For the most part when you start to create your website your SEO strategy should be very straight forward.  You want to make sure you are doing basic things such as using your full name as you want people to search for it.  You should also be making sure that you are creating a strong link network between your site and everywhere else that you exist on the web.

But there are a few things that you should be weary of that could get you into some serious Google trouble.

This list contains the 5 Don’ts of building a website:

1. Key word stuffing-  When a search engine crawls your website it looks to see what words are used often because that is how it understands the page’s topic.  You can over use words on the page.  Google looks at how many words are on the page and then looks at the density of certain words.  If you put your name in a paragraph 5 times, search engines will get suspicious and not rank you as highly.
2. Another note on keyword stuffing- It used to be an SEO tactic to put keywords at the bottom of a page in the same color as the background.  This way users did not have to see the words but the content would still be there when a search engine crawled the site.  Google wised up to this years ago and specifically looks to make sure that the content is a different color than the background and that users can see it.
3. Duplicate content-  If a search engine reads the same content twice it will assume that the content is not original and that the site is not correctly managed.  You should spend some serious time when you are writing your site’s content.  You want to ensure that it conveys the correct message.
4. Too many links-  Every link that you have going from your site to another site takes away from your rank.  You have to make sure that you are liking to good websites and that you limit the number of links that you have to the minimum.  But on the same not you want to make sure that you have a good link structure between your site and the rest of your profiles.
5. All images, no content-  Images mean little to search engines.  You should aim to have 250-500 words per page so that search engines can read the content.  Make sure that when you do have image, you have content around them.

There are many black hat SEO tactics that people sometimes use on the web.  When you are just starting off I would suggest that you create your site, create some good content and then start to tweak it.  Remember that the SEO process will take a couple months before you start noticing results.

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One of the most important steps in figuring out how to build a personal brand is determining what name you will create a strategy around.

For most people this is a daunting place to start.  Perhaps you have gone by a name for your whole life and now suddenly you have figured out that when you try to create an online strategy around it there is also a famous indie movie actor with the same name.  Don’t let this discourage you as it is an obstacle that is easy to overcome if you follow these steps.

Here are 4 simple step to help you choose a name to SEO for:

1. Type the name you currently use into Google
2. Look at the first page of results for the following items:
   1. Number of results
   2. Someone else with your name as their domain name
   3. Wikipedia (if there is a Wikipedia page with your name and the page is not about you, it will be very hard to compete with.)
   4. Images that appear (if Google populates the results with some images, that means that there are a few big figure heads with that same name)
3. After you have looked at those results, try typing in your name with the following variations:
   1. Full first name Full last name
   2. Full first name Middle Initial Full Last name
   3. Full first name Full middle name Full last name
4. With each name, repeat step two and analyze your results.

Understanding the competition around your name will help you greatly with figuring out which name to try to SEO for.  You do not want to be going up against a name with a lot of competition as you will not be able to compete initially.  Also be warned that changing your strategy from one name to another is a very difficult task and I suggest against it.

After you have narrowed down to the name that you want to build a personal brand around online, now you need to go and determine if the domain name with your name is taken.  You can sign up for a free account at Brand-Yourself.com and check your domain name’s availability when you login and look to purchase a domain name.

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Going into an interview can be one of the more stressful events that you have to endure during the job search process.  During an interview a potential employer can throw anything at you as far as questions are concerned and you should be prepared.

We have already talked about the process of preparing for an interview multiple times on this blog but it is a good time to explain what you should do if you encounter hard interview questions that you did not expect.

I am going to walk you through a few examples of hard interview questions.  It is not so important to focus on the question or the answer, instead you need to spend time on the process.  Employers most of the time do not care if you come up with the right answer they care about the process that you go through.  In the real world you will have a team around you that will help you when you cannot find the right answer but they want to make sure that you go down the right path when you approach a problem.

Hard Interview Questions 101

Riddles:

If you are looking to interview for a creative position where you are going to be expected to have to think very differently about problems such as a marketing position or a position where you have to solve a lot of problems expect some sort of riddle during the interview.

My favorite riddle to have people walk through is the Light Bulb Riddle:

Imagine that there are 2 rooms, one of the rooms has 3 light bulbs and the other has 3 switches.  Your goal: to figure out which switch goes to which light bulb.

Specifics: The 2 rooms are separate; once you go inside one room you cannot not see other. The room with the 3 switches has 1 switch connected to 1 light bulb in the other room. There are no tricks to the wiring; each individual switch goes to exactly 1 light bulb, and vice versa. You are allowed to go into the room with the 3 light bulbs as often and for as long as you like, but you cannot damage anything or look at the wiring.  In the room with the 3 switches, you can flip the switches on and off as often and for as long as you like, but as soon as you leave that room, you cannot return. You can then go back to the other room, but then you have to give your answer at that point.

