10 Essentials for Every Job Hunt Website or Blog

Increasingly, job seekers are setting up their own website or blogs. There are some excellent reasons, after all: your site will pop up if employers Google you; you don't have to send attachments to employers (which may be stripped by their servers); you can reach a larger base of people; etc.

But what should be included in your website or blog? Here are the 10 essentials:

1) Good URL. Is it easy to remember? Professional? Good and good. You don't have to purchase a domain and create a "dot com," though you can get one inexpensively at Godaddy.com. A free Blogger.com account will suffice (your URL would be something like www.blogspot.yourname.com). Don't try to be funny with the URL - just stick to your name or initials. It comes across much more professionally.

2) Email address. Employers need a way to contact you, after all (and putting your phone number and snail mail address online is only inviting trouble). Like your URL, it's important to make your email address easy to remember and professional. A word of caution on putting your email address online: spam artists have spiders crawling the web for email addresses and, if you put yours on in "standard" format, you'll soon get tons of unwanted email. An effective technique is to spell out the "at" and "dot" signs (e.g. "Steve AT domain DOT com) - the spam spiders won't read that as an email address.

3) Resume. You already have a resume, so why not turn it into a web page? In most word processors, you can click "file" then "save as" and then choose "HTML" or "web page" in the "file type" from the drop-down menu. Eliminate your snail mail address and phone number, however, to ensure privacy. Also format your email address according to the guidelines above.

4) Portfolio. Show off your work by including your portfolio online (see our other posts on portfolios). This allows hiring managers and head hunters to see your work without the need for you to send files as attachments. It's a kinder, gentler way to let employers see examples of what you do.

5) Regular updates/posts. Regular updates will increase the search engine ranking of your site or blog. This lets more people discover you. It's also more convenient to post a little every day than a lot all at once.

6) Informational content. Show what you know by demonstrating your industry knowledge. Give a tip of the day. Subscribe to an RSS or Atom feed to update your site automatically. People tend to come back to sites that have quality content.

7) Brief bio. Here's your chance to tell the world a little about you, like where you did your undergrad and grad work, how long you've been in your industry, etc. Keep it short - due to the nature of the web, things are much shorter. And, of course, focus on your career rather than your personal life.

8) Multiple pages. It wasn't too long ago that single-page websites were acceptable. Those days are gone, however. If you've got virtual real estate, then employers will expect you to have a few pages of content. That's not to say you have to have several hundred pages, but you should have more than one. For a site, gear for 10 pages; for a blog, every entry will have its own "permalink" (a.k.a. URL), so you'll likely hit the 10 page threshold within two weeks or so.

9) Links. Linking to other sites is good. It helps increase your site or blog rankings. It's also a great way to associate yourself to organizations, groups and individuals. Are you a member of an industry-related or community group? Link to it. When mentioning past employers, link to them, too.

10) Decent design. Decent design is largely subjective. Your site or blog should have a uniform feel to it, however. And have a few friends take a look at your online entity before you go "live."

IN A NUTSHELL: Follow these 10 essentials for a successful job hunt website or blog.