech career advice.” Surprisingly…
It is my name.
This means people are literally searching for me (wow why?)
At first, I was a bit confused but a realization hit soon after. This is the clearest evidence of something we often underestimate as developers. Your personal brand.
Because now we are living in a world where code can be generated, answers can be predicted, and technical knowledge is open source, what remains uniquely yours is the way you think. The way you solve. The way you explain. And an extension of that also includes: the way you show up and the way you lead.
That is your brand. It’s what people say about you when you are not in the room. People look for you before they look for your content.
In this article, let me tell you why that matters, why it is becoming more important in tech, and why you should start owning it now.
People Do Not Follow Code. They Follow the Person Who Writes It.
We all like to believe the tech world is a pure meritocracy and hard skills. Someone had told me this before: As long as you write good code, deliver consistent results, avoid bugs and ship on time, eventually someone will notice.
Unfortunately, I’ve been in tech over 5 years now and while that statement sounds ideal, I have seen that it’s often visibility over competence.
We even talked about performance and visibility during one of Tech Leadership Circle’s Open Spaces event by Michael Cheng, my good friend who’s an inspiring leader for over 20 years in the tech community space! Just a shoutout to him and his community!
In reality, people follow people they trust. People they relate to. People who help them make sense of things that feel messy or overwhelming. People who speak in a way that feels human and accessible.
This is why junior developers look up to seniors who share their thought processes. This is also why engineering managers read reflections from other managers. And, this is why founders read about other founders’ mistakes.
TMI: And this is also why I was looking for blogs on people in non-tech fields transitioning into tech without a CS degree when I was pivoting, to look for answers and a sense of connection. Just in case you’re curious, here’s my journey into tech.
But we are not just looking for answers. We are looking for voices.
When someone searches your name, it means you have become more than a person who writes content. You have become a reference point. That is YOUR personal brand. And it will not be something anyone can easily replicate for a long time. Not even AI :)
Developers Who Have a Voice Move Faster In Their Careers
Let me be honest here. In every team I have ever been part of, the developers who grew fastest were not always the most technically brilliant. I can imagine some of you in the comments:
Well then, how about we fix this? Make it meritocracy!
I admit the Victoria few years ago would agree with this but the elephant in the room is that pure technical meritocracy is a myth. Your work doesn't speak for itself, someone has to speak for it. And if you can't articulate your value, communicate your ideas, or build visibility, even your best work stays invisible.
So back to the point, the developers excelling in their careers were the ones who communicated clearly. The ones who could explain systems. The ones who could influence. The ones who had a reputation outside their team. The ones people already trusted before the meeting even started.
And a voice builds visibility. And visibility builds opportunities.
Before I move to my next point, I want to clarify something because most people think personal branding is about posting online. It is not. It is about shifting how people talk about you when you are not in the room.
Ask yourself:
• When your name comes up in a promotion discussion, what do people say?
• When a critical project needs an owner, does anyone think of you?
• When someone asks "who should we talk to about X?", are you the answer?
More importantly, as a solutions engineer lead, these days the question I ask myself most is:
Do people look for Victoria’s opinions about anything?
Because that's the real test. Not whether I have opinions (everyone does). But whether anyone cares to hear them.
When someone hits a wall with a client, do they ping me? When the team debates architecture, does my input move the conversation forward? When leadership needs context on a deal, am I in the room?
If the answer is no to all, it doesn't matter how good my technical skills are. I'm invisible where it counts, and that would be where I know I need to step up and increase my visibility.
TLDR: Your Story Matters More Than Your Syntax
If there’s 1 thing I want you to take away from this article is that you need to know how to tell your story.
Because in the age of AI, we see layoffs are rampant and everyone says developers should “stand out to keep their jobs”. Yet, no one tells you how.
Well after 5+ years of blogging, building communities through WomenDevsSG and demystifying tech via ragTech, here is what I have learned:
Your code is not what makes you stand out. Your story does. Your reasoning does. Your ability to make someone feel understood does.
You can give two developers the same prompt and get similar output. But only one of them can write an article about what they have learned from a bug that almost ruined the project or what that failed sprint taught them about leadership. Only one can tell a story that feels personal, empowering and authentic.
And people remember that. One of my close friends told me before that it's not the things I’ve done for her that she remembers in detail. It's the emotions that I made her feel - such as clarity when she was confused, courage when she was hesitant, permission to try when she was stuck.
We as humans are more emotional than you think. No matter how logical you might think you are. Because I used to think I’m super logical but then I realized every judgment for the decisions I make are driven by my own emotions, biases and values.
One more thing, your personal brand grows when your work starts to carry your voice. When someone reads a post and thinks, “this sounds like Victoria!” or {insert_name_here} if you’re not Victoria. I have many funny anecdotes of my readers emailing me, mentioning that whenever they read an article from me, it sounds like I’m speaking to them sometimes.
And I’ve become part of the mental architecture of how they learn.
The Best Method for High SEO and High Engagement
Let us talk about SEO for a moment. This is a hot topic that all my aspiring writers would ask me about.
Everyone chases keywords. Everyone talks about optimization. Everyone looks for the perfect title that increases CTR (Click-through rate).
I’ve written a full guide on how to beat AI-driven Search Engines SEO strategies in this article if you are curious
But the best SEO strategy is actually: Being worth searching for. The moment your name becomes a keyword, you are no longer competing on topics. You are competing on identity.
People are not clicking because of the headline. They are clicking because of you. This is the deepest form of organic SEO. It is the kind you cannot fake and cannot buy.
Search engines surface people who demonstrate authority and trust over time. What builds authority? A consistent voice. Original thought. Real experiences. Human reflections. Content that does not sound like a lecture but a conversation.
Engagement is not driven by algorithms. It is driven by connection.
The more you sound like yourself, the more people stay. The more you write about what you truly believe, the more they return. The more you share what you see that others miss, the more they search for you by name.
And that is SEO, just the optimized version of it.
So What Does This Mean For You As a Developer?
If you feel like you want to share but do not know where to start, start small. I usually tell my aspiring writers to use these few topics to kickstart:
Write about what you learned last week
Write about something you wish you had known as a junior dev
Write about a lesson your team taught you
Write about how a book changed the way you think
Write about something you recently reflected on
A common question my readers ask me as a follow-up would be:
But Victoria, I’m scared of being judged online. What if I’m criticized?
To that, my answer is to start by having a voice before you worry about having an audience. Because the moment you show up consistently, two things will begin to happen:
People start learning from you and search engines start noticing
Your personal brand grows from your own voice and you will attract a like-minded audience (yes, you are online so you may get people who challenge your views but that’s a later topic)
So, What’s The Next Step?
Pick one topic from the 5 I listed above. Write 300 words or more about it.
Publish it somewhere: Medium, LinkedIn, your own blog, even a Google Doc you can share with your team.
Oh, a common pitfall is some writers hesitate too much before clicking “Publish”. Don't edit it to death. Don't wait until it's perfect. Just put it out there first so you get first-hand feedback from the audience.
Then repeat for next week. Have a regular time block for writing.
Here's the truth: your first post won't be great. Your 10th might not be either. But by your 20th, you'll have developed a rhythm. By your 50th, you'll have a body of work. And somewhere along the way, someone will tell you that something you wrote helped them, and that's when you'll realize this was never about you being judged.
It was about you providing value to the community, aka your audience! Shoutout to them!
The developers who move fastest in their careers aren't waiting for permission to have a voice. They're not waiting until they're senior enough, or smart enough, or polished enough.
They're just showing up with consistency and authenticity.
So start making your name searchable. Your career will thank you for it.
Thanks for reading! See you in the next article! Cheers!
