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Sort of OT... Improving GOOGLE results through SS.com
Andrew Sullivan, Photographer
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Kissimmee | FL | USA | Posted: 11:42 PM on 08.03.04 |
->> This is sort of related to the business of photography.
I am in the unfortunate position of having the same first and last name as a gay left wing political analyst, and when a search is done on Google, one or two links come up with my actual content, and several thousand come up with info on the other Andrew Sullivan.
The first result of mine is usually referring to my Sportsshooter.com page, and I would assume that this is because links from my icon on all these message boards refer people to it. My question is this, how can I get more people to consistantly find me instead of the other Andrew? |
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Spencer Hahn, Photographer, Student/Intern
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West Lafayette | IN | USA | Posted: 11:51 PM on 08.03.04 |
| ->> Go by "Andy" |
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Michael Hickey, Photographer
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Muncie | IN | USA | Posted: 11:55 PM on 08.03.04 |
| ->> Or add your middle initial. |
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Andrew Sullivan, Photographer
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Kissimmee | FL | USA | Posted: 12:07 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> No thanks 'Spence', but the middle initial thing might be something to think about... |
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Rick Burnham, Photographer
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Enfield | CT | USA | Posted: 12:09 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> I'd say you need to do something. I googled you and it took me until the 7th page to get a listing for you (Sports Shooter). I'd add your middle initial as Michael suggested. It was how a guy who I used to work with was able to separate his name for credit report confusion. |
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Brian Jackson, Photographer, Photo Editor
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South San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 12:54 AM on 08.04.04 |
->> Imagine having a fairly common first & last name: Brian Jackson! The top google spot keeps going between me, a musician and some dude's blog
I've got the #20 most common male first name and #13 most common last name in the US. I even know a John Johnson and a Michael Jones.
http://www.namestatistics.com/ |
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Joshua Brown, Photographer
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Michael Proebsting, Photographer
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Barrington | IL | USA | Posted: 1:13 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> It could be worse, what if your name was something like.......Scott Peterson. |
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Hans Kilian, Photographer
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Frederiksberg | Denmark | Denmark | Posted: 1:18 AM on 08.04.04 |
->> I don't know how popular/famous this other Andrew Sullivan is, but you could try to improve the ranking of your site on Google and maybe take over the #1 spot.
Basically it involves getting lots of people to link to your site. Preferably from highly ranked sites.
My name is not very common, but there is a dutch poet who uses the same name as a pseudonym. It took me a while to get the top spot on Google away from him, but after a year or so I got it.
So put your site on Yahoo! if you haven't already. And when someone uses one of your pictures on the net, get them to make the photo credit into a link to your site if you can. And get all your friends to link to your site. |
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Kevin Liles, Photographer
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Griffin | GA | USA | Posted: 1:23 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> Try Kevin Liles - former president of Def Jam Records. The good thing is that I come up fifth when Googled. |
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Paul S. Clapp, Assistant, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:34 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> Hey, if you are going to complain about names, I think I win this argument. |
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Grover Sanschagrin, Photographer, Assistant
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Albany | CA | USA | Posted: 1:52 AM on 08.04.04 |
->> This is a cool place to check out your Google page rank number, and it's interesting to see how that number applies to your "competition". They also give you a lot of other useful information that may keep you busy for a while.
http://www.webmasterbrain.com/prog
I've noticed that any page rank of 5 or higher is extremely good. If you can get an 8 or better, you're a major player on the Internet.
This site is useful because it allows you to get a good feel for how Google ranks sites and you can use this to help fine-tune your own sites. You'll also see that it isn't *all* about the page rank number, too. Many other factors play into the search rankings.
You can search for a specific site and get the info on that site, or, what's even more useful, is entering a search term. Try "sports photography", for example.
Pretty useful tool. Check it out. |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 2:13 AM on 08.04.04 |
->> "I've noticed that any page rank of 5 or higher is extremely good. If you can get an 8 or better, you're a major player on the Internet. "
Dang. I wasn't even trying and got #4 of 10. |
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Brett Flashnick, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Columbia | SC | United States | Posted: 2:18 AM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> Thanks for the tip Grover... that is a fun little tool, even tho I found out that the best score any of my sites had was a 2. I'm an internet weenie I guess... Thankfully I'm the only Brett Flashnick around. |
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Brian Jackson, Photographer, Photo Editor
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South San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 12:06 PM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> Here's a bit of random searching: try your name at http://www.googlism.com |
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G.J. McCarthy, Photographer, Assistant
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Fort Worth | TX | USA | Posted: 1:06 PM on 08.04.04 |
->> You could try the "literary" route and go with first/middle name initials and your full last name ... lest you be confused with "The Mortgage Guy" ...
http://www.gerrymccarthy.com (special thanks to Andrew "The Man" Loehman for finding that one.)
