Posted by Brian Cantwell on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 @ 07:33 PM
A few days I ago I wrote about my mission to return to the first page of Google results for my own name. The Facebook profile of an anonymous Brian Cantwell had risen to the top of the Google results, knocking my Twitter page page to the purgatory of SEO: Google's second page.
Well, the mission was shortlived, and successful beyond my wildest dreams. I'm happy to report that at some point over the weekend, my Twitter page made it back into the first 10 results. Also interesting was that the anonymous Mr. Facebook Brian Cantwell fell off the face of Google entirely, and results for more deserving Brian Cantwells like Mr. IMDB Brian Cantwell and Mr. Brian Cantwell-Smith took his place.
Even more encouraging was that today my Facebook profile arrived on the first page of Google results, surpassing my Twitter page to be the top result for this Brian Cantwell (maybe that vanity url was a good idea?).
What have I learned from this Google whirlwind? Here are my three takeaways:
- Keep the content coming - My Twitter page's slip from the first page of Google results coincided with a few days where I wasn't tweeting as often. Frequently posting interesting content, whether as links on Twitter or as posts on a blog, is a must for getting found on Google.
- Open up your Facebook profile - Until this past weekend, my Facebook profile was closed off to Google. This made sense back in the earlier days of Facebook when their privacy settings weren't very robust, but now you can customize the privacy settings for every aspect of your profile. You have nothing to lose by making your Facebook profile available to search results and simply restricting your public profile to the information you want to show the world. For example, my public profile is limited to my goofy photo and things that I like (am a fan of). It looks like this:
- Don't Get Caught Up in the Day-to-Day - I know this seems like major hypocrisy since I clearly got caught up in the day-to-day last Friday and decided to take on an internet full of Brian Cantwells as a result. But, I've learned that it doesn't pay to obsess over the daily shifts in Google rank, particularly for infrequently searched terms like my own name. A much better use of time is developing and sticking to a content creation and SEO plan that works over the long term. As long as I can get a page related to this Brian Cantwell on the first page of Google results for "Brian Cantwell" on most days, then I am not going to sweat the occasional day when someone like Mr. Facebook Brian Cantwell grabs my spot.
Mission accomplished!
Posted by Brian Cantwell on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 @ 11:22 AM
Dear Brian Cantwell,
Yes, you Brian Cantwell. The
one with the Facebook page and the friends named Alfio Previtera, Jillian Scarangelli, Sam Fran Scavuzzo, and Lydia Hernandez.
I don't know you Mr. Facebook Brian Cantwell, but your recent presence as the number two Google result
when someone searches for "Brian Cantwell" has not gone unnoticed. I don't remember you ever showing up before when I've
self-Googled, yet you have miraculously risen from the depths of Google to take the number two spot and (incidentally) knocked me from the coveted first page.
Since I started using Google in 2001, information about me has been relegated to the far reaches of Google page results. I was ok with that, because the folks at the top of the "Brian Cantwell" ranks seemed like they deserved the honor. This past April, my
twitter profile finally made it to the first page of Google results for "Brian Cantwell." One of my goals over the past year has been to expand my online presence, and the self-Google page rank is one small (albeit self-indulgent) indicator of my progress. My current effort is this blog,
B-School with Brian, which is still very much a work in progress. I'm working hard at creating and optimizing interesting content for current and future b-school students, as well as folks interested in entrepreneurship and marketing.
There are many Brian Cantwells in the world. On Facebook alone there are 27. I've come to grips with being less accomplished and less interesting than several of these Brian Cantwells. Some of my favorite name-mates are:
- Mr. Stanford Brian Cantwell is a very accomplished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford. He is literally a rocket scientist, and entirely deserving of top billing on Google.
- Mr. IMDB Brian Cantwell looks like a pretty skilled digital artist in the movie business, bringing his talents to blockbuster films like Iron Man, Wall-E, and The Matrix Reloaded.
- Mr. Brian Cantwell-Smith, a CS genius with multiple MIT degrees, has several publications on computer science, metaphysics, epistemology, and other things that I can't begin to understand. I'm proud to share an MIT connection with Mr. Brian Cantwell-Smith and, despite the hyphen in his last name, I happily cede my Google rank to his accomplishments.
- Mr. Political Donor Brian Cantwell gave $9,300 in political donations in 2008. As a cash-strapped MBA student, I can't afford $9 in political donations, much less $9,000, so Mr. Political Donor Brian Cantwell has my respect for his political involvement.
- Mr. Travels with Brian Cantwell writes fantastic travel posts for the Seattle Times. My favorite post is one where Mr. Travels with Brian Cantwell actually discovers Mr. Stanford Brian Cantwell through Google and the two Brian Cantwells go to Ireland together to reconnect with their shared ancestry. Coincidentally, I'll be in Ireland for my honeymoon this summer and I plan to visit the same ruined church and Cantwell Fada statue in County Kilkenny that these two Brian Cantwells explored two years ago.
Which brings me back to you, Mr. Facebook Brian Cantwell. How have you risen to number two so quickly and with seemingly minimal effort? Where is your remarkable content? Where is your personal website, your blog, your twitter, your vanity url? Why, of the 27 Brian Cantwell profiles on Facebook, is your profile tops? Please accept my humble apologies if you are, in fact, any of the Brian Cantwells mentioned above. Yet, for some reason I doubt you are.
So, Mr. Facebook Brian Cantwell, I am writing to inform you that your unintentional challenge has been accepted. Inspired by the tremendous accomplishments and remarkable content produced by my name-mates Mr. Stanford Brian Cantwell, Mr. IMDB Brian Cantwell, Mr. Brian Cantwell-Smith, and Mr. Travels with Brian Cantwell, I will be employing all the weapons in my inbound marketing arsenal to take you out. I am on a mission to regain first-page status and I have you in my sights.
Game on,