Harsh Dhulia's Blog

I came across this amazing article in the Times of India
(Page 18) edition of 7th April.

The title of the article was -

TO BUILD TRUST, GROOM YOUR DIGITAL IDENTITY

Below are given some tips to increase the number of relevant google searches for your name. I have also added some excerpts from the article.

Every person on the internet has his/her own identity. If you have a name which is pretty unique then you may have a very clear idea of how farspread your identity on the internet is.

But if your name is pretty common then it might be difficult tracing your google identity. For example - if you name is Ankit Agarwal or Rohan Verma or Rahul Sharma then you will be lost tracing your identity on google because there are lots of Ankit Agarwals, Rohan Vermas and Rahul Sharmas and it would be almost impossible to find the links relevant to your name among lakhs of links that turn up.

While writing this article I did a google search on Rahul Sharma and i got 2,78,000 search results. Now thats a pretty huge number. And if that wasn't enough there is also a Santoor player whose name is Rahul Sharma. The first few pages of the google search were filled with links related to him.

Sometime in future you'll be applying for a job, project or an internship somewhere. Your future recruiters are likely to do a google search on your name and if they could find a good amount of information about you from google then your job or recruitment is almost done. And i guess if thats the case then your interview would be hassle free too...

I am adding an excerpt from the TOI article here.

"As the saying goes, on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog. In fact, for most netizens this is probably the best part of being in the virtual world. Losing yourself in the folds of trillion-odd pages is a very comforting idea. Shed an identity and don a brand new one, in a jiffy. Great, right? But hang on, have you googled yourself recently?"

This is what the TOI article has to say on why you should improve your google image -

"So that means, if you are a marketing professional, your would-be clients probably already google you. If you are looking for a job, your prospective employers do the same. And if you are want to get married, that sweet girl you met is doing it too.

How would this help, you ask? Well, say for instance, the same would-be clients were to google you and find that you have many other satisfied clients who have commented on your blogs, then getting the project might be easier. Your employer might find some interesting write-up on your company profile mentioning you, which might give you an edge. Similarly, if you were considering an arranged marriage, and you stumble upon a prospective groom’s profile on a social network and find that his friends think he is a warm person, it’s likely this would make you more comfortable.

So instead of trying to erase your identity from the way, a better way of managing your digital trail is to make sure you’re giving people the information you want them to find. In fact you should try to groom your digital identity and show it off even."


We leave a digital trail with almost every activity we do on the internet. Be it sending an e-mail, posting on forums, scrapping on orkut, blogging and even while using documents from the internet.

TOI says -

"So lets face it. Privacy on the internet has become a myth now. With data mining, search engines sending out trawlers and other crawling mechanisms adding pictures to connect the dots, just by logging on to the internet you have already done away with much of your “privacy” anyway. Whether you like it or not, if people are even slightly tech savvy, no matter how they come across your name—be it from a friend, a postcard, business card or email—the first step many people are going to take is go home and google you."


So the first thing that you should do is google yourself and check the first few links that are thrown up on you.

While googling your name i suggest you to play with your name a little bit.
For eg. I found more relevant searches for my name when i googled harshdhulia instead of harsh dhulia.

Lets say your name is Vinod Kumar, then you should try the following keywords for your google search -
vinod kumar, vinodkumar, vinod_kumar, "vinod kumar", "vinodkumar", vinod.kumar etc.


Tips to improve your Google Image a.k.a Digital Identity -

1) According to me having a google account should be your first step. You can start a blog on Blogger, have an email id at Gmail, publish your pictures on the web with Picasa and earn money with Adsense all with one account.

2) Start your own blog. You should definitely opt for this option. Even though you think you dont have any content to put up for your blog, you should atleast start your blog and put up a simple welcome page on it. That's pretty good for a beginning. You can add content to your blog later whenever you find yourself in a jovial mood.

3) If you already own a blog or a website then you should start focusing on increasing your blog/website's Alexa and Page Rank if you havent already done so. This would help a lot in promoting your site/blog.

4) Try googling your friends or seniors from your college or some other people you know who might have a better Google Identity. After doing so notice the website that turn up in the first few search results. Keep a list of all these websites.

5) Find out more about all these wesites on Wikipedia. You'll get detailed information on every site at Wikipedia. Open your accounts or link yourselves to the websites.

6) Finally I leave you with some improtant tips from the TOI article -

"To start grooming your reputation online, start a blog, even if it’s just a few pages worth. Have colleagues suggest you for wikipedia or make sure you are represented on Squidoo.com or write an article for sites like OhMyNews.com or ChangeThis. Then of course there are the social networking pages that give you the freedom to portray yourself in a flattering light. Try posting things that you would like the world to see.

If you are feeling stretched thin by trying to deal with so many different profiles, log on to programs like Ziki.com, Wink.com, Rapleaf.com and Spock.com. They offer you an opportunity to reclaim editorial control on how your identity is constructed and represented online. Basically, these sites are aimed to become the central clearing house for all information about you on the internet. This can be like your own private wikipedia entry. You could begin with creating your profile into one of these sites, and then you add your feeds to your profile. You can pull any RSS feeds you currently publish and sites like Ziki will compile them together into an up-tothe-minute round-up of your own verbiage. Throw into the mix links to your profiles on other sites such as LinkedIn, eBay, Amazon and others and this should help you create a fairly comprehensive profile of your online presence."

To view the Time of India article "To Build Trust, Groom Your Digital Identity" - click here