Or, you could just not worry about it at all. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but unless you expand your skill set into the realm of "gay-friendly" liberal activism and analysis, I don't think a potential employer or client would mistake you for anyone other than Andrew Sullivan the photographer. Just a thought, no flame intended.
- gerry "NOT The Mortgage Guy" mccarthy - |
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Ed J. Szalajeski, Photographer
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Portland | ME | USA | Posted: 1:16 PM on 08.04.04 |
->> Oh Yes, Ego Google Searches.
Thank godness I have a very popular name, Not many Ed Szalajeski's out there.
One way I bet to increase your ranking is using SS link back to your site.
Ed Szalajeski |
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Jack Howard, Photographer
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Somerville | NJ | USA | Posted: 1:28 PM on 08.04.04 |
->> Here's one of my past permutations...
http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/dancebands/Musicians/MusicianPages/Jack%20Howard....
And as my birth name, John Howard, I often get mistaken for the PM of Australia.
My friend Kevin knows another Jack Howard who is also a photog, who also lives in NJ, I believe...
As for your question, why not be a little proactive and ask everyone in your address book to google your name and then click a bunch of your links? Sort of skewing the data, but hey, it might work... |
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Jack Howard, Photographer
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Somerville | NJ | USA | Posted: 1:30 PM on 08.04.04 |
| ->> Thanks Grover! I'm the first two hits on that link... :) |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington | IL | United States | Posted: 4:53 PM on 08.04.04 |
->> Look is a good one for a variety of hits. At one time I even had my page named "the good look". That was before I got back in the business. Kodak has that all tied up so I abandoned that idea. Searching on just look will get you everything from me to kodak to porn.....
What's really fun is to look through my server log file and see what people punched in to get to my site from those search engines. It's both fun and informative.
Fortunatly, if my first and last are used, I pretty much own the top search spots. |
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Andrew Sullivan, Photographer
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Kissimmee | FL | USA | Posted: 9:25 PM on 08.04.04 |
->> Grover speaks on my thread... I'm touched! And Ross, seeing as how a bunch of my equipment was stolen while I was in Hawaii in March, I don't think I'll go that route.
PS- That Googlism site was HARSH! Try my name and see for yourself... |
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Thad Parsons, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 9:37 AM on 08.06.04 |
->> Andrew, I am sorry.
At least Google knows something about you ... |
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Pamela Riemenschneider, Photographer
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Austin | TX | USA | Posted: 12:24 PM on 08.06.04 |
->> This is when I'm glad I ditched my old name and took my husband's last name. That was a hard decision since I a few--very few--things published with my maiden name.
I google myself, and get myself--my ss.com page. And Chris Riemenschneider, a movie columnist who is a distant cousin.
And Tilman Riemenschneider, a Northern Renaissance wood cutter.
Sometimes it makes all that explaining, and people going, "Wow- you have a long name!" and spelling five times on the phone worth it. |
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William Robert Sullivan, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Chicago | IL | USA | Posted: 2:00 PM on 08.06.04 |
->> Andrew--Go with the middle name, as long as it's not something weird, like "Bettlejuice" or "Kittenkiller." There's a billion of us Sullivan's out there.
Everyone tells me I should be a Bank CEO or playwright with William Robert. |
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Jeff Blake, Photographer
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Athens | GA | USA | Posted: 4:37 PM on 08.06.04 |
| ->> At least you don't have the same name as a mediocre NFL quarterback. |
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David Stout, Photographer
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Andrew Sullivan, Photographer
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Kissimmee | FL | USA | Posted: 11:06 PM on 08.24.04 |
->> Hadn't checked this thread in a while... but after two weeks of my experiment, I decided to try the site Grover posted. My lowly website (which now almost mirrors whats in my SS.com gallery) used to rate a 2 and now its... a 3!
Huzzah.
