I've named my blog DefinitiveInk because that is what my consulting business is called but that isn't my name. I wrestled with what to call it but thought since the blog had to do with my consulting and what I think about, it made sense to name it that. Eventually I will get off my arse and redesign the whole site so it revolves around the blog. I may move the blog to an MT installation on my host or I may finally flatten these templates and play around with them in the process moving the DefinitiveInk site over to TypePad. My Google results are fine as well DefinitiveInk's listings are showing up, and I see in my referrer logs that Google is spidering my site on a regular basis. I'm actually very flattered that people are reading my modest effort here especially since I haven't publicized it that much and I get a thrill at the occasional comment or trackback. The problem I'm having with Google has to do with my name.
I used to get some decent results but now I've been pushed back to page 5 or 6 and even then it is hard to tell. The Joshua Mack who shows up on those pages is not me, instead he is a Christian pastor who is a right winger and who has written numerous books evil, home schooling, and other topics. Once when I was dating someone Googled me and I had to convince them that the Joshua Mack who is so prolific on the results isn't me. The other main players on the results pages are a basketball star, and a wealthy socialite in NY whose party invites I would sometimes get growing up. I know that I'm not alone in this, for instance a quick search for Steve Rubell, a very popular blogger comes up with pages filled with the former owner of Studio 54 and now hotels, but I want my name back on top.
As those of you who read my blog can guess the Joshua Mack who hogs the pages is not dear to my heart. I want to displace him and thrust him down into the bowels of Google so only his true believers can seek him out. So now I find myself at a crossroads. Do I rename the blog? Do I mirror the blog with one named Joshua Mack. Do I activate JoshuaMack.com and point it here? Would simply naming it Definitive Ink/Joshua Mack do it? What is the best way? Any ideas? To kick this off I've begun an experiment where each post now says Joshua Mack for Definitive Ink. We'll see if this has any impact.
Update - It has a DefinitiveInk post now appears in the #3 position on Google with just the small change to the posting attribution. Amazing.