This is an honest question, but I want to tell you why I am asking because I am still not understanding how it works and I've been a part of AR for almost 6 months.
Earlier today I was reading a post from Jeff Belonger about how Google being your best Testimonial. If you have not had a chance to read it, I suggest that you do. Within the post, Jeff provides a sample 'response' letter that he sent to a potential client. The letter suggested that the client check him out on by googling 'Jeff Belonger'. I have directed people to my site before, but never to google my name.
Personally, I like the idea. Why? Because I was never really 'searchable' prior to ActiveRain, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Naymz, etc. Sure, I have googled myself several times, but how likely is it that someone will 'google' my name? Not very likely unless I tell them they should. Now that I am on all of these platform, there are several things out there which will help a potential customer get to know me.
Anyway, let me get to my point. After reading the post, I decided to check out my name again. The very first link is not me. The link is for a boxer and who recently fought Dan Cramer ?? I am actually not mentioned until the 3rd link (activerain of course). So, I was curious enough to open all of the links to see what others pertain to me.
When I got to the 2nd page, a link was displayed for a post I had written about 4 days ago. I thought it was JIE (a word from the Jason Crouch's dictionary meaning very cool, awesome, etc.) that my post showed up on the search at all. But I was curious as to why THAT particular post showed up. When looking at the tags, it does not reference my name, mortgage, or anything. My name is within the post, but that is not abnormal. The post itself was actually about Time Management and your marketing efforts.
So... why does THIS post show up under a John Cannata search on Google?
** side note... I strongly suggest using the word JIE moving forward. Jason created it and as we know, anything he touches turns to gold. This will be the new word for 2009 **
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Are you looking to purchase a Texas home? Perhaps you love your Texas home but would be interested in refinancing your Texas mortgage to a lower interest rate?
I'll help you get pre-approved for your Texas home loan and even suggest some very knowledgeable and professional Real Estate Agents in your area of choice. If you are available to talk, I am available to listen. Give me a call or visit my website for more details.
Do you want to know all of your mortgage options? Call me today and let's discuss them further.
Always available for your Texas Mortgage and Home Loan needs!
John R Cannata P#214.728.0449
NMLS # 322646
The views expressed on this site are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my employer.
John, good information to reseach.
I'm going to be interested in what some who knows has to say about your post.
I think the answer to this question is probably the most sought out answer besides maybe "what's the meaning of life?"
In fact the answer is so complicated that I dont see any clear way of answering it. Instead I would say that your best bet would be to focus on ways to get your name out there even more by keeping on doing what you are doing here and on those other sites.
If you want to research more on this question and its lengthy answer I would poke around on here and on the web and try to look up some of these key concepts, SEO, search engine optimization, serps, key words, internet presence, page rank, etc. I think all of those should have a wiki entry if you want a quick answer. But really what you are asking is so complex that it would take hundreds of hours to explain.
Hi John, Spectacular question! And I am more than certain someone has time to answer it w/their words of wisdom, I am coming back to see what others have to say....
@Shane Hundreds of hours to explain!??!! Who has time for that??? How about a 2 sentence summary?
A great question and I too am looking forward to reading everyone's comments.
Be careful how you say that, I told someone to Google me once, and she told me that she was happily married and seemed offended that I would even suggest such a thing.
John - This was a jie post. I don't know the exact answer myself, but I will be anxious to hear what others have to say.
John..... thanks for the polite mention and the juice.... Google that is, not OJ... lol Okay, don't quit my day job, right.
I am not an expert pertaining to your answer in how to stop it... but I think I have a good idea why it happens. Exactly what you do when you write quality posts... GOOGLE juice. They are using your name, tags, etc etc to be searched in certain sectors or types of business.