Anyway, the whole basis of my experiment is to post stupid things on SS.com just like normal (go Nikon!) but then in my sig post a link to my website. Ingenious!
Andrew
http://sullivanfotografix.8m.com |
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Andrew Sullivan, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Kissimmee | FL | USA | Posted: 11:35 PM on 08.01.07 |
->> Almost 3 years ago to the day, and Michael Hickey is the closest to the money. Now, thanks to a T, a search for 'Andrew T. Sullivan' puts my horribly neglected website at the #4 position in the search results.
Andrew Sullivan
http://www.picandrew.com |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 1:06 PM on 08.02.07 |
->> I get the double wammy....
First reference to me - (my SS page) is on page #3. First result from google is Mark Peters photography - not me (and basically a nul site to boot).
Google name and "photo" and I come up 4th on the list. |
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John Howley, Photographer
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Circleville | OH | USA | Posted: 1:16 PM on 08.02.07 |
| ->> I'm No. 1! WooHoo! Though my ranking is only a 3 out of 10. |
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Yamil Sued, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Peoria | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:43 PM on 08.02.07 |
->> I, I, I, I have me!!
I google my name, with and without my midle initial and my SS page is there!!
Now my website is starting to show on the first few Google hits.
Y |
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Mike McLaughlin, Photographer
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Neptune City | NJ | USA | Posted: 2:10 PM on 08.02.07 |
->> I don't know how I ever did it, having the Irish equivalent of John Smith for a name, and a rather popular NASCAR driver of the same name, but my website is the first listing in a google search!!!
If you search my name there are 81 pages of results. In the past, the first 5 or so pages were the NASCAR driver, then maybe me. Now I've beat him out. Either I'm doing better than I thought, or he's been losing a lot lately! ;P |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 2:37 PM on 08.02.07 |
| ->> I be number one! sweet! |
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Alicia Wagner Calzada, Photographer
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San Antonio | TX | USA | Posted: 6:24 PM on 08.02.07 |
->> I am a proponent of using the middle name. It makes it exponentially easier to be set apart. There are Alicia Wagner's out there and lots of Alicia Calzada's out there, but I believe I am the only Alicia Wagner Calzada on the planet.
Having a complicated name is a blessing and a curse. People have gotten any and all of my names wrong. I was afraid of trying to spell my name over the phone because everyone always spells it wrong (something about having a c, d and z in the same word just freaks people out), so I just chose http://www.aliciaphoto.com as my website. It works for me. |
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Sarah Kiewel, Photographer
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Gainesville | FL | USA | Posted: 2:31 PM on 08.03.07 |
->> The good and bad about having a unique last name.
When googling my last name only, I come up 8th. Not bad, I'd say.
No one can spell my last name though, so I went with SarahKphoto.com for a Web address. When googling Sarah K photo, however, there seem to be alot of photographers that incorporate Sarah K and Photo into their name. And it also lists any random Sarah K in the world who posted a photo on a Web site.
What can you do, right? |
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Thomas E. Witte, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 2:43 PM on 08.03.07 |
->> People used to always tease me when I started adding it, but definitely use the middle initial. I'm number one with or without the E but I'm 10 for 10 on the first page with it.
What I'll never understand however is how there are 2.02 million hits with my name spelled correctly "Witte" but it asks if I meant "Witt" which nets 1.99 million and doesn't ask if I meant "Witte".
Shrug, such haters. |
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Cameron Davidson, Photographer
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Arlington | VA | USA | Posted: 3:04 PM on 08.03.07 |
->> There are five or six Cameron Davidson's on the web.
One is an artist in Utah. (he gets email intended for me)
A professor at Princeton - (a nice guy - his father is an aerial photographer)
A wrestler in Colorado.
A Canadian guy from Toronto who lives in Atlanta .
Another professor who lives in Melbourne, Australia
PLUS
A kid who also lives in Virginia. |
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David Meyer, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 10:20 PM on 08.03.07 |
->> I don't even break the top 10. But "Joyce" Meyer does. Hmmm...
Quick question, wouldn't you be more interested in showing up in the results of a search for "photographer" in your immediate geographic location? In my case, "Orlando photographer."
