For instance, one such universally repeated error is the usage of the expression, ‘free gift’.
Needless to say, a gift is meant to be deprived of any charges. Of course, it comes free of cost! What is the point of presenting someone with a gift that has to be paid for?

Remember, the word ‘gift’ itself implies that it is being given without extracting any compensatory charge. It is always better to replace the expression, ‘free gift’ with ‘free’ or ‘gift’ only depending upon its usage and connotation.

Than vs. Then

This is an oft-repeated error that is bound to make your head go spinning with its cyclic redundancy. Though if committed to memory once, it can be easily avoided in future.

‘Than’ refers to a ‘comparison’.

Examples: Your dress is better than mine.
She scores better than him.

‘Then’ always refers to ‘time’.

Examples: If you fail, then be ready to bear the consequences.
If the situation gets out of control, then give me a call.

Their vs. There

‘Their’ refers to possession.

Examples: This is their house.
These are their children.

‘There’ refers to ‘place’.

Examples: There is your new school.
The book is lying there.

Weather vs. Whether

‘Weather’ refers to ‘the state of the atmosphere’.

Examples: The weather seems pleasant today.
The harsh weather ruined the picnic.

‘Whether’ implies a ‘condition’.

Examples: Find out whether she is coming or not.
Be sure whether you will be able to do it or not.

We hope that these tips would come in handy in times of confusions and complexities. Feel free to comment if you want to add some from your end. We would definitely love it!

You are also more than welcome to contact us if you want to share any thoughts!

But is making a profile on LinkedIn enough? Or Will making a business page on Facebook or MySpace solve the purpose?

The answer is a big NO! Because making a profile alone will not help, you have to jump into all the action and make some serious communication efforts. You have to be as active on your business profile as you would be on your own profile.

The perks of Social Media Marketing:

Social Media Marketing offers numerous benefits which provide the much deserved limelight to your online business. Let’s look at some of these perks:

1. Social Media Marketing can get huge amounts of free traffic to your website, which in turn results in increased visibility.

2. Through various social networking profiles, you can build a considerable fan base for your online products and services.

3. Most of the social networking websites like FaceBook, LinkedIn and MySpace offer the option of creating free accounts. Thus, using these websites generally proves to be very beneficial in terms of COST and BUDGET.

4. As you are communicating directly with people who share interests similar to your services/products, you can directly target a specific group of people who might be interested in what you have to offer.

5. Social Media Marketing helps in increasing the popularity of your website through various backlinks which leads to better search engine visibility.
6. As a result of User Generated Sites and Book Marking Sites, people can find your business online more easily than ever.

The most important factor in Social Media Marketing is to keep in touch with your user base and try to be as transparent as you can. Aside from Blogs, Video-Promotions and Photo-Sharing, start delving into micro-blogging services like Twitter & Plurk so that you are able to reach mobile users as well.

And last, but definitely not the least, BE PATIENT!

Have any queries, comments, suggestion or want your site to grow with Social Media Marketing? Contact us today!

We come across websites with both www and non www versions of its URLS.

• www.yourwebsite.com
• yourwebsite.com/
• www.yourwebsite.com/index.html
• yourwebsite.com/home.asp

Most people would consider these the same URL but technically, all of these are different.  Matt, in his post on SEO advice: URL canonicalization, explains that a web server could return completely different content for all the URLs listed above.

If you have duplicate content on multiple webpages of your site, this can cause problems for search engines – specifically in determining which URL should be shown in the  search results. Canonical URL comes to rescue in such a scenario:

•    Canonicalization becomes helpful as it takes the duplicate pages and uses a 301 re-direct to point all versions to a single, “canonical” version of the content or web page.

•    Google recommends that you pick a “canonical URL”as the preferred version of the page. You can indicate your preference to Google in a number of ways. Google recommends them all (if you don’t indicate a canonical URL, Google will identify what it thinks is the best version).

