Using Your Blog to Get Better Search Engine Ranking

Many resume writers have a blog (Julie Walraven, Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Barbara Safani, to name a few) -- but not all resume writers understand how to optimize their blogs to get better rankings in search engines like Google and Bing.

Blogging is a free marketing tool that many don't take advantage of. Using it can help you to achieve higher search engine rankings for your website.

Think of it as the difference between formal and informal meetings with clients. On your website, you are providing essential information about your resume writing services -- what you can do for those who need your services. You give them what they need in a well-written format. They can find your "store" with links to purchase a resume package, for example, and opt-in pages for newsletters and mailing lists.

With a blog, you can let your hair down, so to speak. A blog allows you to post information for your readers and customers. Then, they can provide feedback to you in the form of comments on your posts. You can discover vital suggestions from customers that can enhance your business. (I get comments from resume writers seeking specific resources to support their business development on this blog, and on my job seeker's blog, I get questions from prospective clients.) Blogs have appeal to many and they are also followed by people who like what you have to say but who have not even visited your website -- yet.

So, use your blog to its fullest potential. Here are some ways to achieve better rankings for your resume business website.

* Write optimized posts -- More than likely, you are changing your content on your blog more often than you are on your website. While you are refreshing the website content, you don't need to do so as often to keep interest. However, readers of blogs are more voracious and need fresh news more regularly. By sprinkling the keywords you are trying to promote throughout your entries, spiders can crawl and rank your entries high on search result pages.

* Include links to your website -- Each post is ranked and given its own URL. This is a new opportunity to mention a link (outright or with anchor text) that leads back to your website. For those who only follow your blog, they can now find you in another capacity on your website. This increases your traffic. (Plus, it provides a link to your website, which gives it "authority" in the eyes of the search engines. Bonus!!)

* Use an RSS feed -- People can follow your blog easier and still use links in posts to find your website. Increasing the number of blog subscribers also increases website traffic.

* Submit your RSS feed to a directory -- This can also help to increase your search engine rankings of your blog, which is good news for your website. One example is FeedBurner, but there are many others you can also use. (I use Feedburner for this blog.)

Blogs are free and quick to set up. You can start with a site that has its own templates (I use Blogger!) and then further customize them for your needs. Without spending a cent, you have created another channel to divert traffic to your website though one-way links. Increase your search engine rankings faster with a blog.

Who Is Talking About You? Google Alerts Will Tell You

I just saw on Facebook that a resume writing colleague had been quoted in an article in a major business magazine. She said she was alerted to it when she saw traffic on her Google Analytics report. But Google has an even better tool for letting you know when your name is in the news -- and it's free.

Google Alert is the easy way to monitor what is being said about you online.

You “register” certain keywords and phrases with Google and Google Alerts will send you an email when there are new results with your search words and phrases.

To start, visit the Google Alerts website:

http://www.google.com/alerts

If you have a Google account, sign into it (using the blue “Sign In” button in the upper right-hand corner).

Next, make a list of relevant keywords and/or phrases you’d like to monitor. Suggestions include:

• Your name (with all the various ways you use it) – for example, my Google Alerts include “Bridget Weide Brooks,” “Bridget (Weide) Brooks,” “Bridget Ann Brooks,” “Bridget Ann Weide,” and “Bridget Brooks, CPRW”
• Your company name
• “Resume writer” + (Your City/Town)
• Your phone number
• Your email address

If you use quotation marks around a phrase, you’ll get alerts when the search matches that exact phrase. If you don’t use quotation marks, you’ll get alerts that include the words separately.

Note: You may have to tweak the alerts if you’re getting too many or too few results.

Enter each phrase into the Alert box:

Enter one search term at a time. Don’t be concerned about upper or lower case — both will be searched.

If you are not logged into your Google account, you can specify the email address you want to have alert notifications sent to.

Click “Show Options” to further customize your alerts:

• How Often. You can choose to receive notifications immediately (“as it happens,” once a day, or once a week.
• Sources. You can choose to receive a notification depending on where your search term shows up. For example, “Automatic” covers any results found. You can also narrow the alert down to notifications when your keyword phrase is found on Google News, blogs, web pages, video, books, and/or discussions.
• Language. Pretty self-explanatory. English is the default.
• Region. This refers to country. “Any region” is the default.
• How many. Your choices are “only the best results” or “all results.” The default is “only the best results,” but you can tweak this later if you’re not getting enough results.

