Finally, I have found a way of merging these two apparently unrelated topics into a blog post – sigh, creativity is…
Over the past couple of months I have gone through an interesting process of building my personal brand in the online space. Needless to say its been tricky but I’m now quite happy that I own the entire first and second pages of Google searches for my name. This led me to an interesting thought: what if I were to change my name?
Ok, so I have no interest in ever changing my name but what about the ladies? If you choose to get married your years of SEO and brand development could be washed away if you opt for replacing your maiden name. And if you get divorced (which could happen much later in your career) then you might want to revert back to your maiden name and therefore return to the SERPs which you have left unmanaged for the duration of your marriage. Potentially scary stuff!
Credit: Dr. Wendy T.L.
Personal Online Reputation Management is fast becoming a necessity in today’s “I’ll just Google it” society. People are already making employment (and corporate investment) decisions based on an applicant's “Google CV”. I think its a matter of a couple of years before individuals start making dating and marriage decisions based on their dates Google CV. It's then a matter of time before people marry (or change their name) to escape a SERP which is none-too-pretty or to ones which are easier to rank for.
Truth be told, there is somebody in our office who changed their first name to allow for easier rankings… how far would you go to manage your personal reputation?
Muti
Given that about 50% of marriages end in divorce, the really easy solution is ... don't change your name.
Posted by Alex on 2008/08/05