Oye ve!! My name is being used on the internet without my permission and it is all my fault.
Last year when I switched my blog over to self-hosted WordPress, I began reading articles about what to do with the blogs that at one time you were using, but weren’t posting to anymore. The advice I read over and over again was to close down those blogs. Don’t leave a “We’ve Moved” last post, just shut it down.
Today I am going to tell you why you shouldn’t.
Last Friday while searching the net I came across a blog with my name, Whatsername Jewelry, that I was previously using through a free blog platform. Those usually have a moniker before the dot-com. I was surprised because I shut that blog down last March. I clicked on the link and what I found shocked me.
Oh, just a little Android Wallpaper Blog with suggestive photos and content. OMG, I couldn’t believe it. I typed the address again to make sure that it was Whatsername Jewelry and yup, it was. The horror.
Ok, so first things first, to shut it down is almost impossible without legal action and this post isn’t going to get into that because well, I am in the first steps of getting the issue resolved. I think I have a pretty good case though. I’ve owned my domain name for 8 years and have had an online presence for at least 3 years using that name and I have a legal document that states that that is my name. Technically, I could call myself Whatsername Jewelry if I wanted to, but that may be a bit arrogant and it’s just not for me but…
My Point
Before you decide to delete any accounts with your business name on it, think of how easy it would be for me, or anyone for that matter, to sign up for an account with a provider and use your name on it to drive business away from your site.
I read that having blogs with no updated content would hurt me in searches. Imagine what my customers would think if they were looking for hand stamped jewelry, a craft project, or a recipe and came across the dummy site that was set up in my name.
The thoughts begin, How much business is that taking away from me? How does that influence sponsorships? and How glad am I that I caught this in the first 3 months of its launch and not a year down the road.
My suggestion would be to export all your posts into your new blog and once you are sure everything is uploaded and running smoothly, delete all the content from your old blog and write one post that states: We’ve Upgraded. Visit us at my-new-site-is-awesome.com using a text-based link to your new site. This way people aren’t reading through your old content and searching your old database, they are immediately directed to your new site without any links to anywhere else. This brings traffic to your new blog and saves you the aggravation if someone decides to use your business name.
I’m not saying I would have understood if a jewelry maker or blogger started the new site, but I probably wouldn’t have wanted to shut it down so fast. Honestly, Whatsername Jewelry is a pretty cool name, and I would think it was neat if someone had the same idea but this site has no jewelry on it, none whatsoever and is a total misrepresentation of my name.
I’m now beginning to question some other advice I got during this time to remove myself from platforms that I’m not using. I gave up my Klout account shortly after killing my Blogger and WordPress sites as well as some other handmade sites that I wasn’t keeping up with for fear that I didn’t look involved. There is nothing worse than clicking on a profile to see: it has been 398 days since this user last logged in, but now that I think of it, maybe they were just protecting their name.