What to do to make sure Google picks up the URL that you want it to pick:

•    You can choose a preferred URL and use it consistently across your entire site. For example, don’t make half of your links go to http://example.com/ and the other half go to http://www.example.com/. Instead, pick the URL you prefer and always use that format for your internal links. If your site has duplicate content on multiple pages, there is a high possibility this could affect your search engine ranking results. For example – the link information could get diluted in a case where few incoming links may point to one version of the URL and few links to another.

•    Matt further adds that if you want your default URL to be http://www.example.com/. You can make your webserver in a way so that if someone requests http://example.com/, it does a 301 (permanent) redirect to http://www.example.com/. Doing this will help Google know which URL you prefer to be canonical. If you have a site that changes often, for example you have dynamic content on site, a blog, etc. then adding a 301 redirect can be very useful.

Using the URL removal tool to remove domain.com –

If you remove one of the www vs. non-www hostnames, you can end up removing your whole domain for six months. You need to do a reinclusion request if URL removal tool removes your entire domain when you actually only wanted to remove the www or non-www version of your domain. A reinclusion request refers to mentioning that you removed your entire domain by accident using the URL removal tool and that you’d like it reincluded.

For more information on 301 re-directs see http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-URL-canonicalization/

American and British English differ greatly, even in terms of sentence structures and use of tense. What may be standard in British English might not be correct in American English.

Following are a few more differences which you should take note of.

Use of Present Perfect:

British English

I’ve lost my key. Can you look for it?

American:

I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

(Americans generally avoid using present perfect tense)

Use of Already, Just and Yet

British:

I’ve just had lunch
I’ve already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?

American:

I just had lunch
I already saw that film
Have you finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?

Generally have and has are preferred in British English and do and does in American English. However, both are accepted in American and British English. For instance:

British – She has a beautiful home

American – She’s got a beautiful home

The verb get is also used as gotten in American English, for instance,

She has gotten used to the brutality inflicted upon her

Difference in Use of Prepositions

American

on the weekend
on a team
please write me soon
Monday through Friday
out the door
Figure Out
Children are at the School
Lay off

British

at the weekend
in a team
please write to me soon
Monday to Friday
out of the door
Work Out
Children are in the School
make redundant

There are different versions of idioms in American and British English

American

not touch something with a ten-foot pole
sweep under the rug
knock on wood
see the forest for the trees
a home away from home
blow (or toot ) one’s horn
a drop in the bucket
Tempest in a teapot
beating a dead horse
a new lease on life

British

not touch something with a bargepole
sweep under the carpet
touch wood
see the woods for the trees
a home from home
blow one’s trumpet
drop in the ocean
storm in a teacup
flogging a dead horse
a new lease of life

Knowing Americanisms is very useful, when creating a copy for American readers.

So remember that and will easily suffice, where additionally should have been and one will respectfully make for you.

Want to Know more or tell us something. Feel Free to contact us or leave a comment.

For search engines to treat you worthy of top ten placements, good inbound links are a requirement because these “votes” make you popular. But it is not JUST the volume, but the authority of these inbound links, that make the difference. Search engines evaluate a website based on how useful it is to the end user – the SE surfer. Thus, it is important for SEs to know if you are directing web visitors to industry related websites as well or not. They are also looking for common threads that binds the site to link to and your own.

Here are 9 Link Building Principles that are really simple steps you should take to get more inbound links and get into SE good books.

1. Include the TITLE of your link text (read ‘anchor text’) in the title of the page that you are linking to.
2. Try and impress high PAGE RANK websites or webpages (usually, high PR means an authoritative page) so that              they want to link to you.
3. Submit your website to industry related DIRECTORIES.
4. Participate in your industry related forums – leave COMMENTS on industries related BLOGS. Please DO NOT                Spam. Do this only if you have something intelligent to say.
5. Join and participate in SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES and build your network (read “traffic source”!).
6. Take out PRESS RELEASES.
7. Write good ARTICLES.
8. Participate in your industry related FORUMS & DISCUSSION BOARDS.
9. SOCIAL BOOK MARKING. This serves two purposes – it gets you incoming links and it popularizes your website in your community.

Get in touch with us for more information on how we can help you get more traffic to your website.