If you are logged into your Google alert, you’ll also be able to choose whether notification emails are sent to your Google email account, or to a RSS feed associated with your email account.

If you’re logged into your Google account, once you select “Create Alert,” you will be taken to a list of the alerts you’ve already created. If you click on the “pencil” icon, you can modify the options related to that alert (i.e., change your settings).

Once you set up your alerts, you’ll receive emails (or RSS Feed notifications) when results are found that match your criteria. At the bottom of the email, Google will also give you links to Delete, Create, and Manage your alerts.

Read the Google Search tips page to learn how to refine your search even further:

http://google.com/help/basics.html

You may find that you have to tweak and/or test your alerts for a little while before they work the way that you want them to, but the results are worth it the first time you receive an email notification about something that you didn’t know was out there.

3 Resume Writers Using Podcasting for Profit and Publicity

Have you heard of podcasting? It's been around forever, it seems (at least 10 years now), but I've only recently thought about launching my own podcast.

In doing some research, I discovered there are only a handful of resume writers who are engaged in podcasting ... (mostly because most resume writers aren't familiar with the concept), but that the podcasts that are out there have a LONG shelf life. A simple Google search pulls up podcasts that are several years old, but are still driving significant website traffic. You know that I am a HUGE advocate of using content to generate both cash and clients for your resume writing business -- and although podcasts have been around for a while, they are still remarkably effective!

Here are three examples of resume writers who are succeeding in podcasting? 

• Sean Cook, the "Higher Ed Career Coach," has his own channel on BlogTalkRadio (which is another medium for distributing your podcasts) 
• Annemarie Cross leveraged her podcast on Career Success Radio into her own podcast, "The Ambitious Entrepreneur Show"
• Check out Jared Redick's guest spot on the "Enterprising Investor" podcast.

If you've ever wanted to be a guest on a radio program to promote your resume writing services, you'll love the idea of podcasting. Instead of working to try to get booked as a guest on someone else's show, you basically host your OWN radio show (your own podcast).

Here's a couple of questions to determine if podcasting might be for you:

• Do you want to be seen as an expert in the resume writing industry, and be recognized by the media (and therefore, prospective clients) as a leading source of information? 
•  Are you comfortable speaking (not to a crowd, necessarily, but either in an interview format, or just you speaking to a virtual audience?) 
•  Do you sell a high-dollar resume service package (minimum $500), and you want to attract a steady stream of well qualified prospective customers who are eager to buy from you? 
•  Are you prepared to handle a large volume of traffic to your website? (Bonus points if you already have a team of subcontractors!) 
•  Do you have ancillary information products (ebooks, paid teleseminars and webinars, coaching groups, training programs, membership sites) you can sell to folks who are interested in learning more about the topics you cover?

If your answer was "yes" to more than two of these questions, podcasting may be for you.

Your first question is probably: What is a podcast?

Podcasting is audio provided over the Internet. Simply put, it's a process by which you can subscribe to receive the audios automatically, with the expectation that you will listen to the audio from a portable device like Apple's iPod. It's a smaller segment of what's called "Internet Radio" -- which is simply audio provided to listeners over the Internet. There is a wide variety of music and talk radio available to listen to both as a live feed or as pre-recorded content available on demand. You can listen to podcasts while you work out, drive around in the car (you can load them on your iPod), or while you're fixing dinner.

Your second question is probably: How much does it cost? (Followed quickly by: How do I get started?)
You can get started podcasting for under $20 -- and you may have all the equipment you need already!! The absolute EASIEST way to get started is with Audio Acrobat (which you may recognize as the service I use to record my free teleseminars through BeAResumeWriter.com). You can call into your Audio Acrobat phone line to record your posts, or use an external microphone. (Shh...don't tell my husband, but I use the USB headset that came from one of his video games, a U.S. Navy Seal game, to record my audios and videos!) And Audio Acrobat enables auto-syndication to 15+ online podcast directories and allows you to submit your RSS feed URL to iTunes, which can help you grow your listening audience quickly! It also has an iPhone app that allows you to publish your audio and video recordings straight to your podcast. (Yes, I realize you may not have any idea what "syndicating" and "RSS feeds" are yet ... so read on!) And Audio Acrobat offers a free 30-day trial.