The number of people who don't know your name far exceed those that do. But maybe I just don't understand the intricacies of Google's ranking system. |
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Rachel E. Bayne, Photographer
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bellingham | WA | | Posted: 12:04 AM on 08.04.07 |
| ->> I think I'm the only "Rachel E. Bayne" on the internet... BUT... there are other "Rachel Bayne's" out there... and one has posed for PlayBoy! |
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Marie Hughes, Photographer
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Fremont | CA | USA | Posted: 12:24 AM on 08.04.07 |
->> I agree that page ranking isn't everything. My page rankings range from 3 to 4. But if you type in my name into Google, my personal site is the 2nd entry and my business site is the 3rd. My SS site is 5th and a site with the name of my company is 4th. In fact, half the links on the first page are mine or about me.
For my business, I'm the first 2 entries even though there is another business with the same name as mine.
Not sure why this is exactly as I haven't done a lot to try to move my ranking up. But my sites are largely text based, so I'm sure that helps. |
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Deddeda Stemler, Photographer
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Victoria | BC | CANADA | Posted: 12:31 AM on 09.07.07 |
| ->> Looks as though I'm the only Deddeda on the planet... |
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Neil Wade, Photographer
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Taipei | __ | Taiwan | Posted: 6:26 AM on 09.07.07 |
| ->> I don't think those rankings mean very much. When I tried my name, I got a ranking of 2. My SS page got a ranking of 3. But if you google "Asia Travel Photographer", I come up as #1 BABY! |
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Neil Wade, Photographer
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Taipei | __ | Taiwan | Posted: 6:29 AM on 09.07.07 |
| ->> By the way... A few months ago I "optimized my website for google" (google that for more information). After I redesigned my site, It took me from page 1,000,000,000 to page 3ish. Then I added google ads at the bottoms of my main index pages and BOOM! #1 BABY! |
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John Plassenthal, Photographer
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Vandalia | OH | USA | Posted: 10:41 AM on 09.07.07 |
->> Like Sarah I have a unique enough name it's not hard to find, but people have trouble spelling. Interesting since it's a phonetic spelling courtesy of Ellis Island.
When I added photo to the search I actually found an author and his book first, or maybe the author is the polititian. Photography or Photographer narrows it sufficiently to get to you. If someone is looking for you as a photographer, I'd hope they were savvy enough to add the additional key words to narrow the scope when they find the other guy.
You could always create a LLC with a unique business name that can set you apart and eliminate the confusion. |
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Rich Stieglitz, Photographer
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Norwalk | CT | USA | Posted: 11:40 AM on 09.07.07 |
| ->> Try having my last name and be involved in photography....I do not stand a chance..... |
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Jody Gomez, Photographer
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Murrieta | CA | USA | Posted: 3:29 PM on 09.18.07 |
->> I googled my name and 9 out of 10 entries on the first page are about me. However, by the time I got to the 3rd page, I found out that I am:
a "Mommy and Me" teacher in England;
an atheist;
was arrested on September 12, 2007 in Copperas Cove, Texas for marijuana, drug paraphernalia, no drivers license, and no insurance;
and that I have been sober for 18 years.
:~)
Jody |
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Ken Shelton, Photographer
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Wyckoff | NJ | USA | Posted: 6:09 PM on 09.18.07 |
->> I'm # 1, 7, & 8 on Google but googlism does not have enough information about me to care.
At the same time I'm # 1, 7, 8, & 10 on Yahoo. Another photographer of the same name in York, England has 2, 5, & 6 in Yahoo but only #9 in Google.
Ken |
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Sam Adams, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Albuquerque | NM | USA | Posted: 7:55 PM on 09.18.07 |
->> If you think you've got it bad, try my name, Samuel Adams.
I have to compete with not only a huge historical patriot and political activist, but there is also a professional NFL player named Sam Adams too who if i recall right just signed with the Denver Broncos.
Oh i almost forgot, there is this little brewing company back east that i am sure some of you have heard of called Samuel Adams too.
I think i win for having the worst name to google. :)
However, when you google Sam Adams Photography i've got spots #1, 2, 4, and 5. So you win some and you lose some, i guess. |
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Sandy Huffaker, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 8:40 PM on 09.18.07 |
| ->> I'd think twice about using a full middle name. Besides David Alan Harvey, most 3 namers get known as mass murderers i.e. John Wayne Gacy, Robert William Fisher, Anthony Guy Fuentes, Genero Espinosa Dorantes( I Googled serial killers and got a long list) I've always wondered why the media does this. I guess John Gacy or Bob Fisher just isn't catchy enough. ;> |
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