Useless SEO bloggers who can’t even rank first for their own name

by Patrick Altoft on December 17, 2007

Dave is trying to rank for the term “Dave” on Google and I thought it would be interesting to see where all the other blogs I read ranked for their owners names on Google. Surprisingly most of them were nowhere to be seen but some had first page rankings and a couple even stole the top spot.

Losers

Patrick5th of 167,000,000 results (keywords not in title tag)

Dave2nd or 287,000,000 results (keyword in title tag)

Rand5th of 67,900,000 results (keyword in title tag)

Matt3rd out of 164,000,000 results (keywords in title tag)

Joost22nd out of just 6,260,000 results thanks to a TV station

Loren9th out of 13,800,000 results.

Jennifer7th out of 147,000,000 results.

Darren4th out of 28,200,000

Jeremy8th out of 64,400,000 results

Maki6th out of 1,590,000 results

Aaron3rd out of 72,600,000 results

Keemo3rd out of 96,100

Andy16th out of 137,000,000 results

Winners

Vanessa1st out of 49,400,000 results

Danny1st out of 76,600,000 results.

In a beautiful piece of irony both Larry & Sergey are pushed from the top spot by Wikipedia entries.

Where do you rank for your first name? Drop a link in the comments and I will add you to the list.

Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Leeds based digital & SEO agency Branded3. Patrick also runs Blogstorm.

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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }

Jon Kelly 17 Dec 2007 at 11:22 pm

I thought this was hilarious until I tried searching for my name.

I gave up in digust on page 17 after I realized I’m behind Jon Secada.

jeremy 17 Dec 2007 at 11:31 pm

wow good thing i dont sell seo services… I fail =(

Todd Mintz 17 Dec 2007 at 11:58 pm

Wow, that’s harsh.

Sucker 18 Dec 2007 at 12:39 am

I’m 13th for “Sucker”

Pretty bad with only 19,800,000 results…

LaVeda Mason 18 Dec 2007 at 1:44 am

I place #8 on the first page:
http://www.google.com/search?q=laveda

Darren 18 Dec 2007 at 3:48 am

nice post – I used to rank #1 for Darren (and #3 for one of my other blogs) til Darren Hayes the singer made a comeback and Darren Shan released his book. Not the hardest name to rank well for though Smile

I should also point out that you’re using .co.uk rankings – they’re different on .com too and in more localized searches.

Wicked Keemo 18 Dec 2007 at 5:10 am

Third! Should be better as it’s not exactly a popular name.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=keemo

Andy Beard 18 Dec 2007 at 5:16 am

Ok so I suck, 16th Andy, but ahead of Beal and Hagans (on google.com)
137,000,000

Is in title tag, isn’t in H1

.uk doesn’t seem to be as relevant ;) as none of the Andys of search seem to appear in the top100

If I change the way I do my header I will probably get a boost as would a sitewide link give a boost.

I seem to rank on everything better in the US than UK, maybe Google thinks the UK isn’t part of Europe ;)

David Bradley 18 Dec 2007 at 9:33 am

I used to rank #1 for my full name David Bradley, and then a load of imposters, such as the guy who plays Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films stole a march on my (courtesy of IMDB). I thought I’d try and redress the balance by writing a personal branding post and mentioning some of the other people called David Bradley, including the actor, murderer, chocolatier, and porn star.

db

Fraser Edwards 18 Dec 2007 at 11:58 am

I’m not an SEO blogger so it doesn’t really count but I rank #2 for Fraser although I really don’t think I have much chance at taking the number 1 spot from House of Fraser!

Great post though as I think we all probably keep an eye on these kind of vanity search positions.

DAVE 18 Dec 2007 at 4:32 pm

all i wanted was to say go to google type in dave and hit I feel lucky.. you’ll find me that way

DaveN

Debra Mastaler 18 Dec 2007 at 5:12 pm

I rank #6 out of 18,500,000 for Debra. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Debra (name in title)

Joost de Valk 19 Dec 2007 at 11:41 am

I hate that TV station, more even because they pronounce Joost wrongly Smile (it’s yoast for you english people ;) )

Tamar Weinberg 19 Dec 2007 at 3:03 pm

I rank #3, yo! Now I need to beat out Wikipedia ;) Help? ;)

cha0s 19 Dec 2007 at 7:56 pm

The only search were I rank #1 is site:cha0sblog.de Smile)
It’s not so bad, isn’t it ?

Banner_Man 19 Dec 2007 at 11:10 pm

I’m 13th for “Sucker”- hehe ;P

Widgett Walls 20 Dec 2007 at 10:32 am

2nd out of 37,400. Although, do I get bonus points for getting every hit on the first page but #1 and #8? Granted, I don’t rank currently for widgett.com or widgettwalls.com, which I own both of, but that’s because I’ve been focusing on my main site at Need Coffee and not my name. So.

And you wouldn’t think Widgett was much in use, but I’ve been pinged twice by people who have it for their last name asking if I’m a relative. Go figure.

Guy McLaren 20 Dec 2007 at 1:48 pm

I have a ranking of 181 internationally , but rank no 1 and 10 for a South African search. I guess I have some work to do huh. Guy Kawasaki is number 1.

Mani Karthik 22 Dec 2007 at 5:49 am

Yaay ! I’ll include myself in the winners list. Smile

Mohsin 22 Dec 2007 at 1:30 pm

I rank #5 for my first name: http://www.google.com.pk/search?q=mohsin

iznan 26 Dec 2007 at 12:47 am

my name is iznan from malaysia. my site rank # 1 with keyword iznan

Guy McLaren 12 Jan 2008 at 4:23 am

I am up to 63 for Guy. Now lets face it if my name was iznan, or Mohsin, It would be a lot bloody easier

Guy McLaren 12 Jan 2008 at 4:24 am

476 000 000, just in case you are wondering.

Regan 10 Mar 2008 at 11:55 am

I’m 2nd for Bullfrog Music
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=bullfrog+music&btnG=Search&meta=

And well in the depths for Regan. And seeing that 1st place went to this guy I’m very depressed now.

“Regan was criticized for his Prime Ministerial style of working, for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair, and for his frequent disagreements with Ronald Reagan’s wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan”

Chetan 12 Mar 2008 at 12:41 am

Searching for my name “Chetan” would give my blog drchetan.com in the top ;)

Am i a good blogger then? ;)

Guy McLaren 10 Jun 2008 at 8:31 am

11 of 599 000 000. I thought I would update you. Not bad for a farm boy from Africa?

Joost de Valk 27 Jun 2008 at 10:30 am

This post needs an update :) yoast.com ranks #5 for [joost] :)

Mike 17 Aug 2008 at 7:49 pm

I dont think my name never reach 1st page.

Ciaran 22 Aug 2008 at 9:42 am

10th at the moment, but I have been jumping around the 1st page

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ciaran&pws=0&hl=en&num=10

Tino 24 Sep 2008 at 5:03 pm

I rank #7.

Please include me in the winners list! :)

sriraj 05 Feb 2009 at 7:43 am

#1 for a search on the name ’sriraj’
Not a big deal though, not many ppl have my name

SaranR Wordpress SEO 16 Mar 2009 at 5:20 pm

Yaay ! I’ll include myself in the winners list.

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