As for how to get started ... well, that's why I wrote this email.

Last week, I signed up for Kelly McCausey's "Smart Podcasting Skills" program. And I wanted to tell you about it, because she has a special offer that expires at midnight tonight that makes it almost a "no brainer" for anyone who is interested in giving this a try in their resume writing business. It's a 6-part program that covers these lessons:

• Lesson One: How Podcasting is Good for Business 
• Lesson Two: Brainstorming Your New Podcast's Purpose & Format 
• Lesson Three: Planning Content For Your Podcast 
• Lesson Four: Making Money With Your Podcast 
• Lesson Five: Developing Your Hosting Skills 
• Lesson Six: Promoting Your Podcast 

I just bought the 6-part program myself last week, and I only had a chance to go through it over the weekend. And then I saw her reminder email last night about the special offer. (She also invited me to help promote her program, which I was happy to do, since I had bought it myself!). I thought that there would be at least a couple of folks — maybe you?? — who would find this beneficial to their resume writing business growth. (I also took Kelly's "Smart Blogging course," and I had more than 5,000 pageviews on this blog last month!)

If the idea of podcasting intrigues you, though, I've prepared a short special report, "Practical Guide to Podcasting" that will shed some more light on this topic. (There's no opt-in required — just click the link and you'll have access to the PDF file.) 

And I'll let you know when my first podcast is ready for YOU to listen to. I think 5- to 7-minute podcasts will be a great adjunct to my blog posts, videos, and teleseminars with ideas and information for resume writers just like you.

The cost of the program is $69. She offers a no-questions-asked 7-day money-back guarantee ... so if you buy the program and you decide it's not for you, you can get a full refund. But if you said "yes" to two or more of the questions I asked you at the beginning of this post, and you're committed to giving this a try, I think you'll find this program is just what you need.

Internet radio and podcasting are terrific ways to promote yourself and let your voice be heard. And I'll be learning right along with you ... so if you have any questions (as always!), feel free to ask me.

Blogging and (Resume) Writer's Block

As a resume writer, when you think about "writer's block," you probably think about the times you're stumped while writing a resume. But many of the resume writers I talk with say that they find the blank page most daunting when it's time to write something for their blog. The phenomenon is common enough that there's a name for the condition -- "blogger's block" -- the condition of not knowing what to put in your blog.

It's easy enough to amass content on your blog -- creating blog posts that are links to other articles, for example. But your blog should feature your voice. It's fine to look for articles in the media -- watch the news, read the paper, check media websites. Look for articles sourced by resume writing colleagues on Twitter and Facebook. But instead of just linking to the story, comment on it. Link to the original news source, but give your opinion about it.

You can also use your blog to promote affiliate programs you work with. Amazon's affiliate program is a great example of this. All of us read (and probably, collect!) career-related books. Take a few minutes to review the book -- including if you'd recommend it to job searchers. You'll have something to write about, and if your blog readers click on the link and purchases the book, you'll make a few cents (or dollars!) off the purchase too.

Blogs are also a great way to promote your website -- especially when you've posted new articles. Create a blog post that contains the first few lines of the article to tease your readers, as well as a link to the page that features the full text.

Keep your posts timely and helpful. Look for natural tie-ins with holidays and career milestones. (For example, with St. Patrick's Day coming up, now would be a great time to write a blog post about how jobseekers can improve their "luck" in the job search.)

To help your readers stay up to date with the new posts that you add, you can install a feed burner. There are different feed services to choose from, including free ones. Once you register, you will be given a small amount of HTML to add to your blog. Your readers can choose to subscribe and have your new posts delivered to their email automatically. (Find out more about RSS feeds in this blog post.)

How to Use Blogger to Build Your Mailing List and Drive Traffic to Your Website

I love my blog. I hope you do too. I love sharing ideas and resources with resume writers (and the occasional jobseeker who wanders across this blog as the result of a search engine).

When you blog, you can connect with your target market and promote your resume writing services in a way that is difficult to do through other marketing tactics. Blogs allow you to share in-depth information with jobseekers -- you can post about frequently-asked questions and then simply direct clients and prospects to the blog when they need answers.

While Wordpress gets a lot of the attention nowadays for bloggers (and there are some cool tools -- like LinkedIn's integration with Wordpress -- that are exclusive to that platform), I like using Blogger.

