Gaming Google

What happens when you Google yourself and don’t like what you see? Can you manipulate your search results to present a more favorable impression of you, your brand, or your organization?

A recent article by Julia Angwin in the Wall Street Journal gives some tips about how anyone can gain control of their SERP, or search-engine results page.

It turns out there’s a reason to join social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook–as long as you connect the dots and link your online presence across the board. You have control over what appears on those sites, and the more times your name appears in interlinking, reputable websites, the higher they will appear in your SERP.

Keep interlinking sites, and the undesirable Google results will get pushed down the page and into the seldom-seen second page. Just like that–you can game Google.

It’s fascinating reading, and good news for anyone who has Googled themselves and cringed.