16 WebsiteCompass Beyond the Basics What information will a potential employer, new friend or coworker, or first date find when they Google you? Are the search results showing you in a positive light? Is the content true and relevant? How andWhy to Google Yourself People are Googling you, so it’s important to know what they see Google could be displaying personal data about you that’s inaccurate or that you’d rather wasn’t public, whether gathered by the search engine itself or by people-search websites. That’s why it’s smart to Google yourself regularly. After all, what others see about you online can impact your professional and personal life. Before we share tips on how to Google yourself, let’s get one thing out of the way. Googling yourself isn’t an act of vanity, and it doesn’t mean you’re a self-obsessed person. In today’s world, it’s just common sense to be aware of what people might encounter when they search Google to learn about you. Enter More Than Your Name Conduct your Google search in Private/ Incognito mode. This enables you to see what a random person would see when they type your name into the search bar, without the cookies and personal information saved in your browser that modify the results. Search for your full name in quotation marks. This tells Google you want to look up the words you typed exactly as you typed them and not search for one word while ignoring others. To narrow the search further, use your name plus modifiers like the city or state you live in, the names of your school(s), the name of the company you work for, or other details. Make note of any content that concerns you, and either write down or bookmark the web addresses. Initial Pages Matter Most The first page of your Google search is the most critical one for you to review, since the majority of web traffic will click on those top listings and not look any
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