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What do you find when you Google search your name?

By Jeff Belonger

Mortgage and Lending with Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc

June 20, 2007 06:42 PM

I have had several questions in the last few months and I can't seem to get any detailed information. Can any of you help? Know some inside information? Know how some of these searches work? Can it be beneficial to me or can it hurt me?

I went to Google the other night to search my name again, Jeff Belonger. This is something that I would recommend doing often, just to see if others are using your name. There are also services out there that will alert you to when someone has potentially copied a blog of yours or even some bits and pieces of your web site. If you have any links to these companies, please share them with us.

In any case, I searched my name and here are a few facts I found.

Part Time Scholarships

Jeff Belonger I have just one tidbit of information that was totally overlooked new agents wanted full or part time scholarship program avoid scams fraud by ...
occs.cs.oberlin.edu/~jswiders/books/review/part-time-scholarships.html - Jun 19, 2007 - Similar pages - Note this

Should I be upset about this? If you read the link supplied in regards to part time scholarships, you will notice that it is a mortgage calculator with some other related mortgage topics. I didn't write this and this is somewhat a competitor of mine. They apparently embedded my name into their page. At least associated their page with my name, so if you search my name, this will appear also. CLEVER....

I have found a few more searches like this that my name doesn't even appear within the article as a reference. So, is someone getting airtime from my name, without paying any advertising fees per se? Have you become an expert in your field, that people are using your name, which could result in lost business? It certainly seems that way.

Summary : What would you do about this? Have you noticed this in regards to your name? Have you noticed that if you leave comments on other outside blog sites, and leave your full name, that these blog pages also show up under your name. And if you are leaving comments on other sites of your competitors, does this help you or hurt you? Your opinion? Your thoughts?

Inquiring minds would like to know......

Helpful Links :

What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content « Lorelle on WordPress -- Here is an awesome article detailing everything that you would know in regards to name theft, web page theft, and blog theft.

Worried about Plagiarism? How to Scare Away Potential Copy Thieves! by : Terri Eckholm Terri supplies a link to Copyscape that allows you to check for people copying your stuff. It's free.

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Gita Bantwal

RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA

REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

It is a scary thought.Imagine people using your name. I will check google regularly.

My name is common among Indians but not in real estate. the other day I recd a call from a person in another State ( that I am not licensed in ) and said I was referred to her by someone. I had no idea who that person was, and could not help this person but I returned her call and said she got the wrong Gita, but I would be glad to refer her to another agent. i looked up Ar and found an agent and referred .I do not know if she has listed yet.

Jun 20, 2007 10:29 PM

Tom Burris

NMLS# 335055 - Baton Rouge, LA

Texas/Louisiana Mortgage Pro - 13 YRS Experience

"Jabbering Trout"

I find "Jabbering Trout"

it seems that a singer/song writer shares my name. As well as one of Karen Carpenter's husbands.

Then I find a whole lot of mememememeemememememem

Jun 21, 2007 12:36 AM

ASHEVILLE REALTY REFERRAL RESOURCE 828-776-0779

REAL ESTATE REFERRAL NETWORK - Asheville, NC

CONTACT janeAnne365@gmail.com

Jeff~

I really appreciate this post...I think it can be helpful to may of our contributors who find their work showing up where they don't expect it. THX! OH! and just in case some AR Newbies might not know..."Copyscape provides a free servicethat lets people easily search for plagiarism online and identify instances of content theft."

Jun 21, 2007 12:41 AM

Kathy Sperl-Bell

Active Adults Realty - Lewes, DE

Thanks for this suggestion. I just Googled myself and discovered that articles where I was featured or quoted a year or more ago are still available online! I may use those links from one of my web sites.

It also pays to have one of those hyphenated last names that noone else would want.

Jun 21, 2007 01:00 AM

Laura Cerrano

Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY

Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

HI Jeff, it's a great post. I do Google my name but only look at the first page or two to see what is pulling me up....and don't go beyond that. But I should look further into it. And I had the same thing as William....it comes up much less then it did previously due to the duplicate content :( Thanks for posting this information.

Jun 21, 2007 01:17 AM

marti garaughty

garaughty.com - Montreal, QC

a highly caffeinated creative type...

Morning Jeff, we're all in the same boat. The search engines are like big nets that scoop up everything written about or by us.

The better we get at marketing ourselves and the more people link to us, our content, our sites and our blogs, the more you'll see your name pop up in some very unexpected places.

