Deam12 seo presentation
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SEO and Other Best Practices to Attract Your Target Audience Jonathan Liepe Senior HR Specialist
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Transcript of Deam12 seo presentation
SEO and Other Best Practices to Attract
Your Target Audience
Jonathan LiepeSenior HR Specialist
What is SEO?Why SEO?What does SEO look like?Is It Working?Embedding VideosTracking Source CodesWriting Job PostingsHow to Choose a SEO partner
Agenda
What is SEO?Search Engine Optimization
Wikipedia:o “…the process of improving the visibility of a website
or a web page in a search engine's "natural," or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic"), search results.
o “In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users.”
Simply stated, SEO is…Making site structure and content relevant and accessible to search engines with the goal of improving rankings
What does that mean?• Follows protocol for accessible site design• Adheres to best practices for structure & metadata• Incorporates relevant keywords into content• Helps search engines understand context (and content) of
the information you're publishing• Focuses on delivering real value versus short term spam
techniques
Why SEO?
You want to be found by the right people!
Receive higher search rankingso Search engines use complex, proprietary
ranking algorithms o Google uses more than 200 different
signalso Use Google AdWords or Pay-per-click
campaigns
Be seen by your candidates before they see your competitors
Take advantage of job seeker behavior:o Most job seekers start with a keyword
search
A Look at the NumbersJobvite Survey: Job Seeker Nation 2010
What does SEO look like?
SEO Design Considerations
Website Designo URLo Keywords, variation and positioning o Tags – title and H1o Clear, keyword-rich job URLSo Descriptive & keyword-rich job title tags
Rich mediao Recruiting videos, podcasts, or other content to engage
job seekers o Embed videos in Careers pages and Job postings
Easy to Promoteo Shareable contento Social media
Source information
Before SEO…o No meta data (description / keywords)o Title and H1 tags
After SEO…o Meta data (description / keywords) near topo Title and H1 tags
URL - Before SEO
ColoradoSpringsUtilities.jobs
Shareable Content
Social Media Links
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
What to AvoidSome SEO techniques can lead to ranking penalties
"Keyword stuffing" o Loading your career site with the same keywords
over and overo Best practice is to diversify the language you're using
Avoid questionable SEO schemeso Link pyramidso Blog networkso Paying for linkso Placing links to your career site on irrelevant sites o All are considered "black hat"
What to Avoid (continued)Consistency pays off
• Be very careful when making major changes to your career site, such as the URL, without first determining how it will affect your SEO and planning accordingly.
• Recognize that SEO is a long-term investment. It takes time to build up trust and relevance in the eyes of the search engines. Ultimately, your rankings are up to them.
Is it working?
Looking at ResultsThe following chart illustrates how proper keyword optimization can improve rankings over time:
Google Search Results
.jobs UniverseColoradoSpringsUtilities.jobs
• DirectEmployers network accounted for 25.9% all applicants
• ColoradoSprings Utilities.jobs = 757 (since 7/11/11 )
• 2465 total applications received; 17 hired
Importance of MobileMobile browsing by job seekers is increasing rapidly
Jobs.csu.org mobile traffic:o Feb - 10.9%o June - 14.6%o July – 15.5%o August – 17.0%o September – 19.2%
Video Further Improves SEOYouTube is 2nd largest search engine according to Comscore
Adding employment branding videos to our site, in addition to hosting them on YouTube has yielded increased engagement on our site and further increased our SEO visibility.
