SEO for newly married social media and tech savvy women.
It's been almost 2 years since I got married, and it has been amazing to this day. I don't know what I would do without my husband, Kyle, supporting me every step of the way in all my endeavors. From the planning of our wedding day, me taking over his closet(s), to ripping out his bathroom sink, he knows I have a vision and the common statement from him is, "What can I do to help you." He is so great at getting things done. There are so many times where I feel overwhelmed just by the thought of starting something. He helps direct my focus, and I can't thank him enough for that.
Well, this post is about the topic of one of those frustrations. After getting married, I had to go through the steps to change my last name. I heard it was a painful process; I knew it wouldn't be easy. So I used the site MissNowMrs.com, filed the paperwork as soon as I could so I wouldn't have it over my head. It felt good to check that off my list.
But, the one thing people didn't tell me is how your digital life is affected by changing your name. Being in the advertising industry, that's a big part of your identity. There's all the online accounts that need to be changed too. While updating yourself online, your history hits a dead-end and your new life begins. Google Search doesn't know it's the same person. Old friends search for the old you and can't find anything new, and new friends search for you and it comes up blank. You appear to be inactive, when in fact you are, but it just hasn't synced anything yet.
There was a whole life lived before the name change. Why does it have to be so difficult? I initially did the Facebook name change which was the easiest, followed by LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and lastly Pinterest. But then there was my URL and my email address, which incorporated my maiden name. Panic set in and resulted in procrastination. I delayed the inevitable. Finally, because of a speaking engagement about freelancing and marketing yourself, how could I speak about that, if I was disjointed online? So here it is, a relaunch of myself. No last name, no confusion for old or new friends.
If I could give one piece of advice, don't freakout. I'm not trying to scare people into keeping their maiden name. Do what feels right to you, and don't worry about what other people say about it. Just know there will be some headaches with the switch.