ANyone reading this comment... sign up for Google Alerts... I get Google alerts often when someone mentions my name. John, even though I am subscribed to your blogs, I got the google alert first. Probably another reason why Crouch came in and commented... lol But my whole point to this.. there is a guy that copies my first paragraph of my FHA blogs... because he has a genaric mortgage site that he tries to capture people to pay for certain services. He even has paid site links on his site. My point... he is using me to get more people to find him. Probably what this person wanted to do by copying some of your stuff and or using your name. Just as someone that copies your whole blog, to get google juice.
I hope that kind of answers your question...
It's not surprising that my Active Rain profiles comes out on top. Then only my real estate website. Then FB, then Linked In. Then more of my web stuff. To my surprise, my RealEstateShows link come out last on the first page.
I have no answer and honestl, I quit trying to figure out. I just continue to write quality content (or should I say, voice my opinion) and people are finding what they need.
Like Jeff, I Google Alert myself. Anyone that re-blogs my posts or mentions me (usually here in the Rain), I get notified. Once a while, my real estate website or Localism posts pop up.
John - I'm not sure why it comes up that way. However, I can tell you that one advantage of having a last name like mine is that I have ot go to page 2 or 3 of google before I find anything not directly related to me. This is very jie.
John, I'm in agreement with Eau on this one. I started optimizing my own site years ago (which led me to the rain) and just when you think you have it figured out they will change the rules. I remember when we were all linking to each other and now that's a big NO NO.
I am lucky to have an unusual name, so all of the Google pages were actually me. Boy were there a lot of blogs, but hey that's a good thing! Thanks and good luck!
Betina Foreman
Page rank and the number of links to a particular page probably has the most to do with why one particular site ranks higher than another one when you specifically are searching your name. Thats probably why as Loreena Yeo wonders why one ranks higher than the other when she thought it would be the other way around. Actually today my linkedin account is first on my name which I have never seen before. Also if I put the ' in my name like O'Gorman rather than OGorman it matters tremendously.
If you wondered why I cant explain this simply look at this:
This is what it looks like on a "simple system" such as a small website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PageRanks-Example.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Linkstruct2.svg
Here is the original paper on Google to describe how it works
http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/361/
Oh that last link is only a 20 page read so that wouldnt take too long to explain! :)
I have to believe that this is all tied in to content and search terms. When someone searches for something with a particular keyword or phrase, I think (though I'm not entirely sure) that the bots and spiders go looking for content that contain those terms. I would never recommend anyone Google my name for several reasons. First and foremost, if you do, you get me plus three or four other people with my same name. Besides, I don't market myself by my name. I don't think that is an intuitive way to search unless they really are looking specifically for you. For instance, if someone is looking for real estate information in Sacramento...they are going to search for things like "Sacramento real estate...or homes for sale in Sacramento...or even real estate agents in Sacramento". I feel like I've gotten way off subject now...LOL...so I'll stop.
Back to the original question. I think Google chooses posts based on content.
Eric - Thanks. I try to ask the good questions. :-)
Christopher - I'm slowing reading the responses now. There are 15 comments. Hopefully someone shares some information I was not aware of. let's keep reading and find out.
Shane - I figured there would be a somewhat lengthy answer, but I am hoping that someone can still give it to me... or at least share some information I am not aware of. Thanks for the comment.
Kristin - Exactly. Im sure it cant be summed up too much for me to get the 'exact' answer, but perhaps something shortened to a paragraph that gives me a pretty good idea.
Maggie - Thanks for stopping by. We are still searching for the answer, at least through your name. Im still reading as I go.
JL - I'll try not to be spooky about 'just search me' LOL I definitely do not want someone to misunderstand my meaning.
Jason - Its Mr. Jie himself. I'll keep you posted if I get the answer.