Bing is a greatly packaged replacement for the Live Search! It has a fancy and (indeed) a searcher friendly interface. The Bing team says that it lets you overcome information overload and helps you make decision faster and easier. Bing’s new features help the searcher save time and make an informed decision.

Microsoft recently published a PDF about Search Engine Optimization called Bing: New Features Relevant to Webmasters. The PDF primarily describes the user interface changes launched with Bing, and how those might impact site owners, but also touches on search engine optimization. Numerous researches carried out on how searchers read and use the search engine result pages have demonstrated a constant pattern.

The pattern has been defined as the “Golden Triangle pattern”. The Golden triangle pattern suggest that in a SERP containing a single threaded results for a query, the searchers generally scan the length of the first result and then they scan lesser amount of information for the second result and follow this ever decreasing pattern for seeking information until they mostly stop at the result # 5.

Studies also suggest that over 50% the searchers refine their search query by going back to the SERP, from a non-helpful SE result. In most cases they opt abandoning the result altogether!
The Bing interface design comes to the rescue! With categorized result pages and organized explore pane – quick tabs, related searches, search history contents of the explore pane, make it highly dynamic.

Result Type Improvements - Bing brings to you the standard “blue ink” exposing deep links within a website. When possible Bing also represents related information about the result such as, with books or movies, user ratings and links to reviews directly in the caption.

Best Match – top ranking result for any query is listed under the best match result.  A searcher can easily find related information in forms of deep links without having to go to the website and look for the information that he requires.

Instant Answers – These now offer more comprehensive information and richer results than the traditional result.

Caption improvements in Bing:

Document Preview – Document preview allows searchers to instantly preview the content from the deep link without having to go to the website.  All the searchers need to do is move the mouse pointer over the caption and they can preview a sample of the actual content on the page of the website instantly and make an informed decision about visiting the website or otherwise.

They say this helps increase qualified traffic, but some webmasters might  not want to expose the content present on the page and would like to have the visitors visit their site and get all the information that they are looking for. For them, Microsoft provides a way to opt-out of the feature.

Just add the following to the <head> section of each page:
<meta name=“msnbot”, content=“nopreview”>

Or generically for all robots:

<meta name=“robots”, content=“nopreview”>

If you don’t want this feature used on any page of the site, it might be easier to return the directive in the server HTTP header as follows:
x-robots-tag: nopreview

Flash Extraction – Microsoft says that Flash-based sites are responsible for 21% of all empty descriptions in their index. They say that Bing has implemented new technologies that can perform “limited data extraction” and has now been able to generate descriptions for one-third of those formerly empty tagged, flash based websites. Skip Flash introduction link in result feature on applicable flash based websites help the searcher get right to the content of the website.

Local Listings – It is the new Bing feature for local business searches.

With all these features that Bing offers its searchers, they say that a well done SEO expands opportunities with Bing!!

Download Bing–New Features For Webmasters.pdf and read more if you wanna Bing!

Let’s try and make things a little easier in the its and it’s department with explanations and some examples:

It’s – It’s is a contraction for ‘it is’ (sometimes for ‘it has’ as well, but we can put that one aside). This is an exception to the general rule that ’s denotes possession.

Examples:

It’s an interesting theme to build a play around.
It’s easy to remember stuff with mnemonics.

How to remember tip – Try replacing it’s with it is in a sentence. If it fits, you are good!

Its – Its denotes possession (an exception to the general norm), and can be interpreted as ‘that which belongs to him/her’.

Examples:

The dog lost its tag.
A Hill Myna is known for its ability to mimic the human voice.

How to remember tip – Try replacing its with his or her in a sentence. If it fits, you are good!

Very Important Note:

There is absolutely no such word as its’!!

Have any doubts or want to add something? Feel free to leave a comment or contact us! I did admit to being a grammar snob and another thing which makes us very happy is answering and arguing .

Link building is the process of creating inbound links to our own website. This can be done by reciprocal links, being listed in directories, yellow pages, etc. Link building is one of the important methods to make your site popular.

