Website 101: Promoting your site
The final chapter on personal websites...for now
Now that you have your website, how will you get anyone to see it?
“If you build it, they will come” only works in movies.
My entire career on the web has been a struggle to get people to actually see and engage with my work. You will have that same struggle. If you pour tons of work into your site and no one sees it, it’s a failed experiment. But there are a lot of things you can do to help potential employers find your site.
Promote your site on social media.
Make sure your site address is mentioned in all your social media profiles, and link to your content in social media posts - especially on LinkedIn. But this applies to anywhere online that potential contacts and employers might be.Create engaging content.
One of the best ways to get found is to create content in your field that other people will want to read - and especially, link to. “Backlinks” from other sites to yours are important ways that people can find you online.Include links to your site everywhere.
My friend the brilliant marketing coach Ronnie Noize points out the importance of using your site address in all your “employer-facing” communications: your email signature, your resume, cover letter, everything. Don’t be shy about this.Participate online.
Make comments and posts on relevant online communities, starting with LinkedIn. Make sure your contributions add value to the conversation; don’t just post comments like “Good point!” just to get a chance to link to your profile. If you give value online, you will get it back.
Make sure your site has a great “About Me” page.
This is your chance to lay out your case to potential employers, in whatever way suits you. (Indeed has some great examples for inspiration.) It can also be a page packed with terms employers are searching for, depending on your industry. Which leads to…Consider search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the complex art and science of getting search engines to notice your content and use it in search results. Getting found is the goal. This topic could be (and is) a newsletter all on its own. But College Info Geek has a great primer on “personal SEO” that’s worth a read.Just ask.
I wrote a whole piece on this topic at the start of Mighty Forces. The basic idea is, ask people to read your content, subscribe to your newsletter, and link to you. They might ignore you. But you won’t get anywhere if you don’t ask.
The art of asking
None of this guarantees that you will be found. But again, if you don’t do any of it, you’ll just be shouting into the wind. And I want potential employers to be able to see how kick-ass you are.
See you next week!
Hearing from you
I hope this series has inspired you. Do you have a personal website? If you do, please let me know in the comments or by replying to this email. I can’t wait to see what you have cooked up.