With so much information available online today, it’s important that organizations are making themselves as visible as possible to the audience they are trying to reach. This is especially true in recruiting. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one way savvy companies are putting their open positions in front of the right candidates. If you aren’t familiar with the term, SEO is the process that drives more traffic to a web page through search results. Meaning, you want your career page or website to rank higher (or closer to the top) in search engines when candidates are searching for words that relate to your company or positions. This may sound obvious, but with so many websites competing for the same candidates you are trying to reach, a customized and well thought out strategy is needed to yield the best results. There are many different ways you can increase your rankings online, from the use of proper keywords, to link-building campaigns and even microsite development. But, before you begin any new campaign, you need to have a clear idea of the audience you are trying to reach. This will help you determine how this candidate group searches for information online; which offers great insight into how you can better optimize your career site. Take a moment to put yourself in the position of your ideal candidate. What words would you be searching for to find your next great job? Type those words into a search engine and see if your company or corporate careers page is ranked well. If it isn’t, you have the opportunity to make your recruitment strategy even more effective. Remember, you can build a great career center, but if your targeted candidates aren’t finding it, you’ve only won half the battle.
