Have you been Google’d Recently

Have you been Google’d Recently

We’ve all heard the story of the friend who was about to get the dream job, then failed at the last hurdle because the employer checked them on the internet and found some embarrassing photos of their stag do on Facebook.

My best friend, who was also my best man and is now a high flying executive for a London Ad Agency, was spotted by me on Facebook looking extremely drunk during a pub crawl in a town where he lives. But these photos weren’t on his page but his daughters and he was “tagged”.  Put his name in Google and the photos appear.  Facebook is popular with Google.

Slight exaggeration but it’s a problem that won’t go away.

The lesson this week is have you checked what Google says about you lately?  Have you keyed in your name into Google and seen what comes up?  Are you pleased or horrified?

The best tip is to take some control over your name on Google by putting yourself out there more.  Here’s some tips to do this cost and time effectively.

1. Remove any offending photos from your Facebook page, if they worry you and you can
2. Register with Linked In and post your details, CV etc here. Check me out whilst you’re there
3. Buy the domain name …YOURNAME.ME… and put on there a one page web with just your CV. Keep it up to date, link to it from LinkedIn and Facebook so Google likes it. Cost £5 to buy, and £2 monthly for the hosting.
4. Host a free Blog at Blogger.com and write a few blogs mentioning your name liberally

Do this and Google will direct your name requests to these sites preferably your own CV site and all the other nasty ones will come way down the list and you never need to worry about dangerous elements festering the World Wide Web.

I haven’t the heart to tell my friend about his photos, as he is in a rather compromising position, but I do know he reads these sales tips…

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