SEO

At a Netsquared event I attended recently (http://www.netsquared.org/blog/claire-sale/netsquared-camp-vancouver-event-recap) one of the more interesting sessions they had was on SEO. What is SEO? Well it stands for Search Engine Optimization, and behind it are the guiding principles to getting your site as high as possible on the list of search engine’s results pages. In this article I’m going to briefly touch on some the elements discussed. Even if you don’t have your own website, this article will give you an idea if the things to consider if ever want to design one.

1. Create unique, accurate page titles

The  <title> tag within your html code should contain relevant information about your site. It’s important because the information placed here will often be the first line of your results as they show up on Google. In turn, this information decides whether users will click on your site in the list of search results. Three important points to remember for this are to: (1) accurately describe the pages content, (2) create unique title tags for each page, and to (3) use brief but descriptive titles.

2. Make use of the “description” meta tag

The meta tag may not be as big of a role in getting a high Google rank as it once did, but it’s still important. The meta tag in your html code gives search engines a summary of what your page is about. The description should generally be longer than that of your <title> tag – perhaps a few sentences. There is a good chance that search engines will use this description as the description of your site in their search results.

3. Improve the structure of your URLs

Be sure to use descriptive words in your site’s url and sub url’s instead of generic terms or numbers. For example, use http://www.mysite.com/article-about-blueberries instead of http://www.mysite.com/page2 or http://www.mysite.com/349873298. This will not only keep your site more organized, but also allow search engine bots to crawl your site more effectively.

Want a Job? Work Abroad

One of the results of the recent recession is perhaps the worst job market in decades. Canada may not have been hit as hard as the US, but we’ve still felt the effects. In fact, many newly graduated Canadian and American college students are having a hard time finding full time employment. A recent article I found on Bloomberg Businessweek discusses this issue, and a potential solution.

“In the U.S., the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds has climbed to more than 18%, from 13% a year ago.” In times like these, what can you do to differentiate yourself from the thousands of other young graduates? One of the best solutions, it seems, is to gain international experience.

“Increasingly, a growing number of [university graduates] are securing an internship abroad to gain some work experience and then coming back to the U.S. [and Canada] to launch their careers.” Working abroad can help jump-start your career. Sarah Block, a Syracuse University Graduate, worked abroad in the marketing department at Tel Aviv-based Radvision (RVSN), which develops video network infrastructure. “When I came back, employers and recruiters would specifically ask me about my experience in Israel. I think it gave me an edge.”