The Wax Blog

If you’ve ever doubted the importance of careful keyword selection when writing blog articles or doing anything else online, I’ve got a great example for you out of my own situational files. While I’m very careful about inserting effective keywords when writing articles, and put a lot of thought into titles or headlines; I’d never really paid much attention to how the name I choose to use has affected by online presence. The thing that you need to know about me is that I use whichever last name seems more convenient at any given time. Sometimes I’m “Beth Hodgson” other times “I’m Beth Graddon-Hodgson”. Much to my husband’s dismay , I don’t think I’ll be using the former online anymore. Here’s why: • Beth Hodgson is not unique, Beth Graddon-Hodgson is. People trying to find me online are getting this gal instead . While she may have red hair and a husband whose name starts with “J” as well, I don’t live in California or have a guinea pig named Snowball. • Point one is causing people to modify their queries. If people searching for me don’t know to throw ‘Graddon’ in there, they’re adding something else to hunt me down. ‘Beth Hodgson WriteSourcing’ ‘Beth Hodgson Toronto’ ‘Beth Hodgson Canada’ and ‘Beth Hodgson writing’. I’m not only hard to find, but this little point is throwing off my ranking success!

Thanks to freelancer Mariana Ashley for this piece.  Many of our readers struggle with the choice, especially with companies beginning to hire again, whether to suffer the slings and arrows of self-employment/entrepreneurship or to go back to a corporate career. Neither choice is "right" or "wrong" - but if you do choose to return to corporate life, here are some great suggestions for the transition! The recent economic recession has not only changed the face of the market, but also the state of jobs. Work is becoming more difficult to come by, and with so many people facing a bleak financial future if they stay on their current career paths, it is no surprise that many freelancers in the public relations field are now going back to full-time positions in order to make ends meet. Transitioning from freelancing to working full-time can be tough. Before you can even make that change, however, you will need to find a job. If you are still looking to stick within public relations, look for leads with your past clients and update your resume to reflect all of your freelance experience. You may also need to brush up on your interview skills if you have not been in the job market for a particularly long time.