The Importance of Ranking #1 for Your Name

I was reading a blog post earlier today about google profiles and preparing to be an internet celebrity. It was a great article, but I wanted to add my 2 cents about the topic. I didn’t want to be rude and leave some stupid comment that could be misenterpreted (I’ve been guilty of this before, believe me). I want to take things a step further and tell you the importance of Self Branding, and why it is important to rank well for your name (especially if your name is common).

My Rambling Thought Process:

I have a very common name (Nick Norris). Not only do I have this name myself, but I share it with an actor from the 70′s, an artist, an engineer from Skadden Arps, a comic book character, a bunch of people on myspace, facebook, etc.. My name is very popular, and in my opinion, it rolls off the tongue pretty nicely too:). But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about being found if someone is trying to find me.

The Facts as I Know Them:

Everything is starting to move to the web. When people are looking for old friends, they no longer have to go through phone books and archives to find them. They go to Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites, but you may be surprised that most people start their search in Google, only to be disappointed with the results.  

So, if ranking highly for your name is something that you are looking into, then let me give you a few pointers to help you along the way.

Set Up a Google Profile – This is something new(ish) to Google. With the introduction of Google Friend Connect back in January, Google made customizable profiles that can be used with any Friend Connect enabled site. This allows people to view networks that you are part of, and also follow you if they are interested in the same things as you. It is a great tool, and it is incredibly underrated. If you set up a profile, you will also show up in the search results for your name in the Google Search Engine.

Buy Your Name as a Domain – Mine is http://nicknorris.net, but I could also have other variations. It doesn’t really matter for me, because I have the search term ‘Nick Norris’ on lockdown. I am very confident that you can find a variation of your name as a domain with ease. Don’t be afraid to use a hiephen, it will not do you any harm. Once you have your name as a domain, you can setup a blog, and your odds of ranking well for your own name will be much better.

Set up a Crapload of Profiles and Link to Your Personal Site From Them - Go to every site that allows you to set up a profile and set up profiles for yourself. Almost every site that allows you to setup a profile will have a “homepage” field that you can use to link to your homepage. Use it! Link to yourself. Some social sites have the nofollow+noindex attributes setup, so the links won’t count for backlinks, but it still helps in the longrun to have a way to allow people to learn more about you.

Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin – I found this out the hard way. If you are going to use your monicker more than your name, make sure you at least have your real name attached to your monicker. I made the mistake of having two monickers (speakeasy602 and beatermag). This will potentially confuse people and they may think that my beatermag is different than my speakeasy602 profiles, even though both profiles reference my name. Luckily, I have used speakeasy602 for several years, and most people understand that it is MY monicker, and anyone else using it is a retarded copy-cat.

Here’s why this is all important:

The web has changed from a place to find information into a place to find people, information about people, and information about other stuff (wow, that makes sense…). There is a social element to most websites, including profiles, syndication, blogs, commenting, etc.. As the web evolves and these social elements expand and become more powerful, the opportunity for individuality is going to get slimmer. You need to set yourself aside from the masses, and create your own little world that people can peek into. If you don’t make a name for yourself, you are just going to be another facebook page or myspace profile.   Plus if you can rank #1 for your name, that automatically makes you the coolest person with that name… unless your name is Wienershnitzel Von Humperdink III, then you probably don’t have a lot of competition.

Let me know what you think about this topic by posting a comment! I use dofollow, so it’s a good opportunity for you to link back to yourself.

If you liked this, then you may like some of my other blogs:

1. Social Bookmarking – The Powerhouse of SEO
2. Speakeasy602 Finally has his own Website

Tagged with: domains • google • individuality • names • Nick Norris • rank • seo

Filed under: Search Engine Optimization

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