When is the last time you Googled yourself? Have you noticed something different?
I run a search on my name every once in a while. I believe it is good to know who’s talking/writing about you, which links are most prominent in a search using your name, how you are being represented—as an author of such-and-such a book, as an expert on a certain topic, etc.
What are the first few things that come up in a search using your name? What do you find when you search several pages beyond that first page? What comes up when you type your name and “warning,” or “scam?” Well, it doesn’t hurt to keep a check out for negative comments. You want to know who your friends and your enemies are.
Things have changed in my search in just the last two or three years—you’ll probably notice something similar. It used to be that I could do a Google search using my name and almost every listing related to me and my books. There were three other Patricia Frys—the author of a children’s book, a professor and an attorney. Now there are 1,860,000 listings and many of them are generated from the relatively new, wildly popular social media sites. Now there are more people with my name making themselves known throughout the Internet than ever before. You may find the same is true when you Google your name.
I am pleased, however, that my websites are listed first on the first page of my Google search. I also show up in some of the listings on page 8, 14, 27 and 55. If I had kept pursuing some of the 1,860,000 listings, I’m sure I would have found myself on the last few pages, as well.
While you’re studying the listings that come up when you Google your name, you will, most likely, discover some surprises. I was surprised to see that I have been referenced on Wikipedia. I was quoted in a college essay on freelance writing. I found my books on many “Recommended Book” lists. And here’s a surprise—there’s a site out of New Zealand where one of my pending books is listed for sale. This book won’t even be out until July of 2011, but they are listing it for sale at their site—at a discount! I even found copies of articles I wrote way back in the 1980s. And I found reviews that I did not know existed for some of my books.
Give yourself a special gift this holiday season. Take time to review your professional life as it appears on the Internet. Why? It’s kind of fun to see who’s talking about you and what they’re saying. It’s interesting to discover how widespread your promotional efforts have taken you. This sort of a search is useful in planning future promotional activities. If you see a problem brewing—you have been misquoted, for example—you can act on it before things get out of hand.
You can also use Yahoo, Alta Vista or other search engines to do a search. I found it interesting that my ranking was different with each search engine. Using Yahoo, Patricia Fry the SexyMomma ranked higher on the first page than I did.
But you don’t have to look me up to find me. You know that I am here every morning with a new blog post and you can find me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com