Don't argue with Google

I've tested out a few different urls over the past several months and Google has made it very clear which one they prefer. I don't know enough about web search engines, crawling, SEO, SEM, web ranking, linking, or algorithims to provide you with an intelligent answer as to how Google made this decision. What I do know is that if you google "Matt Weaver Designs" or "Matt Weaver Landscapes" the first website listed is thedimestoreeccentric.blogspot.com. None of the other urls made the cut. And if Google doesn't recognize it, it doesn't exist. Sorry Bing and Yahoo users, I'll check those search engines when I'm done writing.

The term "dime store eccentric" has been bouncing around in my head for maybe as long as 10 years. I've had different ideas for a business that I could use this name for, but none included a design/build landscape company (which is about the only business I really know). I did one small landscape design and installation project for an insanely low price and needed a business name for the invoice. I chose The Dime Store Eccentric. Made sense at the time.

Reactions to the name have been mixed:
How do you spell "eccentric"? - lots of people
Couldn't you put some dots in there or something? - my friend Doug Camaan
(Laughing) I like it. I like it alot. - my favorite reaction to date from our third client, Carolyn Wehner

Thank you Carolyn, for understanding. In fact, I believe you are the only person I've told the story behind the term. And maybe the only one that asked.

To Doug: You are studying web stuff at Pitt. Maybe you can offer an explanation as to why the url you caused me to question is prefered by Google.

So now I have to apologize to those of you who so kindly visited mattweaverlandscapes.blogspot.com or one of the other blog addresses, and those who chose to "like" the Facebook page Matt Weaver Landscapes, because it is now Matt Weaver Designs at thedimestoreeccentric.blogspot.com. And the Facebook page will be The Dime Store Eccentric, because I think there is a lot of potential for some very cool things.

So "Follow" it, "Bookmark" it, "Add to Favorites", "Like" it, write it down, get a tatoo, or whatever you need to do to keep in touch.

And remember, you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.