The following e-mail was recently sent to CareerBuilder clients/prospects:
CareerBuilder.com is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to deliver you access to the most and the best talent. We are pleased to announce .JOBS!
.JOBS is a new address on the web, similar to .com, .net, and .edu. However, .JOBS is the first Internet domain designated exclusively for human resources professionals.
.JOBS benefits:
* Efficient: The direct route for job seekers to reach your open positions on CareerBuilder.com, through your BrandBuilder, or the career section on your company’s home page
* Trustworthy: .JOBS is reserved exclusively for HR professionals
* Cost Effective: Save on advertising with a single point of reference for job seekers
* Easy: Utilize the same infrastructure that supports your .com site
* Memorable: www.yourcompanyname.jobsCareerBuilder.com will set up, manage, and maintain your .JOBS domain and offer you search engine optimization packages that will further your success in grabbing job seekers from the most popular search engines across the internet.
What I like about this:
1. It helps bring legitimacy to the .jobs domain. Whenever one of the Big Three not only notices a new play but also promotes it, that’s a nice step forward.
2. “Search engine optimization packages”?!?!?!?! Did they say “search engine optimization packages”? Hells yeah!
3. It should get more companies to buy into the domain. And use it.
4. New revenue stream. Hooray!
What I don’t like about this:
1. It’s a pretty clever/sneaky/underhanded way for CareerBuilder to control and lock companies into being their clients for, well, (almost) ever. (Remember the days when mobile carriers held customers hostage by controlling their phone numbers?) By “setting up, managing and maintaining” a company’s .jobs domain, they’re inevitably creating a heroin drip for employers … which, I believe is poor healthcare, unless you’re Dr. Monk E. Mail.
2. It’s just so smug. Behind a mask of Service, CareerBuilder is telling its customers, “You’re too stupid to figure out this whole domain name stuff. We’ll take care of it for you. We know best.”
3. The kicker is their “search engine optimization packages.” CareerBuilder has zero interest in really helping its customers outrank them for their own targeted keyphrases. Sure, we’ll help Boeing outrank us for the term “Chicago jobs” … yeah, that’s the ticket. The most they’ll likely offer is some surface improvement, but nothing deep enough to make a difference.
Why it probably won’t matter:
1. Job boards have been dropping these kinds of new services on their sales force to peddle for a long time. Assessment tools, salary help, applicant tracking, whatever. A broadcast e-mail goes out, some customers bite, and a salesperson makes a deal. Then it’s back to selling job postings; back to the comfort zone.
2. To say I’m skeptical about CareerBuilder’s ability to effectively offer search engine optimization to its clients is an understatement. However, if anyone out there knows specifically what they’re offering or are currently using this service, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at joel@cheezhead.com.
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May 5th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Hey Joel, welcome back. Since you moved you had become less combative but this one is more like the ‘old’ you! Totally agree, they’ll create some marketing spin but soon get back to selling jobs….. until everyone does jobs for free.
May 26th, 2006 at 6:17 am
Yahoo HotJobs has SEO built into its product automatically, or at least that’s what i’m told. Think about it, becoming a employer on HotJobs makes you part of the “Yahoo Network” right? I would stick with the company where people are actually conducting that search, rather then crossing my fingers and hoping someone at CareerBuilder is making me relevant on a Yahoo search. Or maybe a Yahoo Salesman really got to me….