Link building (also known as link popularity building) plays a vital role in the field of Internet Marketing. The link building method for promoting websites is not only beneficial for search engine rankings, but more importantly, it is required for getting good quality traffic to the website. As far as SEO is concerned, link building is an important off-page optimization factor that affects organic rankings in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

It gets good results if it’s done in a professional manner and by interacting with good quality websites.

Types of Link building:

There are 3 basic link building methods:

1. One-Way Link Building – It is the process of receiving links from a website of similar interest. This is a one way link because of absence of any link connecting you back to the website.

2. Reciprocal Link Building – This is a two-way linking process where the two sites of similar neighborhood connect to each other by exchanging links. usually, reciprocal links are a result of an agreement between parties to share traffic and improve link popularity.

3. Three Way Link Building – It’s a form of link exchange which involves three websites.

Building Links: Why submit website to directories?

There are many advantages for a web site if it is linked from Web Directories:

- Your site will get good quality traffic.
- Search engines index your website quickly.
- Your website will get higher rankings on search engines if the directories or yellow pages are quality sites and are themselves linked with authoritative sites.

Merits of Link Building

Links for your site is one of the things that Google looks for to decide how important your site is, and its ranking. Not all links have equal value. What determines the value of the link is its relevancy to the page it is linked to.

1) Link Popularity Increases Your Pagerank (PR). Link Exchange is really helpful in increasing the page rank of our page. Page rank is something that is mainly based on a site’s link popularity.

2) Link Popularity Leads To Traffic. With high quality incoming links, your site will be seen as a valuable resource and through links, you’ll attract more eyes to your website.

3) Link Popularity creates trust between your site & the visitor. When a visitor comes across text links of your site on many different webpages, he or she is bound to think that you are a trusted name in your industry.

4) Link Building provides lot of financial assistance to you. In most cases, Link exchange leads to conversions i.e., buying the products you are selling, downloading your stuff, reading your content or clicking on the ads that you have on your site.

Still have questions? Feel free to contact us!

The diversity prevailing in both spoken and written English further corroborates the difference between American and British English.

English originated in England in the 10th century A.D and  was introduced in America in the 17th century by the British Empire. British Colonialists introduced English Language in other colonies as well which adopted the language with little modifications. Americans, however  (in the real sense of the word) Americanized English completely.

The American spellings are different from their British counterparts. Also usage of Grammar and Syntax structure varies both the countries.

Let us look at the difference in spellings between American and British English:

-or v/s -our

American                            British
color                                          colour
favorite                                   favourite
honor                                      honour
endeavor                               endeavour
favor                                        favour
humor                                    humour

-ze v/s -se

American                           British
analyze                                  analyse
criticize                                 criticise
memorize                             memorise
recognize                              recognise
realize                                    realise

*Surprise surprisingly remains Surprise in American English. Overgeneralizing the rule may lead to some errors.

-ll v/s l

American                         British
enrollment                          enrolment
skillful                                   skilful
fulfill                                      fulfil

-er v/s -re

American                       British
center                                centre
meter                                 metre
theater                              theatre

-og v/s -ogue

American                      British
analog                               analogue
catalog                              catalogue
dialog                                dialogue

-e v/s -oe or -ae

American                       British
encyclopedia                  encyclopaedia
maneuver                         manoeuver
medieval                           mediaeval

-ck or k v/s que

American                       British
bank                                  banque
check                                cheque
checker                            chequer

-dg v/s -dge (or -g v/s -gu)

American                        British
aging                                   ageing
argument                          arguement
judgment                           judgement

*Management does not become Managment in American, so take care.

-ense v/s -ence

American                        British
defense                               defence
license                                licence
Offense                                Offence

Others

American                            British
Jewelry                                  Jewellery
pajamas                                 pyjamas
plow                                        plough
program                                programme
tire                                           tyre

Base Word              American         British
counsel                    counseling            counselling
equal                         equaling                equalling
model                       modeling              modelling
quarrel                    quarreling            quarrelling
signal                       signaling               signalling
travel                       traveling               travelling

*Exceptions

excel                       excelling          excelling
propel                    propelling        propelling

The above list of differences is not all inclusive but will definitely come in handy!

