NOT THE RESPONSE I EXPECTED...

I emailed several agents in our area this morning to say that I was currently using a canned site just like them - and wanted to spend 10 or 15 minutes discussing how they were customizing their site and what widgets they are using.

I felt pretty darn comfortable with this - because I felt certain most of the agents in this area that are using this canned site are not customizing it and don't know what a widget was (none of them are on AR and I intended to invite them!)

BOY WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE! (hence my BFO - Blinding Flash Of The Obvious!)

I've always signed my name

Eleanor Warren-Thorne

My parents were both in the business in the Cary Market and so I felt like it was a good connection to the community in a lot of different ways...  Here's one of the responses I got back from an agent:

"And when I quickly googled your name... an obituary of someone came up 1st... and nothing regarding your site.  I don't know what to recommend to you about that but thought I'd let you know."
 

HUGH?!?!?  Anybody on AR knows that if you blog and keep your website up to-date and do all of those things we are all doing you should be in there somewhere! 

AND BESIDES!  WHEN I GOOGLE MY NAME I'M THE ENTIRE FRONT PAGE!?!?!  Okay - so I thought - maybe she misspelled my name.  It happens.  But alas... that wasn't the problem.

You see I am Eleanor Thorne on Active Rain and on my website with my husband Steve. 

I signed my emails, and my cards are printed to say:

ELEANOR WARREN-THORNE

Lesson learned???  Use the same name on everything!!  Even the most simple of things can cause your SEO to be in Danger!