As long as your name or content isn't being plagarized or used without your consent, I wouldn't worry about it because we don't have much control over stuff like this. Later...

the art of marketing you

Jun 21, 2007 03:23 AM

Jeff Belonger

Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ

The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Thesa..... what's funny is that I just clicked onto that link again and the page is totally different.

My whole point is.... and I don't think we are on the same page here... is that I never wrote this article nor made a comment. But my name is somehow associated with this link and blog. It doesn't help me at all, that when you search me, that this link appears with my name. My point, it only helps this company, because my name is associated with them.

Question, how can they do this? Is this right? How could I get them to unassociate my name with them? thanks

Kaushik..... that question I can't answer. How many times and how many search pages?

Bill.... I have asked numerous times about duplicate content, but nobody has replied back to my question, when I ask them this. Question: When I write a blog, can I copy it to my other bog site? Can it be wordfor word? Am I better changing the 1st paragraph? Another.... can I add my blogs to more than 2 other sites, and would this hurt me?

In regards to running my name. Do you do it in Google search alone? Do you search it in something else. When I search my name on Google, I only came up with about 75% of the names that you had mentioned.

thanks for your feedback and for your input.

Gita..... I think it's a scary thought because I am not sure how all of this works at times. It can also be scary when I never wrote a specific blog, nor commented on it, but my name appears in the search with their article. And the sad thing about it is ... how do they do this? How can you stop it?

Tom..... never heard of that person. I'll check out your name. Are there any other places to search your name with, other than Google itself? thanks

janeAnne..... I had already linked Terri's post up top, in this post, in regards to that free link. And thanks for your polite comment. I want to learn more about this also, hence why I wrote this post. Thanks for stopping by.

Kathy..... when you say that you found articles that you were featured in, what do you mean by featured? Where your name is mentioned?

And yes, a hyphenated name would set you apart from so many others. But many of us aren't as lucky I guess.... lol

Carole..... I always look at the first 4 to 5 pages, just in case there is something lurking further back. Can you read my comment that I left William, in regards to the duplicate content. I am still trying to get some answers on these questions. Any help would be much appreciative.

And thanks for the compliment. I just wanted to throw this out there so we all can learn more about this.

Jun 21, 2007 03:44 AM

Jeff Belonger

Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ

The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Marti... you snuck in there. But thanks for that feedback. That was the most direct and to the point answer yet. I guess there is nothing that we can do about it.

Here is another question. How do they link our names, when we weren't a part of that blog to begin with? And if so, can we do it to others? Is this tactful marketing? thanks

Jun 21, 2007 03:47 AM

Salt Spring Island real estate agent Scott Simmons

One Percent Realty Vancouver Island - Salt Spring Island, BC

It's a problem for all RE agent. If we where a corporation we could be xyz realty but by using our names we do open ourselves up to fraud artist.

Jun 21, 2007 04:17 AM

marti garaughty

garaughty.com - Montreal, QC

a highly caffeinated creative type...

Hi again Jeff, to answer your question about "How do they link our names, when we weren't a part of that blog to begin with?"...

From what I've seen re my art website garaughty.com, often .xml files (rss feeds) are often lumped together from blogs, etc. based on the date they were posted so...

When people tag (bookmark online) stuff, it's very possible for your own blogs & content to show up with other stuff that has nothing to do with your name, your site or your blog.

I'm sure there are a zillion other reasons for this happening so I'm going to feature your post since it's relevant to a lot of us here on AR. Hopefully those who are more tech savvy about the workings of search engines will add their thoughts and answer your question in a more eloquent way.

the art of marketing you

Jun 21, 2007 04:58 AM

William J. Archambault, Jr.

The Real Estate Investment Institute - Houston, TX

Jeff'

I don't sleep much so when I read this blog late last night I simply typed "Jeff Belonger" including the quotation marks, in Google. I didn't run anything else. I got 34 returns. I just copied the names from the descriptions.

I just did it again and only got about half of the names, I can't explain it.

I use to syndicated my articles for redistribution, I reached a point where I was getting over 10,000 returns almost all of them were mine! Then Google changed the rules regarding duplicate content and they cut me back to about 1,000 then 400+ then to the current 70 to 80. Strangely google still list more than 400 if you timing is just right. These days I only post to 4 sites regularly.

