Career Site SEO FAQs
What is Career Site SEO?
Using a top-level .jobs domain (sponsored by SHRM), career microsites are search engine optimized career-focused
websites that advertise your jobs and your brand while pointing traffic back to your career portal and/or Talent CRM.
What does SEO stand for and how does it apply to a microsite?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the practice of improving the visibility and ranking of a web site in a
search engine’s “organic”, or un-paid, results. In most cases, the higher a website ranks on the search results page, the
more visitors to the website it will receive from the search engine’s users. All career microsites are search engine
optimized to maximize exposure.
Why should I incorporate the iCIMS Career Site SEO power-up into my recruiting
strategy?
Although traditional recruitment advertising techniques generate visits to your career site, more and more candidates
are turning to Google, Yahoo!, Bing and other major search engines to find job opportunities. Companies that leverage
SEO career microsites are in a better position to achieve top search engine rankings and, in turn, drive more traffic to
their career portals. As a result, reliance is reduced on third-party job board postings and other recruitment marketing
techniques.
Do career microsites work for recruiting internationally?
JOBS Microsites are extremely successful internationally due to the low volume of competition from job
boards/aggregators. Additionally, microsites support full Unicode capabilities to accommodate nearly every language in
the world.
Is the application process through career microsites OFCCP/EEO compliant?
Yes! Because all applicants are driven back to your Applicant Tracking System to apply for jobs, your current OFCCP/EEO
policies and process are used to comply with these rules.
Can SEO career microsites have more content than just jobs listings?
Absolutely! You can definitely add additional pages to tell the candidates more about your employment brand and
company. These additional pages are also fully branded and can include text, images, videos, etc. to help promote your
jobs and employment brand.
Does the iCIMS Career Site SEO power-up work on a smartphone?
Yes, the search engine optimized microsites are also fully optimized for mobile. The page appropriately resizes according
to the screen from which the candidate accesses the site. This means that the candidate can use any size screen from a
full desktop to an iPad to a smart phone.
Will I receive a large amount of unqualified applicants to my jobs?
Not typically. Because search engine users are so specific in their searches, they qualify themselves based on how they
are searching online. Because users have to go through an entire apply process using your ATS, only the most interested
people will actually apply online.
How much extra work do recruiters need to do for iCIMS Career Site SEO to
work?
None! Your jobs are automatically extracted from your ATS or career site, so the process of job marketing will happen
immediately. Candidates will find and view your jobs online and then apply directly back through your Applicant
Tracking System.
Who owns the microsite domains?
Our partner, DirectEmployers, will obtain chosen domains for the .jobs Microsites from on the client’s behalf and they
will be registered under and owned by the client. The actual .jobs microsites will be created by DirectEmployers and
hosted on their servers. (Links to the client’s iCIMS Career Portal and social media pages are automatically included.)
How do I choose the right microsite domain names?
You should make your .JOBS Microsite domain selection based on their defined hiring needs. Domains can include the
company’s brand, and keywords that are specific to either geographical areas or job occupations. Typically, they should
target one of the four categories:
GEOGRAPHY: Leverage the locational identifiers for where your jobs are, such as country, state, city and broad
geographical regions.
AUDIENCE TARGETING: Leverage terms that speak to the niche group you’re looking to target such as diversity,
veterans, internships, alumni, students, etc. (Ex. Aerojet-veterans.jobs)
ADDITIONAL BRANDS: Any brand or division owned by your company can be utilized within these domains.
OCCUPATIONAL TERMS: Leverage job or department titles that align with your hiring needs. Some examples
are:
XYZcorporationaccounting.jobs
Government.jobs
Computer.jobs
Hostpitality.jobs
Consultant.jobs
Marketing.jobs
Finance.jobs
Sales.jobs
Healthcare.jobs
Can I track the source of any candidates that come from one of these microsites?
Yes. Our partner, DirectEmployers automatically adds source tags as they are setting up the accounts for iCIMS clients.
This information is seamlessly transferred into the iCIMS Talent Platform and incorporated into iCIMS robust source of
hire reports. Additionally, each microsite is embedded with Google Analytics. These analytics provide an additional layer
of detail pertaining to how candidates arrive at your microsite. This heightened level of information helps recruiters
better target their employment brand recognition efforts.
Do I have to get my IT Department involved?
No, this process is entirely tech-free. Once your graphics and desired text are provided, all .JOBS microsites are created
by DE and hosted on their servers.