You’ve probably heard someone (probably a new media pundit trying to sound cool) say “If I can’t find you on Google, then you don’t exist.”

This is totally ridiculous.

While showing up in Google is certainly important, it’s far from the be-all end-all, oh. my. god. you should probably quit the internet right now, kind of deal. Seriously.

Don’t believe me? Pinch yourself, wave to your dog, call your mother, scream “PC’s Rule!” in a room full of Mac fanboys. And the verdict is, you most certainly do exist.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, on to the next problem. Showing up on Google.

First things first, I might as well state the obvious: you can’t show up in Google if you don’t have a website. No excuses here. Making yourself a home on the web is easy, free, fun, and beneficial, so there’s really no reason not to do it. Check out Blogger or WordPress to fire up a blog for free or Squidoo and Twitter for a more varied approach. It doesn’t take long to hang out your shingle on the web, and if you’re at the point where you’re reading this blog, I’d be surprised if you don’t have something going already.

Which brings me to the next important point: how to get that something in the right place in the Google search results. This, my friends, is the entire goal of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And for this I point you to people who do this for a living. I’d start by checking out the posts below on how to get rolling with SEO.

- The Bloggers Guide to SEO – SEO Book
- SEO for Blogs – Problogger
- Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization – SEOmoz

So the moral of the story is, if you’re not dominating the search results on Google right now, don’t worry. Put in some good effort and give it a little bit of time and you’ll start showing up in the right places