Holding the Attention of Site Visitors
This article is the first in a series to explore the implications of the results from the 2013 IAEWS Global Benchmark Survey. It is excerpted from the IAEWS Member newsletter.
This year’s survey found that:
- 54.9 percent of respondents had a job search blog on their site
- 69.4 percent of respondents had a career support blog on their site
- Yet, 88 percent of respondents reported that visitors spent 10 minutes or less on their site.
What do these data mean? Well, they could mean that the majority of the visitors to the respondent sites are active job seekers, people who dash in to look at job postings and then dash out if they don’t find the right opportunity.
Is that a problem? It could be. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, at any given time, just 16 percent of the workforce is actively in transition. The same is probably true in other workforces around the world. So, if sites are only attracting active job seekers, they are missing out on four-fifths of the workforce – hardly a viable value proposition for employers.
The other explanation – and the more likely one – is that the respondent sites are under-promoting (or more likely not promoting) the full range of their content. Sure they promote their job postings, but they probably do little to market or brand the blogs and other news, information and insights they also offer to their visitors.
What’s the Solution?
First, make sure your site’s content is worth promoting. Sorry, but an intern is simply not qualified to write a job search or career blog.
Moreover, Google’s Hummingbird update (launched in August and officially announced on September 27th) makes the authority of site content even more important. The latest algorithm adjustment from the search engine advances its movement away from keyword relevancy to content context. As a result, site ranking depends even more on rich content and now also on “authorship.” In the simplest terms, the more expert Google perceives an author to be, the more highly it is likely to rank the content they write. And, given that search engine traffic converts at a high level, paying attention to the caliber of on-site content is now crucial to traffic development.
Second, build the brand of your content and its authors. Develop the perception that your site is a unique center of excellence for job search and/or career development that is tailored for its specific visitors. Focus as much on SEO and SEM for your non-advertising content as you do for your job postings.
For a case study of what happens when you take that tact, consider AOL and the Motley Fool. Until the authors David and Tom Gardner started writing the column on AOL, the site’s investment advice was bland and undifferentiated from any other source on the Web. However, the clear prose and cheeky voice of the Motley Fool and its heavy promotion by AOL transformed that undistinguished content into a brand that was so powerful it actually attracted visitors to the site and, best of all, held them there.
Survey Merger
The two leading surveys in the online employment services industry – the IAEWS Global Benchmark Survey and the annual Job Board Doctor Job Board Survey – have agreed to merge.
Beginning with the 2014 survey – which will be released in early January – a single instrument will now probe both the trends and issues and the key operational metrics and opinions of job boards worldwide. Results will be presented at the IAEWS Spring Congress on April 26-27 in Nashville, TN USA.
Jeff Dicky-Chasins, the Job Board Doctor, says, “Job Board Doctor has surveyed job boards since 2009 on where the industry is going. Joining this research to the critical work that IAEWS does just makes sense, both for our respective organizations and the industry at large.”
Peter Weddle, IAEWS Executive Director adds, “For the past three years, we’ve conducted research on key benchmarks for the job board industry. By joining forces with Job Board Doctor, we will expand the range of our survey and thus its value to the online employment services industry.”
New Employment Site Channel
Weddles.com is pleased to announce the launch of a brand new channel of information and resources designed specifically for employment sites.
Here’s what you’ll find on the site:
- Books & Tools for improving site operations and the bottom line
- Site Success Resources including webinars and an unique industry award program
- Plus much more!
There’s something there for everyone, whether your site is a startup or a seasoned veteran of the online employment services industry, whether it’s a niche job board or a general purpose sourcing and recruitment site.
So, drop by and check it out. Visit Weddles.com today!
IAEWS Employment Web-Site Resource Directory
If your organization is selling a product or service to job boards and other employment sites, the IAEWS Employment Web-Site Resource Directory is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to promote it.
What makes the Directory special? It connects with your prospective customers in not one, but two ways:
- First, the Directory will be linked from the Home Page of the IAEWS Web-site so it’s front and center with both IAEWS Members and other site visitors; and
- Second, a hard copy version of the Directory will be distributed to delegates at all IAEWS Congresses.
In short, you get a two-fer: both virtual and real world visibility.
In addition, the Directory will be featured in regular e-blasts to the IAEWS membership and to the employment sites on the mailing list maintained by WEDDLE’s Guide.
The Employment Web-Site Resource Directory will go live in early January 2014, so don’t delay. The closing date for insertion orders is just around the corner. For additional information and to place your insertion order, contact the IAEWS at director@employmentwebsites.org today.
Latest TalentNapkin Published
The Fall edition of TalentNapkin – the e-magazine for employment site thought leaders – has now been published on the IAEWS site. The link on the home page will take you to the publication which features the following articles:
- How to Turn Customers Off to Craigslist by Tony Lee, CAO Adicio;
- How to Measure the ROI of a Job Board by Gerry Crispin, Chief Navigator CareerXroads;
- How a Job Board Can Use Pinterest by Brie Weiler Reynolds, Director of Content and Community FlexJobs.com; and
- How to Make More Money from Traffic by Stephan Hartl, Managing Consultant Click Performance Group.