In a recent article, I introduced you to three of my favorite WordPress plugins. In this issue, I’m sharing three more plugins that I are also really helpful with my blog:

• Broken Link Checker – As your website/blog grows, so do the links you place to direct people to view another website, blog post, video, and more. However, what happens if that page is deleted or a site is moved to a different domain? Your reader will be directed to a dreaded “404 Not Found” error page. This plugin resolves the mystery to determine which of your links is no longer working so you can either remove or correct the link.

• Facebook Like Button – Facebook incorporated a unique feature with the new like button. When you click on the “Like” button on a blog post or article that has this feature enabled, you will automatically share the content with your Facebook friends:

• Tweetly Updater – Easily update Twitter with your new blog posts as they publish. You can also add hashtags for your updates, such as #FB (for Facebook) and #LI (for LinkedIn). If you have installed Selective Tweets on Facebook and have checked the box on your LinkedIn account for Twitter to update your LinkedIn when you add the hashtag #LI, then you will ping your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn account when your blog post publishes without visiting any of these social media platforms.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I have to admit–I’m hooked on Website Grader by HubSpot (www.websitegrader.com). The information I get on optimizing my website is pretty cool. I had never configured a 301 redirect (so if someone types careerdesigncoach.com instead of www.careerdesigncoach.com, they end up on my website and not get an error message) until I submitted my website for a grade. For a free website, the advice you receive on optimizing your website is pretty fantastic!

One of the items they grade are your linking domains to your website. I learned the importance of this in my certification as an Online Identity Strategist. Part of Google’s algorithm for ranking your site (this algorithm or secret sauce changes, so I’m not sure how much weight it is given), is to assess how many inbound links you have for your website.

So, what’s an inbound link? Well, there are many different ways to have inbound links, but probably the most common and easiest way for you to make an inbound link is to create it for yourself. How? Let’s take a look:

1) Go to Technorati and search on blogs in your area of expertise.

2) Once you’ve come up with a list, look for high-ranking blogs. I recently heard a speaker say that he looks for an authority ranking of 65 or higher.

3) Set up RSS feeds for these blogs, add them to your Google Reader, or subscribe to them via email.

4) When you see a blog post where you can add value and show your thought leadership, leave a comment on their post. When you leave a comment, most blogs will ask for your name and website address.

5) Voila! You’ve just created an inbound link to your website.

Additionally, your blog comment will be indexed as a Google result, so when someone searches on your name, they will see your comment as part of your Google results. Leaving comments on other blogs has become part of my communications strategy. Not only does it create the inbound link to my website, but more importantly, it helps me to connect with other bloggers. When someone leaves a comment on my blog post, I will click on their website to learn more about them. How about you–do you learn more about the people commenting on your blog by clicking through to their website?

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve received emails asking me about how I’ve done a few things with my blog, so I wanted to share some of the WordPress.Org PlugIns that I use and have enjoyed. The following are 5 of the plugins that I’m currently using on my blog / website:

1) All in One SEO Pack – this one has to be one of my all-time favorites. It works within the pages and posts. You are able to assign a title tag, 160 characters for a description for the search engines, and keywords thus allowing you to optimize your search engine optimization for search engines.

2) Broken Line Checker – This plugin will check your posts, comments, and other content for broken links and missing images, and notify you if any are found. Invaluable if you are using CC images from Flickr and the publisher removes the image.

3) Sexy Bookmarks – lots of questions on where I got my sleek social bookmarking tool at the bottom of my posts. Sexy Bookmarks gets the credit–super easy to install and use!

4) Tweetly Updater – Automatically shortens your URL to your blog post using bit.ly URL shortener and then pings your Twitter account to update your status letting your followers know you’ve posted a new blog (includes the link back to your blog post).

5) Photo Dropper – lets you search on keywords for Creative Commons licensed photos – images that are licensed for shared use. You can drop them into your post with one click and gives photo credit where credit is due.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Blogging is really a vital social media marketing tool. Google loves sites that are growing. Having a web and blog site into one site, such as www.typepad.com, www.wordpress.com, wordpress.org, etc. is really ideal as each blog post is indexed as a page. Blog posts will show up in Google results as well. To optimize your post, don’t give it a cute or creative title because Google cannot “read in between the lines”—optimize your posts by actually titling it with the topic so people can find you who are interested in your message.

You want to commit to at least blogging 2 times per month—the more, the better. This is a wonderful way to reach your target audience and help them to understand your thought leadership and how you work in your business.

Don’t feel as though all your posts need to be article length—sometimes mine are one or two sentences. The ones that become article length, though, become re-purposed and submitted to article banks (Ezinearticles.com is one example) for publication (if you do this, you will need to modify it a bit as Google will count it as a strike if it’s the exact same content). Also, remember that if your creative juices are flowing one day and you can write several posts, you can set them to publish on a future date on most blog platforms. Comment on books, articles you’ve read, etc. You can also just have links to other people’s sites. One of the best tips I’ve read is to look at trending topics and tie it into your area of expertise. For example, I’ve seen many blog posts following the protests in Egypt and how they tied in the current news with their expertise in social media and more. Be innovative, have fun, and be consistent!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

When I first started blogging, I felt like I was blogging to a blank wall. I wondered when I would get a comment and get to engage with others on my blog. So many tools exist now that really help to promote your blog on other social media platforms quickly and for free. Let’s look at five ways I use to promote my own blog:

1) I have installed a WordPress.org plugin called “Tweetly Updater” (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetly-updater/). You put in your Twitter user name. If you don’t have an account with bit.ly (URL shortner service with analytics), you will sign up for this service and put in your account information on the settings page for Tweetly Updater. You can let it automatically publish your posts to Twitter so that all the people following you can click through your link and read your blog.

