January 12th, 2010
Assess potential job seeker traffic your job site can generate from Google and other search engines’ organic search results via Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
1. Open Google Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool
(will require you to login / create Adwords account)
2. Supply your main keyword targets, language and visitors geography:
- popular / competitive keyword(s): normally, your industry niche + jobs, careers & vacancies (i.e. finance jobs, green jobs, etc.)
- long tail keywords: functions, job titles, sub industries + jobs
Hit Search.
3. Deselect generic / irrelevant and single word combinations
Update Contains section: tick only keywords to estimate.
Match types: broad. It would estimate all instances of search that include ALL keywords from the phrase selected + any other words added to them. I.e. broad estimation for phrase risk jobs would provide the number of searches for combination like “risk manager jobs”, “risk jobs in Houston”, “credit risk jobs”, etc.
4. Estimate traffic based on numbers of searches for keywords selected.
Sum global or local search volume (depending on your target job seekers geo).
Sum only short unique phrases. Ignore unique phrase combinations with other keywords. I.e. as per example below: sum only risk jobs, risk careers, risk vacancy. Ignore “global risk jobs“, “enterprise risk jobs“, “technology risk jobs” for respective searches are already included / estimated in “risk jobs” broad search volume.
As per example below (global targeting)
Search volume is 126,100 = 110,000 + 14,800 + 1,300
Job board monthly non-paid visitors from search engines average at 5-10% of total broad search volume.
- 5%: for lower job board CTR / relevancy to search / multiple keyword meanings
- 10%: for higher CTR / brand awareness / unique jobs / lesser keyword misinterpretation
So approximate organic traffic this job board can generate via SEO is 9K a month (7,5% of 126,100).
NB. Consider Long Tail vs popular keywords. Narrow job title, skill, location or function related keywords normally generate 60-90% search engine traffic and the highest application rates.
Learn more:
Job board traffic sources checklist
Professional job board SEO technology
Improving job indexing
Tags: traffic
Posted in Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »
December 25th, 2009
Job board owners are to embrace these key online sources of hires as per recent report published by Crowe Horwath: SEO / SEM / aggregators (11%) and social media (4%). Major job boards accounted for 22%. Source.
JobMount vision for niche job board challenges & opportunities:
1. Job posting to aggregators
Despite high bounce rate, aggregators deliver substantial number of applications. As per research data Indeed alone accounted for 5% of hires at cost of $1,600 per hire in comparison with $8,500 per hire cost of major job boards. XML feeds for aggregators are to be easily configurable so wider range of aggregators can be utilized (incl. free ones): Oodle, Juju, Trovit, GoogleBase, etc.
Hints:
- employer branded landing pages improve application ratio / reduce bounce rate.
- selective posting: advertise either specific job types or priority employers’ openings.
2. Application quality gap to fill
Both major job boards and aggregators produced a number of unclaimed applications in comparison with social media & referrals:
| Source |
% of applications |
% of hires |
| Major job boards |
51,89% |
22,22% |
| SEO/SEM/Aggregators |
22,72% |
11,11% |
| Social media |
2,46% |
3.7% |
| Referrals |
4,88% |
35,19% |
Niche boards are to provide higher numbers of relevant applications via following means:
Social media integration / referrals
Simplified single sign on using popular social network user credentials, professional profile data sharing and tapping into personal job seeker network: LinkedIn API and Facebook Connect integration. Categorized job posting to Twitter & Facebook channels (not generic spamming).
Personalized SEO
Niche boards have higher chances to comply to new personalized Google search rules via professional SEO and customized content delivery. Estimate potential search engine traffic your job board can generate.
Custom applications processing
Niche boards can offer tailored (industry specific) applications processing and screening.
3. Effortless job posting for clients
Job aggregation
More of the job board clients would now have Indeed or other aggregators’ XML feeds configured. These job feeds can be aggregated by your job board effortlessly as part of your service.
Job wrapping
Job spider would collect jobs direct from a client website or ATS listing.
Bulk posting interfaces
Clients with no job listings available online (career center, ATS interface, XML) can bulk post via XML interface or simply email job listing for CSV upload.
4. Upgrade service offering & pricing models
Job board owners might consider updating service offering to include Pay Per Performance (pay per application / response), free job posting / job wrapping, branded mini site options for employers, premium job seeker subscriptions for viewing unique openings.
5. Partnerships
I.e. integrate Jobg8: publish jobs sourced from Jobg8 network & obtain Pay For Performance revenues, have your clients advertise jobs on other network websites.
Learn more:
- Job board traffic sources checklist & tips
- Mobile version of a job board
- Job aggregator software
- Jobmount on job board SEO
Tags: aggregators, niche job board, social media
Posted in Job Board Business | No Comments »
December 17th, 2009
Google offers a new tool to define % of visitors able to view areas of your website immediately without scroll.
Review your website home and landing pages layouts: are your key buttons and content are easily reachable? Google BrowserSize will advise.
NB:
1. Check your Google Analytics for your specific job board visitors’ screen resolutions. Those can be quite different to the ones compiled by Google globally.
2. User testing results for placing content under scroll: the myth of the page fold.
3. Screen resolution would not always reflect actual (normally resized) browser size.
Here is an overlay of our template website (demo.jobboardmount.com):
Tags: google
Posted in Job Board Business, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »
