Google rank

Most icompendium customers with yourname.com eventually get a high rank for searches on "your name."  However, if you are competing with similar names, or against other information about yourself, there are some important factors to consider.
 

Important factors

Incoming links
Of great importance is the number of links to your site from others.  For example, if you have links from nyt.com, theatlantic.com, and qz.com, these are big votes in your favor.  A link from an artist friend's website or a university's directory will help too.

YourName.com
If you own YourName.com, or YourName.net (the extension, such as .net, .com, .co, does not really matter) it will improve your rank for searches on Your Name.

Written content
Displaying a resume, statement, biography, reviews and news articles can all work in your favor.  As well, linking to other sites, such as your friends' websites can help some. 

Search optimization settings
Fill out the site description.

Sign-up for Google Analytics
Do this at google.com/analytics, and add your tracking code.  This will allow Google to see visitor interaction within your site as it relates to search terms.  And it will allow you to see the same thing, within your Google Analytics account.

Add links to and from your social media pages
If you have a facebook.com, twitter.com, or instagram.com accout, make links to your site and vice-versa.
 

Things that hurt your rank

Don't do the following:

Unconventional spelling of your real name
The text entered into the Admin Panel > Admin Home > Artist's Name field functions as an important keyword.  Entering characters of your name separated with dashes, spaces or underscores will hurt your site's search rank for your real name.

Keyword-loading the site description
Keep the site description down to one objective-sounding sentence.
 

Things that don't affect your rank

Keywords from parked domains
If you own yourname.com, you can also point geometric-abstract-paintings.com to your site.  But, Google will determine the primary domain and ignore the key word content from the other domain.  So, you can optimize your site for seaches on "your name" (recommended) or "geometric abstract paintings" (not recommended).
 

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I just sent my site live, and I can't find it in Google?
Google should find it in a few days, but you can also submit it.

Where should I put keywords?
Don't add keywords.  While a keyword field is provided in the Amin Panel > Admin Home > Search Optimization section, it's best to leave this blank.  Search engines have ignored the keyword meta tag for a long time, and adding keywords may even hurt your rank.

Do I need to add meta tags somewhere?
Meta tags and page title tags are automatically generated with information you have entered throughout your site.

A company wants to help improve my SEO.  Should I do it?
Many SEO (Search Engine Optimization) businesses operate in a somewhat gray area.  And, many offer SEO strategies that are short-sighted or even harmful, such as back link-farming and keyword stuffing.  While it's certainly possible that a company could provide helpful advice, it is best to proceed with caution.