When it comes to your career, whether you are an employee or you run your own business, you need a website. We live in a world of options. In most scenarios, if you don’t have what it takes there is someone in line waiting for your spot… several someones. What makes you stand out? What is your brand all about?
Why should an employer or potential customer choose YOU ?
You WILL be Googled
This is the age of the Information. When was the last time you went to a new restaurant without viewing their menu online first? How about hiring a landscaper without looking for reviews and examples of their work? I know I try to look everybody up online before doing business with them, and I am not alone.
56% of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool.
Yes, LinkedIn is the social network for the professional realm, but not everyone is using LinkedIn. Also, depending on your privacy settings not everyone can see the information about you that they need to see. Your resume is important, and I have yet to apply to a job that did not ask for one; however, a resume can only stand out so much.
Own Your Brand
With a website you can express yourself in the way you want employers and clients to see you. You can go beyond the black ink text on a piece of paper and bring colors, graphics, and videos in to help showcase your talents. There is no limit to the amount of content that you can provide.
Go the Extra Mile
When you take the time to build a website you are sending a message that you care about your professional future. You want the world to see you and know how you can contribute.
What You Should Include
- Your picture: Come out of the shadows. People want to see who they are going to be working with. Get yourself looking sharp and put a professional photo on there.
- Your mission statement: how would you sum yourself up in a couple sentences? What are you all about?
- Portfolio / Testimonials: showcase some examples of your work or if that’s not relevant to your field then include some testimonials from former coworkers or clients.
- Blog: writing blog posts is a great way of demonstrating your knowledge and authority within your niche. They are also a great way to get your website ranking in the search engines through content marketing strategy.
- Methods of Contact: how can someone get a hold of you? I hope your email address is something more professional than sk8terdude24@yahoo.com. If you went the route of your own domain name then you should have the option to create a domain-based email address @yourdomain.com
By the way, if you need any help remember that we host and design websites as well as offer career advice and coaching.
Meir is a web developer who has been writing code since 2000. He enjoys his family, movies, cooking, golf, and bowling.