The wording for this his riddle was paraphrased from http://users.ameritech.net/iamperfect/ridlightbulb.htm.  This riddle is great because it forces you to take into consideration a variety of different factors.  It will show the employer that you can understand a problem when it is presented to you and you can walk through the steps to solve a problem.

Oh and by the way… to figure it out: Turn on one light switch for 10 minutes and then turn it off and turn on another light switch.  Walk into the room with the lights and the one that is on is the one you just turned on.  Feel the other bulbs to see which one is warm.  The one that is cold is the switch that you did not touch.

Cases:

Cases present an array of hard interview questions.  One of the most important things to remember with cases is that you once again don’t need to come up with the correct answer, although it does help, but it is more important that you can defend your position.

It is unrealistic to think that a person is going to be able to be handed a real world problem and come up with a solution directly after.  You want to once again come up with a process.

This is NOT a good time to sit silently in your chair as you run things through in your head.  You want to involve the person that is giving the interview in your thought process.  They are looking to see how you go about the problem.  Ask them questions, get clarification, and use the interviewer as a RESOURCE.  You want to prove to them that you are a team player and that you know the right questions to ask.

Cases can be challenging.  The best piece of advice I can give you is the following: THINK FIRST.  So many people get tripped up in their mind to think that if they come up with the answer fastest that they will win something.  No in fact you will most likely lose.

You want to think first.  Voicing your gut reaction is alright but you need to have logic to back you up before you wager on your final answer.

Opinions:

The last set of hard interview questions that I come across regularly is when people are asked for their opinion on something.  Now at first glance you are probably thinking, “Opinions? I have tons of those!” Reality is that a lot of people I interview on a regular basis don’t have an opinion.  If you don’t have an opinion about the industry that you are working in, then you have effectively shown me that you must not care.

Now it may not be the right conclusion to come to but it is the first thing that comes to mind.  With that being said this is not the place to be overbearing.  You want to voice that yes, you are concerned and that you have thought about something but having a radical opinion or one that you don’t think would go over well you need to execute caution when bringing it up.

You don’t want to sound spineless but you don’t want to come across as a dictator.  You have to judge the situation and you also need to do some character assessment on your end to figure out if your opinion will raise conflict later on with the job.

Summary

Hard interview questions are unavoidable. You have to work through them and treat them like you are talking to your best friend.  Each company will have different expectations as far as an interview is concerned.  You would be surprised at how much good a little bit of research can do before the interview.  For larger companies it is likely that other people have talked about the interview process online publicly.  Research it so the hard interview questions don’t take you by surprise.

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As more and more employers search for you on Google and Facebook, it’s important to you use Facebook’s privacy settings correctly.  In our presentations and workshops, we’re constantly asked, “What should I show other people on Facebook and what should I keep private?”

Setting Your Facebook Privacy Settings:

Facebook Privacy Settings are straightforward. To access them:

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Hover over Settings in the top right
3. Click on Privacy Settings

There are two main areas of interest to you for controlling how employers can see you.  I would start off with the Profile portion.  Here you can choose specifically what people can and can’t see on your profile.  To make this process easier, create a list of friends, so you don’t have to individually set privacy settings for 10 different people.

To create a friend list:

1. Go to friends
2. Click create new list
3. Name the list
4. Type in friends’ names to add them to the list

In Facebook’s privacy settings area, you can click the drop down menu next to each item: profile, basic info, etc. and hit customize.  You can specifically lock off that section for specific users or a list of users, like your coworkers or your boss.

In figuring out what to block and what to leave open, I prefer the safe route: lock down your photos, status updates and your wall. These are where you are most likely to get yourself in trouble, especially if friends say something or tag you in an incriminating photo.

Be mindful of what people can see about you in general. Take some extra time to decide if everyone should be able to see something, or if you just want your friends or your local network to see it. Also remember that your Facebook profile is a great pace to flesh out your interests, activities and passions that back up your career goals.

The next important area of Facebook privacy settings is the search tab.  Search is important because it helps you become more visible online.  If your profile backs up your qualifications and you’ve locked down potentially dangerous areas like photos, I would suggest you allow your profile to be searchable by Everyone.  There are some risks associated with doing this, so consider what a hiring manager would think if they found your profile, and then decide.

Personally, I can be searched by everyone, and when I am searched a person can see my profile picture, add me as a friend,  send me a message and see my friend list.

The most important aspect of search is the Public Search Listing.  This is where Google and other search engines can find you.  If you don’t check this box then you will not be visible when someone searches you in Google.  Once again this needs to be a personal decision, but if your profile backs up your personal brand in a way that won’t damage your career, I would suggest that you allow search engines to find you.

Facebook Privacy Settings are easy once you get used to them.  They are a great way to help you safely build your personal brand.  As always, be cautious when posting detailed information about yourself on the web, especially your home address.

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