Recap: 3 Things I Learned about Making the Web Work for You

Working in Vancouver, as a young woman in business, I had reached the point where right now felt like the right time to take a calculated risk. I moved to Toronto to wholeheartedly pursue a career in public relations, explore a variety of creative outlets and to connect with like-minded individuals. Within a week of living here, I attended my first Lunch and Learn event. I was warmly welcomed by the hosts: Young Women in Business Toronto and Camp Tech. YWiB TO is a phenomenal resource to tap into, whether you’re new to the city or open to new professional avenues. I gained valuable insight on How to Make the Web Work for You through the workshop lead by Camp Tech’s Marketing Manager, Tara Wilkins. She provided lessons on how to strategically target social media and digital marketing efforts. It’s easy to get caught up in frivolous details, so I am thankful for her personal and business online management advice.

Accessibility Matters: Be conscious of the fact that the internet – your website – should be accessible to everyone. To ease the navigation of visitors with disabilities, you can control your appearance so that there is a distinct colour and contrast. Provide straightforward link text for hyperlinks along with image text. These all contribute to an increase in your SEO standing, but inclusion should be your motivating factor.

Digital Recipes: Are you familiar with IFTTT.com? It’s this incredible tool that you can access online or by mobile, which will simplify your life. It creates connections – “recipes” – between your favourite apps and services. Create your own (the possibilities are endless!) or choose an existing recipe. The service is able to automatically save all of your Gmail attachments to Dropbox, share your Instagram photos as native Twitter photos or publish a new Snap to Wordpress.

Facebook Hack: Sometimes the obvious steps are the ones that get missed. Once you’ve finished running a new ad or boosting a previous one, take the time to individually invite each person who liked it or reacted to follow your Page. The retention rate is 10-30% and support at any level is valid.

In September, YWiB will be collaborating with RL Solutions for a panel event. Be sure to check back to this website or follow on social media for registration details.