Why I use my middle initial: Meet my googlegangers
When I got married 19 years ago, there were 15 other Chad Whites on the Bed Bath & Beyond wedding registry. Soon after, I started running into some of those Chads … on Google.
If you google “Chad White” you’ll see that I’m up against some pretty popular Chad Whites. Those sharing page 1 of the Google search result with me include:
- Chad White, an adult film star with 67K followers on Instagram
- Chad White, an underwear model and actor with 183K followers on Instagram
- Chad White, a chef who competed on Top Chef and has 7.8K followers on Facebook
I’ve consistently ranked behind those first two for as long as I can remember. And considering the NSFW nature of their content, I saw it as … problematic for my personal branding. (No offense, other Chads. Live and let live.)
Rebranding as ‘Chad S. White’
I got the idea to add my middle initial to my name from New York Times bestselling author Jay Baer, who was Jason Baer when I first met him around 15 years ago. At the time, there were at least two other better-known Jasons in the digital marketing and customer experience industry. However, there were no well-known Jays. So, he took on the nickname to separate his personal brand from the other Jasons.
I made the shift to Chad S. White with my third book. It took some effort to get Amazon and others to merge my previous books and “Chad White” author bios with “Chad S. White,” but it wasn’t too painful.
Now, my authorship is not only clear on Amazon, but Google results for “Chad S. White” only show information about me, including an Overview, links to my LinkedIn and X accounts, headshots, a YouTube clip, and more.
ChatGPT is also crystal clear about who I am when my middle initial is used. Amusingly, it included this note at the end of its answer when I asked it what it knew about me:
“If you meant a different Chad White (e.g., the chef from Top Chef or another public figure with the same name), let me know — there are several other notable individuals with that name.”
Is your personal brand tangled up with others?
Who are your googlegangers? Are they in the same industry as you or in related industries that may cause confusion? Are they involved in industries or activities you’d rather not be associated with? Do they hold views you’d rather not be associated with?
If you have concerns, consider taking greater ownership of your personal brand by rebranding. Who would you be competing with in Google results if you …
- Added your middle initial to your name?
- Added your middle name?
- Went by your middle name instead of your first name?
- Went by a nickname instead of your first name?
- Went by your first and middle initials?
If you’re fortunate enough to have a unique name, or even just an uncommon last name, be thankful.
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