Google yourself. You never know what you might find…

I don’t know about you, but I Google myself on a regular basis.

This is not intended to massage my ego, but to see what is ranking at the top of Google’s search results when I type in my name, and therefore what potential clients would find if they did the same.

Of course, it helps if you not only have an unusual name (according to Google, I seem to be the only Beverley Glick on the planet), but also a track record as a published writer. But it can also be a hindrance…

For example, in January 2009, I wrote a piece for the Sunday Express under the headline: “I found my true love at 50”.

Nothing wrong with that in itself, except that, in the intervening years, I married and divorced my “true love” and don’t particularly want to be reminded by the internet that it didn’t work out.

However, because it is still on the Express website, it always pops up – although now mostly in the image search (a lovely photo of me with my then fiance) rather than the first page of search results.

Google also shows the most popular image search results – mine made sense (I’m a coach, and I used to be a music journalist, known for interviewing Soft Cell and Duran Duran), but I’ve no idea what “chair Beverley” refers to!

Fortunately, the About Me page on my website now sits atop the first page of search results, followed by my Twitter page, my writer’s bio on rocksbackpages.com (the brilliant online library of pop writing), and my Amazon page (I published a Kindle book a few years ago called Dig for the Story in Your Soul).

Nothing inappropriate there at all, which is a relief. Perhaps that’s one of the benefits of making most of my mistakes pre-internet…

But it’s always useful to know what Google is saying about you – especially if it’s telling porkies.

I laughed out loud last week when I did my usual name check-up only to see that I suddenly had what’s known as a “knowledge panel” on the right-hand side of my search results.

It featured my name, social media profile photo and the words “Film actor”.

I can assure you that, although I’m a bit of a renaissance woman, I am not and never have been a film actor.

What happened here is that the algorithm had picked up on an iMDB entry about a BBC4 documentary I’d been interviewed for (Soft Cell: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye), and had made the assumption that this was a movie I had appeared in as an actor.

Underneath there was a clickable link that said “Claim this knowledge panel”. Great, I thought – I’ll claim it and make some edits. But, oh boy, does Google send you down a rabbit hole. It asks you to provide a dizzying array of identification in order to allow you to edit the panel. And, frankly, Google knows enough about me already without me showing it my driver’s licence and passport!

So, for the moment, I remain a film actor, much to the amusement of my friends and family. But, apart from that, I’m pleased to report that Google is giving people a pretty accurate representation of who I am and what I do in the world.

How about you? What happens when you put your name into the search bar? Any pleasant or unpleasant surprises? Do you have a “knowledge panel”? Or is it harder to find yourself among all the other people who share your name?

Thanks for making me laugh, Google. If you don’t mind, I’m late for my next screen test…

If you want to help Google find the authentic you, take advantage of one of my special Zhoosh Up Your Writing offers.