2) On Facebook, I have used the RSS Graffiti and automatically imported my blog. You can do this both on your personal page and your business page. I like this particular application because it pulls in the picture I’ve used on the blog post as well as a few teaser sentences with the link back to my blog/website to read the full post. Other RSS applications exist on Facebook, but this is one of the first that I have seen that makes it an attractive status update and facilitates readership.

3) On LinkedIn, go to their applications and select the WordPress or Typepad application (depending upon which blogging platform you use). You will complete the information and be able to import your blog to LinkedIn. Here, people will only see a “teaser” of what’s in your blog post. They will have to click on the hyperlinked title to read your entire blog post on your website.

4) Direct Message {from time to time} or send an @reply (start tweet with @username….–then it will show up in their Mentions area–I know many people who do not read their Direct Messages) some of your followers who have a large following on Twitter and ask them if they would please retweet your blog link. I’ve had this type of request from many people in the past and if I feel that it’s relevant to my target audience on Twitter, I am always happy to retweet.

5) This may seem simple, but make sure to include your website / blog URL in your email signature. I’ve looked at my analytics and seen from where my traffic comes — a good portion does come through people clicking on my URL in my emails.

What are some ways you share / promote your blog? Please share them with us in the comments section.

This article first appeared on Classroom to Cubicle

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

You know you want to blog, but you are not sure how to start or maintain your blog. Why even start a blog? If you are serious about career management, one of the best ways to demonstrate your expertise and market your strengths is through blogging. How do you get started, though?

• First, choose a platform. Are you wanting a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) type of blog platform? WordPress.com and Blogger.com are two platforms that do not require any coding to customize your blog. Typepad.com and WordPress.org both require some tech-savvy, but you can opt for some straightforward themes to start and be on your way. Typepad is a paid service (monthly). WordPress.org is free, but you have to have a site where to host (i.e. BlueHost, GoDaddy, etc.).

• If you can, try to secure your own name as a domain name. I originally hosted my website/blog at Typepad and was able to point my own domain name at the http://www.kristenjacoway.typepad.com/ domain name. It makes a huge difference if you don’t have to give someone a long URL–they won’t remember it and therefore, driving traffic may be difficult.

• Spread the word–feed your blog into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. If you build it, they will come theory doesn’t work well in a world where there are 8 billion websites. Let people know where to find you–include your blog’s URL on all your social networking platforms, your email signature, your business cards (online -like Business Card2 and in print), when you comment on other blog posts, etc.!

• Publish on a consistent basis–meaning, pick the days of the week when you plan to post (you may want to track with Google Analytics to see how well certain days of the week seem to drive traffic–also, look at which topics were popular). As you develop a readership, people will come to depend that they can visit your blog / website on certain days and see new content. Even if you can only commit to blogging twice per month, choose dates like the 15th and the 30th of the month (even might add in your blog post–”In the next post coming up on the 30th of this month, we will look at….).

• Pick topics that are near and dear to you and really leverage your knowledge/expertise for which you want to be known. This blogging topic will be one that will evolve into a series. My next series may involve some of plugins, social media platforms and so on. I find that writing series helps me to generate content quickly as I can divide it across several posts.

• Look at trending topics on Twitter, headlining in newspapers, in People magazine, etc. to get some ideas on how to pull in relevant and popular topics into your blog. For example, I read many blog posts about the personal brand of Michael Jackson in the weeks following his death. People are searching on those keywords, so from time to time, this is a strategy that will help your blog get noticed.

• Speaking of keywords, install SEO Blogger on your Firefox Browser to optimize your blog posts as you write. You can type in a word and it will generate the most popular keywords people are searching that relates to that word.

• Read through your email answers and answers to people on Twitter–what questions are people asking frequently? Write a blog post that answers the most frequently asked questions.

• Write quick tips or record a quick “How To” video, upload to YouTube, and embed the html in your blog post. I did a series on online identity quick tips that were no more than 2 sentences long. I’ve also embedded “How To” videos on my blog. You can also link people to another blog. Give a quick summary and provide the link to the blog you read–it’s a great way to join the blogging community by promoting other people’s blogs.

• Just do it! I I remember when I first heard the term “blogging” in one of my classes. I had no idea what blogging was and why I needed to blog. Now that I’ve been blogging for almost three years, I’m glad I took the leap of faith and jumped in with both feet. It’s fun to see those original blog posts and see how much I’ve learned in the last three years.

