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.
