1)  An average viewer would take between five and ten seconds  to read and engage with a page online.  Three rules that you should use in order to have effective content: make sure that you have good links so that people may obtain information if they do not know exactly what is being talked about, you want to make sure that you have good information and correct facts and make sure that the pictures and headlines capture the reader’s eye.  There also needs to be correct spelling and grammar within the blogs.

I did many of my blogs about Chicago sports teams, the Blackhawks, Bears and White Sox.  I always made sure that i had the correct score, stats, information, etc.  I also made sure that i had people’s statements down word for word so that I did not misquote anyone.  In this case, I would almost always make sure that I had the correct spelling and grammar.  In my blog ‘American Bears in London‘ and ‘Lions, Bears and Football, oh my!‘  I made sure that I had good titles and pictures in order to catch the readers attention.  I had every player, team, location, etc. linked so that the viewer may be able to see what everything is for themselves.

2)  A keyword is used for the reader to be able to find what he/she is looking for with a matter of ease.  When a reader is looking through a search engine with a specific keyword, anything related to that subject will appear in a list of things to go through and look over.  I have done many of my blogs on (south side) Chicago sports teams.  For example, if a viewer were to look through my blogs (posts) about the Chicago Bears, Chicago White Sox or Chicago Blackhawks, these “keywords” would direct them to a list of things such as the main website, where to purchase tickets, etc.

In my own personal reader statistics within my own blogs, every time I would mention a Chicago team or any other team for that matter, I would always make sure that I made the link go directly to the main page of the team (the official website).

3)  Three skills that are related to online journalism , social networking and/or SEO that I could add to my resume:

–  I have learned how to blog (make posts) about various subjects using correct information, correct spelling/grammar and I am able to plug in pictures and create links within them.

–  The social and online journalism (coursekit) websites such as Face book, Twitter, WordPress, etc. have gotten me connected with many people so that all this information can be shared and that anyone could view it.

–  These technologies and sources allow me to make my searches for information in a more efficient and timely manner.

Inside the job interview:  I would respond to the interviewer by stating that the viewer’s eye must always be caught with good pictures and headlines.  All factual information should be stated correctly and always have the quotes that people have stated “word for word.”  One of the main points that is always repeated, but sometimes never enough, is to make sure that there are no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors in what you are writing/posting.

If I were to make a post about a certain band that is coming to town that will be published in the RedEye, I would want to make sure that I have the correct band (spelling of the name and members), the correct time and place in which they are performing and any other information that I could use, I would want to triple check and make sure that it’s accurate.  If I was in charge of setting up coupons on Groupon, I would want to check and make sure that all of the information that I have on a certain deal of the day isn’t false.  You do not want to make a company look bad by giving the customers a deal that doesn’t even exist.  Many of my posts are about sports, so if I were to do something for ESPN the magazine, anything that I report on should be correct.  I would make sure that all my scores, stats and player names are all spelled correctly.