My colleague Catherine Weber isn’t a porn star, but you might get the wrong impression by Googling her name. Surely no one who Googles this respectable marketing consulting firm owner would really mistake her for the other Catherine Weber. But still, it’s somewhat embarrassing for her.
(And by the way, trust me; you really don’t have to go check!)
This goes to show how important it is to make sure that a Google search of your own name will yield the results you want clients and prospects to see. If your name is Bob Smith you’ve got a lot of competition, so don’t expect to show up high in a search for the name alone. This doesn’t mean you have to change your name to Bob Lardschnitzel to stand out. Someone who understands how to optimize Web sites for search engines can figure out what your chances are for decent rankings, and how to maximize them.
Not that Catherine’s plight is that bad. If you just add either the word “consulting” or “marketing” to her name, as a prospect is likely to do, she’s on the first page. And, now that I think of it, she really doesn’t want to attract traffic from people who were looking for you-know-who.
Do you know what Google thinks of you? Go take a look and tell us what people think they’re finding out about you and your firm.
Many thanks to Mike McLaughlin for letting me guest post here.
-Andrea Harris- (definitely NOT the big-time blogger, artist, musician, Regional Vice President for the South Caucasus, professor, author of Notes from a Housewife, or Candidate for Cupertino City Council, as Google may lead you to believe)
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