I met Jeanette Fisher, a nice lady who's books reach the same people as mine, she got me into the syndication. I'm in awe of the great John T Reed (Yes, he's that good.) So I try to follow his lead. Both Reed and Carmen Leigh have books on writing and promoting self help books I have both and use what I can. My advice on self promotion is pick someone who's doing it well and imitate them. I'm going back into National retail lending soon, so I'm going to follow a friend to expand my audience. I believe the more sites the better.

I've always thought that the first paragraph, often the first sentence was the most important, but you and I came up in the comments on Brian Brady's blog from the day before.

It's impressive to enter "Jeff Belonger" or "William J Archambault Jr" and watch the returns, but it's more profitable when you name comes up after entering "FHA" or "Investment" both are important.

The returns are great but you need to know what you want to do, and go after the right group, and identify yourself with the terms they are likely to Google.

Bill

Jun 21, 2007 05:42 AM

Jeff Belonger

Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ

The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Scott ...... I kind of agree and I say kind of because I am still trying to understand a lot of this. thanks

Marti..... thanks for that clarification. Some of this is very interesting. And I am sure that there are a zillion reasons.

FOR ANY TECH SAVVY people, please read this blog and Marti's last comment, above this. I think many of us would love to know more about how this works. thanks

Jun 21, 2007 05:44 AM

Danny Smith

DISCOVER TEXAS HOMES - Round Rock, TX

Some Movie stars usning my name on google! :)

Jun 21, 2007 06:18 AM

Jeff Belonger

Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ

The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Danny.,,,,,,,, rut row..... you seem to be a star then..... ;o)

Jun 21, 2007 02:34 PM

David L. Britt

Platinum Realty, LLC - Olathe, KS

MBA

Jeff, great Tip and one we should all take to heart! Thanks for the reminder!

Jun 21, 2007 04:24 PM

Karen Hurst

RICOASTALLIVING.COM - Warwick, RI

Rhode Island Waterfront!

Jeff, There was a post about this, can't remember who a few months back. What was found is and I have seen it, there are blogs that are kewwords only and there are websites that include all sorts of things just for hits. I found a website yesterday that had quite a few Real Estate related agent sites, including my own, but only glimpses of each one. It quoted me in several instances. I have no idea where it came from or why it exists. I do know that there is some kind of software whether its used by Google or someone using Google, that picks up words and mixes them in. Its not actually plaguerism because there is no specific full article or reference. And I believe the whole point of these automated blogs and websites are to get hits to there own company/site via many different keywords. Not sure if there is anything we can do about it.

Jun 21, 2007 08:20 PM

Teri Eckholm

Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN

REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro

Hi Jeff--Thanks for the link to my article...It is less about copyscape and more about posting a warning to would be thieves that you are checking.

I google my name I am more interested in what comes up when I google "MN real estate" or "Keller Williams MN" as that is what a potential client would google. If they google my name, my sites take up the first page...I worry less about the content on the subsequent pages as few people go beyond page 3.

Jun 22, 2007 01:01 AM

Jeff Belonger

Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ

The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

David.... my pleasure. There were some great things mentioned in these comments, to keep us on our toes. Read Karen & Teri's comments below, these seem to give some good insight overall.

Karen...... yea, I am learning some of this, what you are talking about. I guess from what you are saying, is that we are at the mercy of those that can pick our names and use it to drive traffic to their sites.

Thanks for the feedback....

Teri...... in regards to the link, my pleasure. I need to check out these warning labels and check out Copyscape to see if anything of mine has been duplicated/copied.

I agree, you want to see what pops up when you Google other names and key words. But you can keep track of what is attached to your name by Googling this also.... I would love to know the true facts of what people search after such and such page. I heard many don't go past the top page of page 2. Thanks for your input and feedback.

Jun 22, 2007 03:07 AM

Kathleen Lordbock

Keller Williams Realty Professionals - Baxter, MN

Keller Williams Realty Professionals

My blogs have been picked up and put in newspapers online but I can't read them because I am not a subscriber - now that is funny!

Be careful what you type out here I just figure if they are accurately quoting me that is a good thing & will help me get business or home staging work for a friend on AR.

Jun 22, 2007 09:06 AM

this profile is

Invalid - Frederica, DE

Heh, when I search my name i get results that are all me. Apparently I post online a lot or some junk. as for the content theft there is some good stuff in my blog about it, check it out if you are so inclined. Copyscape is a great tool for this kind of thing, so is randomly googleing random phrases from your own content. See what comes up.

Christian

Jun 22, 2007 10:42 AM