When I tell you that SEO is important to the HR world, it’s because I feel you need to own your recruitment presence. When someone does a non-branded search (i.e.: a search that doesn’t include your company name) for a position you’re looking to fill, your job posting should show up on the first page of results (whether that’s on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Ask…). But why? Often job postings on job aggregator sites and job boards rank just as well as or better.
It’s all about control
It’s true that job postings on sites like Monster, Indeed or SimplyHired will often rank very well on search engines. The thing is you don’t control those postings. Sure, if it’s a job board, you’ve payed for it, but you can’t guarantee the candidate’s experience. What happens after the candidate clicks on a link that isn’t yours? Well…you don’t know. Sometimes everything will go well, but other times:
- There are ads for other jobs around the posting
- The page is temporarily unavailable
- There are actual job postings for your competitors
- It increases the number of steps there are to apply
What about the actual application process? Often job boards or aggregators ask candidates to sign-up before being able to apply. In other words, you’re paying for another company to get your candidate’s information so they can push more other job postings — maybe even your competitor’s…
So why is it important?
So that you can captivate your candidate, get the information and build a relationship with someone who wants to work for you…
Focus on getting people to want to work for you.
What’s your take?
(Photo credit: Images of Money)
