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It may be a potential
employer that is looking for information about you
before a hiring decision. Or it may be a company
thinking about doing business with you. Or it might be
your former college roommate from years ago that wants
to track you down, because he/she has lost your contact
information. It’s important to understand what
information is “out there” about you or your company.
Especially if you own your own company or are in
business for yourself.
So let’s try it – it can be fun
- do a vanity search!
1. Go to the Google search engine: www.google.com
2. Type your name or your company name into the Google
Search Bar.
When you type it in, enclose your entire name in
quotation marks as shown below:
“john smith” or “your company name” - If you have
fairly common name like “john smith” it might be best to
include your geographic location to eliminate search
results that aren’t you. So for example, if you
reside/work in Tampa, type this in as follows:
“john smith” tampa
florida
or “your company name” tampa florida
3. Look at the search results that come up! If you have a website,
then your own website should certainly come up at or
near the top of the list. (If it doesn’t some search
engine optimization for your site may be needed!)
Hopefully the information that is “out there” about you
or your company is positive! Your own website
information may appear in the results, or possibly you
have been written up in a local newspaper that posts
it’s articles on-line.
What if you see
something in the results that you don’t like? For
example, is someone talking about your company on their
own website, and implying that there is a business
affiliation when there isn’t one?
It’s not very common, but sometimes, competitors or
companies will do this.
They are in essence “spamming” the search engines so
that if someone does a vanity search on you or your
company, and if their website comes up . . . well guess
what? They just got a free “commercial” for their
business based on your name or your company name.
You may want to touch base and ask to be removed from
their website if this is the case.
Don’t confuse this somewhat
“unethical” occurrence with sites that may have a good
intention for listing you or your company name on their
site. Many websites show directories (in essence
on-line telephone books) of local/ regional/ national
businesses within certain market segments. Or a
business associate you hired to do consulting for you
may have you listed on their client list on their
website. Or a professional association you are a
member of may have you or your company listed on their
membership list. These are all good intentions and
probably very good visibility for
you.
Usually, it’s a lot of fun to do a vanity search. Use
this method yourself if you are thinking abut hiring
someone or doing business with a company —it’s
worthwhile to take a few minutes and see what
information is at your fingertips. This information may
be very helpful to you in understanding the services
offered by a company you are thinking about hiring. It
may provide insight into some noteworthy accomplishments
that they have achieved. It may save you some time and
make your decision process a lot easier, as well as less
time consuming. Be an internet detective!
What if you type in your
company name and not much of anything (of substance)
comes up in the search results? You may want to
consider a website/search engine optimization program.
Or what if you don't like the information that comes
up? For example, an unfavorable newspaper article from
last year. In either case, an internet marketing
campaign can help! Give us a call for assistance.
Show that you are a computer
geek after all! Use “Google” as a verb and show that
you speak the language. For example, you can say, “I
googled you, and found the following information on the
internet. . .”
Click below for printed version of this
newsletter article (Adobe pdf)
Search Engine Vanity Search |
The Value
of Doing a "Vanity Search" on your name or your company
name
on the Internet Search Engine Google