Using correct spellings in your copy will reflect very well on your merit as a copywriter especially when the content you are working on is country specific and sensitive.

So spell correctly and keep up the Quality!

Search Engines learn about websites through incoming links. An incoming link from a very busy website might bring dozens or hundreds of visitors in a day. When a website receives links from related websites (websites of similar interests), it also brings traffic.

There are three factors of incoming links that search engines consider for ranking calculations:

● Quantity
● Relevance
● strength

Let’s take a quick look at each of these 3 factors.

Quantity: Too many links too fast with not enough variety. We can get it out of the way quickly. We are simply talking about the overall number of incoming links pointing to a particular website. This is sometimes known as the Link Popularity of a website.

Relevance: Relevance relates to how much the search engine thinks a particular website linking to yours is somehow similar to, or on the same theme as your own. For example, a website about “Insurance” would not be very relevant to a website about “Construction”, so a link from the “Insurance” website to the “Construction” website would score very poorly for relevance. On the other hand, a general website about “Architecture” would be considered relevant, and consequently a link from that website to “Construction” website would score very well on the relevance scale.

Strength: The Strength of an incoming link basically depends on the relevance and quantity of links pointing to the website providing that incoming link. In Google’s case, the overall strength of a webpage is known as its PageRank. That is a special Google term.

Search engines give more importance to incoming links when deciding what pages their automated robots will visit. If you don’t have any incoming links, a search engine will assume that it is a page with little or no value and you are not going to rank well anyway .

So, more incoming links = more traffic, and quicker and better search engine rankings. The more incoming links pointing to your website, the more your link popularity increases considering the quantity, relevance and strength of incoming links.

Of course, the more relevant an incoming link, the more credible your website appears.

Following is the summary of Google’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

1. Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of the website and SEO affects only organic search results, not paid or “sponsored” results.

2. Create unique, accurate page titles.

Good practices for page title tags:

(a) Accurately describe the page’s content
(b) Create unique title tags for each page
(c) Use brief, explanatory titles

3. Make use of the “description” meta tag

Good practices for description meta tags:

(a) Accurately summarize the page’s content
(b) Use unique descriptions for each page

4. Improve the structure of your URLs.

Good practices for URL structure:

(a) Use words in URLs
(b) Create a simple directory structure
(c) Provide one version of a URL to reach a document

5. Make your site easier to navigate.

Good practices for site navigation:

(a) Create a naturally flowing hierarchy
(b) Use mostly text for navigation
(c) Use “breadcrumb” navigation
(d) Put an HTML sitemap page on your site, and use an XML Sitemap file
(e) Consider what happens when a user removes part of your URL
(f) Have a useful 404 page

6. Offer quality content and services.

Good practices for content:

(a) Write easy-to-read text
(b) Stay organized around the topic
(c) Use relevant language
(d) Create fresh, unique content
(e) Offer exclusive content or services
(d) Create content primarily for your users, not search engines

7. Write better anchor text.

Good practices for anchor text:

(a) Choose descriptive text
(b) Write concise text
(c) Format links so they’re easy to spot
(d) Think about anchor text for internal links too

8. Use heading tags appropriately

Good practices for heading tags:

(a) Imagine you’re writing an outline
(b) Use headings sparingly across the page

9. Optimize your use of images

Good practices for images:

(a) Use brief, but descriptive filenames and alt text
(b) Supply alt text when using images as links
(c) Store images in a directory of their own
(d) Use commonly supported filetypes

10. Make effective use of robots.txt

Good practices for robots.txt:

(a) Use more secure methods for sensitive content

11. Be aware of rel=”nofollow” for links

12. Promote your website in the right ways

Good practices for promoting your website:

(a) Blog about new content or services
(b) Don’t forget about offline promotion
(c) Know about social media sites
(d) Add your business to Google’s Local Business Center
(e) Reach out to those in your site’s related community

13. Make use of free webmaster tools

14. Take advantage of web analytics services

Google also offers helpful resources for the webmasters with its help forum, central blog, tools , guidelines etc. Check out the complete Google’s SEO Starter Guide.

