Cheezhead

When you do a search on Google, or any major search engine, the results are served to you by the most relevant to the least relevant. Google, by anyone’s estimation but Bill Gates and a few Yahooligans, has done the best job of serving the most relevant search results.

When you do a search on Monster, or any major job board, the results are served to you in date order. Because employers typically choose a category for their job listings, much of the relevancy is already done for you, unlike major search.

Vertical job search, however, is a morphing of these two universes. When searching for jobs on Indeed, SimplyHired or others, relevancy is the default mechanism, while date order is something you have to select or opt-in.

This introduces a whole new way to look at search engine optimization.

Think of it this way: If an employer can figure out what vertical engines look for to make a job more relevant than others, their jobs will rank higher than their competitions’.

Imagine being a healthcare system and posting your nursing positions with the knowledge of how to create your listing so that you rank higher than all the other hospitals in your city, state, or even region. Powerful stuff, particularly since there are hundreds to thousands of nurse positions open at all times in every major market.

With HotJobs jumping into the vertical search arena, Google on the horizon, and niche players like Indeed and SimplyHired gaining ground, optimizing job listings should become as important as optimizing your Web site.