Video traffic YTD
Embedding Videos in Job Postings
Including Video in Job PostingsIncreasing Results and Adding Value for Job Seekers
• Corporate Trainer position historically netted 60-80 or so applicants
• Hiring Manager wanted to attract a wider, different group of applicants
• Including the video proved a difference maker
Embedding Video
Embedding Video
Embedding Video
Paste the HTML code• Videos can be embedded on any page layout• Options to consider – Job Search, Job Search Results,
RequisitionTo center on the page, • Include <p style="text-align: center;"> before the YouTube
code• Include </p> after
Source Codes
Importance of Source Codes
Why is auto-tracking important?• When your recruiting advertising dollars are limited, every
dollar counts! • You need to know where you are finding good people and
which sources to drop.Study by Jake Firth at AllRetailsJobs.com showed 83% of candidates incorrectly identify their source• 50% chose not to identify source or select “other”• Solution: Implement 'tracking tags‘ - tags append to the
application URL and defaults the source selection
Source CodesAutomatic Tracking of Candidate Source
•Candidate source easily defaults using “&source=[insert source code]” in job URL•Work with advertising partners scraping your site•Train recruiters how to add for “one-off” sources
•Example:• No source code:
https://tbe.taleo.net/NA12/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=CSU&cws=1&rid=7597
• With Source Code: https://tbe.taleo.net/NA12/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=CSU&cws=1&rid=7597&source=linkedin
Advertising Partner EngagementSample email used to get buy-in
Job Postings
Customize and EngageJob Descriptions + ATS systems = Disengaged Applicants
• October 2012 Workforce Management - highlights issue of job descriptions…
•“Managers don’t think through job requirements before inserting them [into their ATS systems]”
•“Recruiters…might not have the time or expertise to tweak the systems for a specific department’s needs.”
•“Bigger companies have to work harder because…they receive far more applicants per job.”
• Are we trying to attract the “right candidate” or dissuade the “wrong candidate”?
“Recruiting is about influencing top candidates who don‘t need your job to consider it anyway…top people don‘t look for jobs or accept offers the same way most candidates do. Since they‘re looking for a better job, not another job, they want proof that it is better. That‘s why they need more information. This includes more details about the job, the company, and the people involved.”
Lou AdlerAdler Consulting
Surplus / Scarcity ModelScreening out for skills not yet acquired
Job Postings
Job Titles• 40% job seekers don’t understand what a job title means in a typical
online posting• Call to action or “What’s in it For Me?”• Google’s Keyword Tool -
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternalSuccess Profiles not Job Descriptions• Job description contain list of needed skills / past experience• Instead…define successful performance!• What does success look like for the next 1-2 years (and beyond)Discovery conversations • Build time into the process to differentiate average from top talent• Don’t simply accept what your hiring manager says as fact; seek
supporting arguments
Invest time at the front-end and document
Partnering to Improve SEO
Partnering to Improve SEOWhy you may need a partner to improve SEO…
• Your ATS is not ranked by search engines• In some cases, ATS content lives inside an iFrame, making
it inaccessible to search engines • Even when the content is available, it is generally not
optimized for search engines• Your ideal partner should focus on messaging and helping
candidates find you, all while working with your existing recruiting platform
How to Choose a VendorThings to keep in mind
• Look for experience in SEO and employment branding• Leverage a partner with a strong URL network (e.g., geo
targeting or industry targeting)• Consider the power of built-in networks of job-related
sites that link back to your career site (e.g., DirectEmployers and .jobs Universe)
• Listen for strong focus on client experience & partnership• Look for ROI and bundled service level
Q&A
ResourcesAdler, L. (2012, May 21). Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse if You Want to Find More Top People. Retrieved May 22, 2012, from http://www.adlerconcepts.com/index.php/en/resources36/current-articles2/874-dont-put-the-cart-before-the-horse-if-you-want-to-find-more-top-people
Firth, J. (2006, October 17). ATS Sourcing Data – 83% Inaccurate: Survey of 63,000 Candidate Applications Confirms Major Flaws in Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Sourcing Information. Retrieved August 30, 2012, from http://www.allretailjobs.com/html/ats-sourcing.pdf
Indugula, N. (2012, February 21). Recruitment SEO: 10 Steps to A Perfectly Optimized Job Results Page. Retrieved April 10, 2012 from http://talentminded.com/recruitment-seo-10-steps-to-a-perfectly-optimized-job-results-page-report/
Newman, E., Orler, E., Crispin, G, Jones, K., McMillan, M. (2012). The Talent Board. The Candidate Experience 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://www.thecandidateexperienceawards.org/report-download/
Wikipedia. (2012, August). Meta element. Retrieved August 20, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_element
Wikipedia. (2012, July) Search Engine Optimization. Retrieved July 14, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