A business is successful only if there is consistency in performance, specifically in terms of conversion rates, which depend on the user. Content creation for websites is a two-fold process, the result of which has to serve SEO as well as the users. In doing so, a copywriter should never forget the human aspect; the users. Users are potential customers that are to be reached through a copy and keywords are only mediators to reach them more effectively.

Communicability equals Usability
Copies created for SEO is usually optimized by infusing relevant keywords in it. However, when a write-up is stuffed with keywords, it loses its essence and meaning which in turn takes a very heavy toll on efficient communication with the user.

More keywords does not necessarily mean higher rankings. The course of business on Internet is determined by many factors of which content creation is one. These factors such as usability, link-ability and content creation are interdependent. One cannot depend on them in isolation.  Keywords provide a necessary channel for communication, which the write-up will induct and consequently will lead to links and conversions. So, do not make the mistake of forsaking content quality for keyword inclusion.

Content that is short, direct, precise and offers readily available information along with judicious  use of keywords, is perfect for both SEO as well as users.

Remember that keyword tools will only make you aware of the general thought process of your prospects. It is up to the content developer to appropriate them in the write-up so that clarity and quality of any write-up is not compromised.

Another significant point to remember is the position of the keywords. Having a keyword in the title and the subheading, gives out a very assuring message to the reader. It also enables your copy to stand out from the barrage of information available online.

The primary goal of SEO content creation is improving SEO results, which can be achieved by accommodating both the SEO and users’ perspective.

A brief but vital overview of the above information is mentioned below:

• Do not Neglect users and user experience
• Do not Stuff write-ups with keywords
• Do not Compromise on the quality of content for keyword inclusion
• Put the keywords in title and subheadings
• For improved SEO results, cater to both search engine as well as user specific needs

Announcing the launch of the website, Pancham Prashar, President Sales & Marketing said, “Our new website design is more indicative of the current range of services we offer to our clients. Since we mostly do business with companies based abroad, primarily in Unites States, Ireland and United Kingdom, we wanted to make good use of pictures on our new site and allow people to virtually see our team here. I feel we have manged to accomplish that fairly well in the new design”.

The Web Design, Development and Internet Marketing (SEM and SMM) Company has its main office in Chandigarh, India and deals with clients from different corners of the world. The company has over 25 team members who have a collective experience of over 2000 Internet Marketing and Web Designing projects.

Sarthak Aggarwal, President Products and Services, who coordinated the website design effort with his team, further added, “Our focus in the new design has been simplicity as well as uniqueness of design. Usually people have very little attention span while they are browsing the web – and the initial few seconds are vital. We wanted to showcase the various aspects of CueBlocks in such a manner that they catch attention early on. We have text intensive pages as well inside in the form of articles, service pages and blog posts. In addition, new features and sections will keep getting added to the site as we move along”.

Currently touring United States for business development, Pancham and Sarthak indicated that CueBlocks has extensive plans of expanding its client base in the States.

The site is live at – http://www.CueBlocks.com

About CueBlocks Technologies:

CueBlocks Technologies is a Web Development and Online Marketing firm – specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing. Formed in 2005, the company offers its services to a global audience and has a team of over 25 designing, programming and Internet Marketing specialists. CueBlocks is a member of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Contact Information:

Pancham Prashar
Cue Blocks Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
SCO 822, 2nd Floor,
NAC ManiMajra
Chandigarh – 160101
India
US Toll Free – 1-866-
Email: sales@cueblocks.com
Site: http://www.cueblocks.com
Blog: http://www.cueblocks.com/blog
###

There has been a lot said and done on how to make an impression for an upcoming interview….with hundreds of websites, books and articles that talk about thousand other ways to get through the interview process. I decided to do things a little differently and give out tips on HOW NOT TO GET HIRED!!

Sending the cover letter?? Make sure you sound too desperate for a change in job and that your world would come to an end if they didn’t hire you.

