There have been so many changes in search engine optimization that most staffing firms have barely been able to keep up. While Google, Yahoo and Bing make a habit of re-doing their algorithm as a standard approach, this last 6 months has seen more changes to each of them then in the previous two or three years. Staffing firm SEO is a concept that is misunderstood quite commonly.
To begin, search engine optimization is the way in which search engines determine how relevant your website and the pages of your website are to what the audience that requested the information is looking for. Simply put, if someone does a search for “IT Staffing Firm in Boston”, then the relevancy score that the algorithm uses is based on all of the websites that utilize those words in that order as well as several other factors. Let’s discuss!
What Are Some of Staffing Firm SEO Factors for Your Website
The search engines keep their algorithm formula secret, so no one can truly game the system. They are constantly perfecting it in order to ensure that truly relevant sites come up for the searches that are being requested. While no one knows the exact formula, the components of the formula are widely known. Some of the latest additions to the algorithm are: 1) Whether or not your site is mobile/responsive, and 2) Whether or not your site is secure.
If you have not converted your site to a fully mobile responsive website, then your search engine score is suffering. Google, above the other search engines has set the bar higher for your website by determining that it is time for you to go mobile. The short answer is, it is time to go responsive.
The second new addition being security is the concept of having a security certificate on your website. You may be thinking to yourself that because you are not collecting personal protected information (PPI), therefore you don’t need the security certificate. However, Google disagrees. If you have not put a security certificate on your site, then it is time to move forward with this. Your hosting provider and domain provider should be able to help you with this pretty easily and unfortunately whether you agree or disagree is irrelevant, as it will negatively affect your search engine scores.
Additional points in the formula are:
-Keyword density on page – Using previous example, the number of times you said “IT Staffing in Boston” on the page
-Page Titling – In the back-end of your site be sure to have your keywords in your page title.
-Keywords and Meta Description – Also in the back-end of your website, you must include a description and your keywords in the Meta tags and descriptions.
-Photo Alt Tags – Be sure all photos have your keywords in the Alt Tags.
-Backlinks – Backlinks are links from other sites to your site, for example, member associations, various organizations that you are a part of. Any link back to your site brings value to your SEO.
-Outbound Links – Links from your site to other sites bring value to your staffing firm SEO
-Content – Keep in mind that there is a desired 300 word minimum per page for better SEO results and various types of content such as video bring additional value to your overall site.
Search and You Will Find
Improving staffing firm SEO begins with the simple concept of determining for yourself the keywords that are relevant to your business, for example, “Java Jobs” or “Business Analyst Careers in New Hampshire”. Whichever keywords you believe are important to your business should be spread through your site utilizing each page to focus on different elements.
Would you like to hear more about search engine optimization? Let us know and we are happy to talk you through it!
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.