you're nobody unless Google loves you

Remember the New Yorker cartoon - On the Internet Nobody Knows You're a Dog?

Well, as it turns out, they probably do know, and they know what kind of dog you are, and whether you're into tennis balls or squeaky toys. But whether you display first (or someone with a like name) or what displays first is how you want to be known... well that's not always the case. But, how you Google is vital in today's online-focused world.

I've recently been engaged to fix the online persona of a prominent business leader. He wants the online realm to prominently display him and his business when a search is run on his name (not others by the same name, and not irrelevant results about him, ie, 10k race results). Like your business's name, your name is your brand, and that brand has an enormous amount of exposure on the internet.

This article from yesterday's WSJ just reinforces the whole idea: Does Your Name Google Well? . Evidently, parents are actually considering the search engine implications for their children's names - that is - nothing too common or they won't be found in their future lives. Nothing too hard to spell either. Clearly, the internet rules our worlds: 62% of people say they Google people before meeting them - to get an idea of who they are meeting (WSJ poll associated with the article above). Based on that, spending some time on your online persona seems like a good investment. If a first impression is critical, then a pre-first impression must be uber extra super critical.

Get to it. Or call me and I'll help you out.