Article first appeared on Classroom to Cubicle

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

What is digital dirt? It is anything on the Internet that is unflattering about you. Run a Google search on your name and put your name in quotation marks (i.e. “Kristen Jacoway”). What did you find? Are the results consistent with the personal brand story you want to portray? What if you have the dreaded digital dirt?

A study done by iProspect shows that most people (92%) will not go past page 3 on a Google search. So, the first question is what
page is the digital dirt on a Google search? If it appears on pages 1-3, this could be problematic for career management and in a career transition.

Now, ask yourself if you created the content. If so, you can remove it. However, the problem with posting digital dirt (i.e. an unfavorable picture of yourself, a negative comment about a company, etc.) is that retweeting and reposting of the content can occur once you’ve placed it online, thus being spread virally. Once this occurs, you can approach people and ask them to remove it. However, viral spreading of content can get out of hand and it almost becomes impossible to erase it.

I’m such an avid believer in blogging for many reasons. Blogging can help you push some of this digital dirt past page three of your Google results. However, if the content is on a high-ranking site (i.e. Wall Street Journal), you may not be able to accomplish it. Blogging can also help in this situation as you can address what happened and the lessons you learned.

Protect your brand. In the age of video and camera phones, it is become increasingly easy for someone to snap a less than desirable photo or video of someone and post it on the web. Again, once it’s up and seen, it can be spread rapidly.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Are you posting comments on other people’s blogs? You can find blogs in your industry by searching on Technorati. This is a great way to build online Google results if done correctly and can really highlight your expertise in a certain subject matter. However, if you post negative, critical comments that are published and become part of your online identity, it could hurt you in a job search. Research shows that some of the reasons for eliminating a potential candidate from a job could stem from an unflattering photo posted on the web, digital dirt, critical or negative comments made by you, and so on. Check your online identity–google yourself by placing your name in quotations (i.e. “Kristen Jacoway”). What comes up? Is there anything that might make a potential employer or recruiter flinch if they saw it? If so, try to remove it or push it past page 3 of your Google search results as a study done by iProspect shows that 92% of people surveyed do not click past page 3 on a Google search.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

We have often discussed that blogging is one of the best ways to establish your thought leadership and personal brand. Blogging provides proof of your knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as generating Google results that facilitate consistent, on-brand information when a potential client, employer, or recruiter Googles your name.

I have been an avid blogger for three years. Three of my favorite WordPress plugins include:

1) Akismet: The #1 plugin you will want to have is the Akismet plugin. With this plugin, all SPAM commenting will be placed in a SPAM folder waiting your approval or disapproval. 99% of the time, you will discard these comments – however, every once in a while, there will be a legitimate comment that contains something that causes Akismet to filter the comment. I quickly scan the content everyday to ensure that I publish valid comments.

2) Editorial Calendar: Blogging on a consistent basis will boost your readership. People love to see new, fresh content on your blog. Additionally, Google likes a growing website, so it can help your search engine optimization. The editorial calendar lets you see, at a glance, your scheduled blog posts on a calendar. I blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and am generally a month ahead with my scheduled posts. Editorial Calendar helps me to quickly see which dates need a post.

3) Guest Blogger: Ezine Articles has established a nifty plugin called “Guest Blogger” that allows your WordPress dashboard to search their article database on a scheduled basis for keywords that you select. I set it to “draft” so I can review the article and decide whether the content is consistent with my readership. My keywords include job search, interviewing, social media, and more. Make sure to read the terms and conditions of the Guest Blogger as you are limited to a certain number of articles you may publish within a calendar year. Additionally, you are not allowed to make any changes to the article or the author’s biography.

In an upcoming article, I’ll discuss some other plugins that I have found to be helpful. Additionally, I’ll give you a quick trick to streamline your efforts for publishing your blog posts on social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

This article first appeared in YOUnique Personal Branding

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

One of my colleagues, Maria Duron, posted information on Facebook about Wisestamp. You can go to http://www.wisestamp.com and download a free version for your Firefox browser. At this writing, it is not supported on all email platforms, but is supported on many of the major platforms (i.e. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, and Hotmail).

3 Reasons to Use WiseStamp in Your Email Signatures

1.     You can include links to your social media platforms where you are active (they have 40+ social media platforms) and IM profiles.

2.     You can enter your blog’s RSS feed. As you see below, my signature includes the four social media platforms where I have an active presence. The “Career Design Coach’s Blog” includes a link to read the most current blog post. When I publish a new blog post, the link is automatically changed to the new URL and title.

3.     WiseStamp now offers an Email Apps Gallery that includes Twitter, StumbleUpon, Disclaimer, and more. The Twitter app shows your latest tweet, StumbleUpon lets you share your recent stumbled web page, and the Disclaimer app lets you add a disclaimer at the bottom of your sent emails.

As you are building your personal brand across social media, Wisestamp provides an excellent tool to brand your email signature. It supports HTML, so you can use a tool such as www.mylivesignature.com and “sign” your email with either your own signature (fee for this option) or with a font that you choose that most closely resembles your signature. I also use the “My Live Signature” to “sign” my blog posts. You can see in the picture below how my email signature currently appears. I use the signature HTML at the end of my blog posts on Career Design Coach to sign my name.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.