By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Have you been googling yourself lately? If so, there’s no reason to be ashamed? According to a Digital Footprints report released today by Pew Internet, many are doing it, and they’ve even googled others as well.

By the time I sat down to write this post there were more than 360 articles appearing in Google News related to the report, which addressed googling, online identity management, and the ways we search for ourselves and others while online. I’m sure in the days and weeks to come there will be dozens of well-written and insightful articles regarding privacy and identity management, this isn’t one of those articles.

I believe it was in 1998 or 1999, at an Internet World conference in Los Angeles, California, that I heard one of the authors of a book known as The Cluetrain Manifesto addressing issues of privacy and transparency. That was nearly 10 years ago but I believe the jist I got from the discussion was that one would have to give up a certain amount of privacy in exchange for a certain amount of recognition.

This being a chiropractic blog I’m going to use several names of chiropractors as examples to demonstrate why being Googleable can be a good thing. If you’re a small-business owner, or someone that wants to be found on the Internet, you may find some valuable tips hidden in this post.

I’m presenting 7 screenshots (some have been cropped and resized to fit this blog) for names of chiropractors I know would not mind me googling them (maybe they’ll google me back).

1) Thomas Bossart: Dr. Bossart is a chiropractor I’ve known for several years. He has a thriving chiropractic practice in Fargo, North Dakota. I don’t know how many people would actually be googling that part of the US but a search for his name currently brings up information about his business and a way to get in touch with him. Being listed at the top of the results is an added bonus.

2) Jeanine Golden: Dr. Golden is another chiropractor that I’ve known for several years. A search for her name brings up information about the Jeanine I was searching for with information about her in the Google snippet. As a bonus the second listing also has information regarding the Jeanine I was searching for. According to that listing, Dr. Jeanine Golden received a bachelor-of-science degree and a doctor of chiropractic degree at Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta Georgia in 1999.

There is a certain amount of privacy given up in the second listing but it’s information that could benefit her business in a positive way.

3) Brandon Takahashi: I’ve gone on chiropractic missions to Panama with this West Los Angeles practicing chiropractor. Both living in West LA, we’ve also traveled together to numerous chiropractic conferences out of the local LAX airport. One of the search results shows his business phone number in the snippet. Taking a look at that page I see that his corresponding business address is: 11340 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 340, West Los Angeles, CA 90064. That information could certainly come in handy as I may want to visit him and get adjusted.

4) Kathy McAuliffe: I met this spectacular Illinois practicing chiropractor at a Dynamic Essentials conference in Atlanta, Georgia many years ago. She is one of the five fantastic females that received some press earlier this year in Planet Chiropractic news. Both the #1 and #2 results contain information to help me locate her business in Colombia Illinois.

5) Michael Gabrielson: This chiropractor is located in Pleasanton, which is basically Google country. Very close to Mountain View. Not only do we find information for the Michael we were seeking, we are presented with a Google map embedded into the search results, with information that includes his business address and telephone number.

Makes it easy for potential telemarketers and stalkers to get in touch with him but imagine if someone were actually looking for information about him and/or his chiropractic office in the Northern California area of Pleasanton. As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, we are trading some privacy for some transparency. In my opinion, a nice trade.

6) Steven Silverston: This chiropractor and I both grew up in Queens, New York. He now practices in Ellicott City Maryland but I’ve yet to visit his office there. Thanks to Google I can easily search his name and get his business address and phone number as they are embedded into the snippet results. Notice that this is not happening for everyone, and I’ve been given an opportunity to search for another Steven in case I may have misspelled the name (Did you mean in screenshot).

7) John Gehnrich: There is my rhino friend in Long Island, New York, Dr. John Gehnrich. I’m glad relevant information appeared when I googled his name since I have lots of old friends in Nassau County that could use a good chiropractor. He’s one of those East Coast guys I refer to on a regular basis, since I grew up in the area and keep in touch with lots of old pizza and bagel eating buddies there. No phone number in the snippet but it was only a click away.

So there are 7 cases (applied to a vertical niche industry) where it may be good for someone to be able to google your information online. Not much personal information was shared, but in all cases there is enough info to be able to make contact by telephone or even by mail.