Jeff - Thanks for the details, although I don't exactly get why 'THIS' post shows up. Don't get me wrong... I understand if I use key words in my post, I may come across it. But I have had my name in many posts and those were not found. I don't have an issue with this post showing up and I don't want to delete it. If someone comes across it, Im okay with that. So, I do get the google juice and the links (to a certain degree), but this post was not reblogged or 'featured' or anything. Its just like the rest of my posts, I think. I think the Google Alert is pretty cool and I may have to look into that at some point. Its possible that Jason was notified that way also, but I did share with him about his 'cool' word :-) Again, I appreciate the explanation and I hope there is something you can do about that guy who keeps copying you.
Loreena - So, now you are the second person (and probably Jason) that I have heard about the 'Google Alert'. Is this just based on your name or do you have other alerts/key words? Im curious how this works .. perhaps Jeff Belonger (let's see if that gets his attention) can share more about his experience with Google Alert also.
Erik - I could see where you may not have an issue with your name a lot. Who knows though... maybe there are a lot of Hitzelberger's in another area. EXCELLENT use of the word by the way.
Marchel - Im sure it wont be easy to explain, but there has to be a shorter version of the answer. I dont need the specifics for this blog I guess, but this blog is why I was asking the question. I would just assume that ALL of the blogs with my name on them would appear. Or, perhaps its the 'group' I sent the blog to...
Betina - So that means that all of your blogs showed up under your name? I didn't continue to search all of the pages, perhaps all of my blogs were there also. I just noticed this one on the second page.
Shane - I appreciate you coming back and providing the links. I will take some time to read it further. I read the first few pages and its pretty interesting already. Not sure it will give me the complete answer, but I have already learned about backlinks.
Carol - I completely agree that you never know what will come up and chances are that people will not search for me specifically. But I was curious as to what they would find, which then turned into 'why this post'. Anyway, Im still learning and expect to understand it even better before the weekend is out. If I want my site itself searched, I know that I'll have to figure the 'searcher' will use other key words. Right now I am close to the top (if not the top) on many of the key words that I want. Thanks Carol and good tip about not telling people to look you up. :-)
John... sorry that my comment wasn't pertaining to the main part of your post... I was answering the last part of your post, about finding a link to you on the second page. You need to be careful of those people and report them. They are using your name and info... and it could possibly hurt your name with Google. I am not 100% sure...
In regards to the rest of your question. I really have no idea on that one... better key words? A stronger page ranking?
JOHN How's it going? Google IS a tricky one to figure out, isn't it? I suppose if we had it down to a science, it would lose quite a bit of its value.
Great post John!
Searching your name on Google reveals that although your name is popular (144,000 results), there are much more popular names out there (search for john smith for example). I think the earliest you start representing yourself professionally online, the easiest it will be to dominate Google results pages in the future (time is an important factor in determining SERP ranking). Anyway, I addition to LinkedIn and Naymz, I suggested you also check out LookupPage and create a profile there.
Jeff - I really just wanted to see if you would pick up your name on Google Alert. I do appreciate you giving me your input though. I did not have to worry about internet presence before but I love the fact that I have to worry about it now. Im learning a lot and having fun with it. Thanks for the response.
Trunda - I missed you around here. I agree that if it were 'easy' then people would find a way or program to always be on top.
Udi - Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out the lookupPage link you provided. I guess 144K is quite a bit, but I know thats now all me. :-)
Really what you should be working on is getting more traffic to your site and not Googling your name. Although that might work to show a potential client how "internet" you are. Just keep googling SEO and eventually you will read enough articles.
John, You are really going techie on us, good research and post. How do you stay up with ActiveRain, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Naymz, etc. and still have a day job. JIE that's swell...
JOHN You're sweet. I've missed being here. I see you've been busy. I've got some catching up to do. I really enjoy your posts.
Shane - I agree. The website traffic is much more important than the someone finding me specifically on google. I appreciate all of your feedback and follow-up.
Paul - I've never been accused of being 'techie'. Sometimes I wish I had that problem so I know what works and what does not. (nice word)
Trunda - Im trying to always stay busy. If Im not moving forward, Im just standing still. No one wants that in their business.