How To Google Yourself

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I once had a friend who met a very nice man. She dated him for several weeks before Googling him late one night. She found out that he had been in a good deal of trouble with the law and ended the relationship the next day. It makes you think †what sort of information is sitting out there in the digital world about you. Even worse, what if there is inaccurate information? Learning how to perform a complete search for yourself with Google just makes sense in a world where everything is digital.

Google is still the number one ranked search engine, making it the most logical place to start your search. Even better, Google is exceptional easy to use and well known for the quality of results it produces. Searching for your name using Google only takes a few minutes. In fact, all you really need to do is enter your name and hit the search button. After you have a chance to review the results, you may find it necessary to take a few additional steps. In order to perform a complete Google search on your name, be sure to consider the following:

1. Don’t forget to search for any nicknames you ...
... have. It is a good idea to search your full name, your initials with your last name and any variations of your name you can think of. For example, Katherine Janice Kauffman would want to carefully search not only her full name but also the following: K.J. Kauffman, Katherine J. Kauffman and Katie Kauffman as well as any other alias.
2. If your name is very common, for example David Smith, it is a good idea to include a city and state with your search. Be sure to check each state you have lived in.
3. You may want to consider searching Google using a combination of your name and your birth date.

In many cases, you will find no information at all on your name †and this is fine, unless you are purposely trying to increase the visibility of your name. In other cases, you may find information that is incomplete or inaccurate. It is important to take steps to rectify this situation. Contacting the web site or agency responsible for the erroneous error is often all it takes. In many cases this erroneous information is simply a result of a clerical error.

Those looking to increase their digital footprint should consider building and optimizing a website to increase their visibility. Social media sites are often a great way to start, so it is a good idea to maintain an active profile on several of the popular sites.

Once you have completed your search and corrected any errors, you job is just about finished. All that remains is to maintain your online footprint by periodically performing searches on your name and nicknames. Once a month is more than sufficient to ensure that your good name remains unsullied by the digital world.