How To Get Your Name on the First Page of Google

Ok so I think it's time for a value added post for my wonderful readers. And it involves you and your name in the Google search engine listings. I always hear people talking about how they wonder what would appear if they Google'd their own name in the search engine. Well it's actually not as hard to control as you think.

Now if you run a Google Search on the term 'Zaid Rasid' you'll see that the first two pages of Google are pretty much owned by me. There's a couple of reasons for this. One, I'm extremely obsessive. Two, social media competition can work in your favour. Three, I do search for a living.

Ok, let me cut to the chase and explain how you can own Google. Here are my three most effective ways:

1) Own your own domain
2) Setup profiles on different social media sites
3) Comment on other blogs and questions sites

So with regards to the first one, this might take a little more technical expertise, but you want to go to a site like Go Daddy and buy as many domains as you can. For example, I bought zaidrasid.com, zaidrasid.ca, zaidrasid.org, etc. And if you can, on each home page of each domain, upload a simple blurb of you, and adjust the title tags of the pages to include your first and last name. Wait for Google to start indexing these domains, and in about a week you should start showing up.

Now if you aren't as nerdy as me and the above seems excessive, then this next step is rather easy. Find as many social sites as you can and sign up for them (you don't even have to fill out full profiles). But look for the ones that create public profiles, that allow you to edit or create a unique url to your profile page, preferably one that contains your name in it. For example, Facebook just announced that usernames are now available and so you want to grab your first.lastname as soon as you can. Think of these profiles as free highly valued home pages on the internet for your name.

For creating a unique profile url I highly suggest trying to find sites that allow you to use the format first-lastname, with the emphasis on the hyphen. This will help your search results. The authority of the site is also important, so Facebook and Linked In in are really good ones.

Here are some examples of mine:
http://www.facebook.com/zaid.rasid
www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/zaid/rasid
www.myspace.com/zaid-rasid
www.ziki.com/en/zaid-rasid
www.naymz.com/search/zaid/rasid
www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/193275203900/accf128a/Zaid/Rasid
explore.twitter.com/zaidrasid
www.lookupanyone.com/namelistings/zaid-rasid

And so on...

On most of those profiles I barely have any content so signing up for them was quick and easy. Give Google a few weeks and soon enough, you'll start showing up.

As for the third method, go out and comment on people's blogs. Find some blogs that are interesting to you, and include a link to your site or at least your first and last name. A lesson from my own experience is to be weary of what and where you write, as Google is a permanent record! So if you say something you might regret, people will see it. So use all of the above advice with some discretion.

Now why might you want to even own Google with your name in the first place? Well frankly my friend, it's because one day you might be famous, and when that day comes you can thank me for helping you control Google.

If you know any other good Social Media sites with good authority and public profiles, please share.