Blogger is a free, easy-to-use blogging service offered by Google. Using this Blogger to host your blog can be a great way to market your business. You can write a blog post and, at the end of the post, you can add a line, "For more information, [link to your website.]" This can drive traffic to your website.

Once you start creating information products to support your career services business, you can promote the special reports, membership sites, and ebooks with your blog posts. People are more likely to read a blog post (which comes across like an article) than a sales letter.

Blogs serve as a great communication tool.  You can keep your readers up to date with any changes you have made to your site, provide information on new services you are going to be introducing (i.e., LinkedIn profile development), and receive feedback on the types of services your customers wish you would develop.

Another way to communicate with your target market and position yourself as an expert is to establish a "Question of the Week" feature to your blog.  Simply have your readers send in their questions, and then, one day each week, choose one of the questions to answer. Your readers will look forward to this interactivity and will take note to visit each week to see if their question was chosen. The archive of questions you build up on the blog also serves as a powerful reminder of your expertise as a professional resume writer.

You can also use Blogger to increase the size of your mailing list by adding a sign up form to your newsletter or other autoresponder list. (You'll note I have a signup form on the right-hand side of this blog page!) Once people are subscribed to your newsletter, you can continue to market to them.

As I mentioned earlier, you can also create links back to your website on your blog that will also help your website gain search engine traffic. The search engines crawl the Internet, and when a site has a lot of links coming into it, the search engines take notice.  This can help your website rise in the results pages when someone performs a search using one of the keywords on your page.

These are just a few of the reasons why it is important to have a blog and how you can use a service like Blogger for marketing purposes.  As you get more familiar with blogging, you can add an RSS feed to your blog, which will notify your readers that you have created a new post.  This will keep your readers coming back regularly, and further help your marketing efforts.

Blogging Basics for Resume Writers

Starting a career-related blog can be a great way to increase your profile as a careers industry expert, allowing you to attract new clients and driving traffic to your website. However, deciding to start a blog is a commitment. The more you publish, the more you'll get out of your blog. Here are some things to think about as you consider publishing a blog.

Where Most Resume Writers Go Wrong With Their Blog
When you're blogging, you're building your brand (or destroying it, in some unfortunate cases). Having a social media presence online is important for the majority of resume writers, since more and more resume prospects find their resume writer through online sources (it's second only to referrals as the source of new business for most resume writers). You can use your blog to build your social media following (Twitter, Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn, etc.) and you can also use your social media following to increase readership of your blog.

To get the most out of your blog, you'll need to deliver a certain number of blog posts per week (usually a minimum of two), and you should also consider finding guest blogging opportunities (where you can blog elsewhere and link back to your main blog). Blogging "for fun" is different than blogging to build your resume writing business. Don't confuse the two. It's fine to have a personal blog (I'm really enjoying resume writer Barbara Safani's "Across the 59th Street Bridge and Back" blog), but a personal blog has different objectives than a professional blog. You can tie in personal experiences on your career blog (Julie Walraven does this quite well, as does Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter), but make sure there is a lesson to be shared when you do!

Make Blogging Part of Your Routine

This is the part I have the most difficulty with. All the blogging experts say you should be consistent with your blogging. They say that it's better to to write one post per week — every Friday, for example — than to blog haphazardly. More power to you if you can do that! I just can't. Sometimes I get in the mood to blog and sometimes, it's at the bottom of a lengthy to-do list.

The good news is, blogging is something you can do anytime — in the morning before work, on your lunch hour, after work and on the weekends. You can even write your blog posts in advance and schedule them to post. (I should do this.)

Like writing resumes, blogging is a real business when you start pursuing it for financial reasons. Yes, it gives you much in terms of happiness — but when you’re making money doing something you love, it’s very rewarding.

And, as I mentioned earlier, your blog can also establish you as a leader in the career services industry. One thing that’s important is that you make sure that you love writing about career industry topics. You should want to wake up every day, eager to get to your computer. Don't start a blog because you feel like you "have to" — do it because you "want to."

If you dread it because it bores you or it’s depressing, then you won’t help your readers and the blog won’t "work" for you.

Make a list of possible blog topics before you start. If you can't come up with at least 10 ideas, don't start until you do. You can set an entire editorial calendar for your blog where you choose which topics are presented to your readers. You also get to pick the tone for the blog pieces.