Have a great academic back ground?? Go on, boast about it. If you don’t have one- Tell them you have been too busy thinking what went wrong that you didn’t have a great academic background!!

Professional work experience – Did you work for the giants in the industry?? Did you get multiple incentives?? Promotions?? Fill the pages of your cover letter and let the hiring manager know you are the BEST EVER!!
If not, tell the prospective employer that you have just been waiting for an opportunity with them and you are sure that the wait has been worth it!!

Ok, now that your CV is ready and the cover letter has been taken care of, make sure you cc it, not bcc, cc, to multiple companies. Wait a few minutes and resend, just to make sure the employer gets it if they missed the first one.

Wait till the evening, then send an email or call and ask if the employer received your profile.

Ask them if your interview has been scheduled already ??

If you don’t receive a reply drop in to the office (of course, if the employer location is local!), and let them know you were expecting a reply. There is a high possibility they will take the initial screening interview then and there. If not, don’t forget to leave your visiting card at the front office!

What to do if your luck outshines and you get a call for the interview: [wow! ]

1.    Do not wish to apply for a leave at your current workplace? Ask the prospective employer to reschedule the interview as you will be out of station on a business trip, or better is to call one hour prior to the interview and tell the hiring manager that you are unwell and can’t make it to the interview. You also have the option to not inform your unavailability for the interview at all and walk in to their office the day you feel is the perfect day for you to get interviewed.

2.    Be an hour late. Tell them you were stuck in a traffic jam. Your meeting with them is important and they should value it, even if you are late by an hour!

3.    When asked for a self introduction – tell them about you mother, father, their jobs, your siblings, your residence, your native place etc., etc.

4.    When asked about your abilities, make sure you tell them that you don’t like to be self pompous!

5.    Make sure you settle the salary and other benefits that the prospective employer wishes to offer you against your services before the clichéd line that all hiring resource persons love to say when they wish to discontinue the interview “THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU!!”

6.    Be bold to ask them the time they require to get back to you, make sure you ask them to recheck the contact numbers on your cv.

Now sit back, relax and wait for your offer letter!! Or not…after all here we are telling you about how not to get hired!

Ok on a serious note, these are not anecdotes, these are just a few faux pases that we came across at the time of hiring. I am sure if you focus on these more than getting confused with the thousand other answers to how to cakewalk the interview…it will be a sure shot hit!! If not, at least you know what you can afford to avoid.

Looking for a change in your current job? You either have strong reasons to support your decision for the change or you are just trying your luck. Well, if its scenario one, there will certainly be some amount of seriousness involved… let’s start with the cover letter, are you sure your cover letter speaks what you intend to tell the prospective hiring person?? Be specific with details and your intention of approaching the XYZ employer.

Don’t sound desperate for a change in job. Let your CV speak of your credentials and work experience. Pushing too many bold statements and reasons why should you be considered is still a highly debatable issue, it is safe to be genuine and only highlight your unique abilities and achievements in support of the position that you are applying for. AVOID using statements like I am the best !! Let the prospective hiring person take care of the decision whether to consider the application or not!!

Nervousness associated with meeting the prospective employer is understood. One small tip – go on and just be your self!

Writing a copy is like writing a story. Only interesting stories are read cover to cover and only interesting web copies are read first sentence to last sentence. Your copy needs to have a gripping build up, an interesting middle and a jolting end, but all this has to be done in some very limited words. Therefore I repeat myself, you have to know when to stop! Keep your write ups short, sweet, simple, crisp and open to possible interpretations.

The most important thing to remember here is that when you write too much, you are basically assuming that your readers NEED all the explanation; which is basically insulting their intelligence. No one likes that! Now this doesn’t mean that you start using really big words and very complex sentences. No one has the time and no one wants to read confusing stuff anyways.

The KISS mantra

Always follow KISS and Keep It Simple and Sweet. I would like to add another ‘S’ here. Keep It Simple, Sweet and Short and know when to stop. How much is too much? No one can really say. Just make sure that the words are simple, sentences are short, paragraphs are concise and you are using minimal words to put your points across (unless otherwise required).

Did I just go too far?