my google quest
way back in november 2008, inspired by google's recently-published seo starter guide (http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf), I embarked on a mission to get as high as I could on google.com (not just uk!) for my very own name, james vanderzee, using search engine optimisation as opposed to the quick and easy (but often costly) search engine pay per click advertising option, aka google adwords.
"but surely getting to the top of google with an uncommon name must be easy?" I hear you cry!
well yes, perhaps this is the case usually, however I happen to share my name with an african american photographer, born at the tailend of the 1800’s, who was (and still is) best known for his portraits of black new yorkers.
as a result of his great body of work and general cultural contributions a great deal of content has been written about him online, and there are literally thousands of images of him and his subjects across the www.
quite a challenge!
bearing in mind organic search still accounts for up to 70% of all search engine-generated traffic I considered it important to test if abiding by google's own 'rules' actually works.
being an internet marketing specialist and a confirmed strategist I of course opted to follow their rules in as methodical a fashion as possible. It also meant following a more ethical or best practice approach - I am a professional after all!
read more at http://webmarketingmusings.blogspot.com/2008/11/getting-to-top-of-google-personal-case.html
check my progress for yourself at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=james+vanderzee