Developing a Relationship With Your Blog's Readers
Having a relationship with your readers means they value your blog and they share the link to it with other people. You want that type of connection because as a professional, the traffic and branding that you gain will be priceless.

When blogs have a loyal readership, they enjoy a fantastic word of mouth traffic flow. While many bloggers are out there buying links back to their site and paying people to help them get traffic, you can do it all for free.

First, pick topics your readers want to know about. Part of your job in relationship building is to listen to your audience and meet their needs. There are many ways you can do this.

Do some preliminary keyword research to find out what people want to know in your niche. Visit some of the job search-related groups on LinkedIn and see what people are talking about.

This is known as a sentence starter — and it gives you some insight into what type of blog post you might want to do, such as:

• If someone is unemployed for a long period of time, how can they get back in the workforce?
• How to find a job that allows telecommuting
• Top three reasons you may not be getting called for interviews.

You can also simply invite your readers to submit questions to you. You can do this on your email autoresponder opt-in form, or have a special contact form on your blog where people can engage with you that way. Or you can ask them to post their questions in the Comments section under each post.

Whenever someone emails you with a question, you can assume there are more people out there who are wondering the same thing. Use those questions as fodder for your blog topics.

When you start blogging about all of these things, it makes the audience feel like you’ve really got your finger on the pulse of the marketplace — like you have great instincts.

Next, write in a highly conversational style and end each blog with an invitation to connect. People need to feel like you’re speaking just to them.

When you write, make sure it’s conversational and not stuffy like you’d write for a professional publication. If you make a video blog, look right in the camera and be casual and relaxed, not stuff and nervous.

When you end a blog post, you can ask a question or invite people to share their own $0.02 about the topic in the comments. Make sure that whatever comment system you’re using, it’s easy to find — because some are almost hidden.

Participate in the conversation that goes on in your blog comments. If people are kind enough to take you up on your invitation, then make an effort to have a dialogue with them.

Thank them for their comment, call them by name, and open up a discussion about what they had to say.

Making Money From Your Blog
While there are several ways to monetize your blog, the easiest — and most common way — is to turn blog readers into resume clients. This can happen naturally as they recognize your expertise as a career industry professional (be sure to give a "call to action" on individual blog posts or on your page so they know how to get started working with you), or you can invite them to opt-in to your email list, where you can share more resources, and convert them from a prospect into a client.

Speaking of lists, build a list from your blog so that whenever you have a new blog post, you can notify people about it. Also have an RSS system set up for people who use RSS feed readers to get notified of your new content.

Whenever you have a list, it gives you a certain amount of power — the power to instantly communicate with your target audience when you are selling or promoting your resume services and related products (webinars, teleseminars, workshops, membership programs, and other information products).

Another easy way to derive revenue is using Google AdSense. You can put different sized ad banners on your blog, from buttons to skyscraper ads. You can include images or go with just text. Don't expect to get rich from AdSense, though.

You can also sell ad space directly on your blog. You can arrange a specific area of your blog for ad space that people rent on a monthly basis, paying the ad revenue to you directly. If you go this route, make sure you have specifics in place to control what kinds of ads can get placed on your blog — all the way down to the colors and whether animation is allowed on it, if you want.

One thing you have to remember whenever you place any ads on your blog is that yes, it gives you some money when people leave your site for somewhere else – but in leaving, it also means someone else is capturing their name and email address and selling something to them, not you.

Promote products as an affiliate. You can sign up as an Amazon Associate and promote anything they sell there that they offer a commission on. Digital products can be found at sites like ClickBank.com. You can sign up for free and get a hoplink (affiliate link) where you earn around 50% for each sale.

Create your own products and sell them from your blog. You don’t have to promote other people’s stuff. Why not create an info product (ebook, video, or audio course) and teach something you blog about in more depth — or in a more comprehensive manner?

Offer your resume services from your blog. Coaching is also something you can offer. Many people pay top dollar for one-on-one coaching sessions via Skype or even email!

Blogging can be a very fun and very profitable venture if you approach it correctly. Don’t make the mistake of flying by the seat of your pants. If you do this, your blog will be scattered with topics, have no set monetization plan, and you’ll end up unhappy with the effort you’ve put in.

With proper planning and enthusiasm, you'll attract a steady stream of readers (prospective clients!) and new business. In fact, you might be the one putting out feelers for a professional blogger to come onboard and help you with your content needs!