photo courtesy of _lmaji_
So simple, yet so powerful.
I was watching a bit of the Dakno TV feed from REbarcamp Lynchburg today when I saw David Patterson and our very own Clint Miller speaking. The talk was great - there was a lot of territory that was covered, but one thing stood out to me. It's simple, but says so much.
David was talking about Google and trying to figure out how "searchable" you were. All of us constantly want to know if we're holding the #1 spot or if we are holding 3 on the first page or which keywords are being picked up in the latest post we wrote. We love Google and the information it provides us and the information it gives people about us. Google is your friend.
But does Google even know you exist?
David's simple cure to learning how important Google thinks you are is awesome.
Hop on over to Google.
Enter in two things to search for. 1. Your first name (no last name - just your first). 2. Your city. (he also added state, so I would check both).
Look at the results page.
Where do you rank?
What does this tell you.
I live in San Antonio. My name is Matt. Google returned 8.27 million hits for that combo. Matt isn't an uncommon name and San Antonio is a top 10 city population wise (we rank from 6th to 8th depending on who you ask), you can see how finding your face in the crowd might be difficult.
But there I am, on the first page. Beaten only by Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together (M.A.T.T. - get it?) in ranking, little 'ole me is more important to Google than all the other people named Matt in San Antonio that have any sort of web presence. Think of how many news stories contain the name "Matt" in San Antonio alone and you'll see why my head spins at how powerful this simple search is.
Try it yourself and see where you fall into place.
Oh yeah, Google knows I exist alright.
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