Yes, You Need a Recruitment Blog. Here’s Why.

At our recent Global Conference, I heard several members ponder the value of blogging. I believe a recruitment blog is an effective and necessary tool to have. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. A blog allows you post longer articles and information about your firm to explain your value proposition to clients and candidates alike. While your web pages may be short on copy, a recruitment blog of even 300-500 words gives you a different voice for sharing information
2. A recruitment blog, with an email subscription option, helps you build an opted-in email marketing list. With the right tools, you can segment your list by candidates and clients (at a minimum) to help you tailor content for your specific audiences.
3. Regular blogging gives Google and other search engines a reason to keep crawling your site. New content will keep your site relevant and boost your organic search results. This will ensure that candidates and clients can find your site, so it’s a tremendous way to build traffic.
4. Once you start your recruitment blog, you can repurpose your posts into different types of content. For example, you can take 3 or 4 salient points and turn them into Tweets. Or, you can create a visual image to share on a social media account. Another option is to create a SlideShare, PowerPoint, or Prezi. All of these things help build your social media presence, and are easier to do once you have some content. Plus, it saves you from starting from scratch for every new medium.
5. The best blog content is evergreen, meaning it remains relevant to your audience for a long time past its original post date. You can continue to repost and share it, because it won’t be outdated. For a recruitment blog, examples of evergreen content could include how to select a recruitment firm, or a basic “how-to” article on interview preparations, or even a reference list of common industry terms and jargon.
6. If your recruitment blog has a comment feature, you can use the comments to have a conversation about a controversial topic or even share more detailed advice. Comments are another way to draw visitors to your site and begin to engage them. If you can convert a blog visitor into a client or candidate, that’s even better!
7. Blogs often allow you to share different types of content, such as videos, infographics, e-book downloads, and more. People like to consume information in a variety of different ways and a blog offers up a simple option for meeting those content demands.
8. Position yourself as an industry or niche expert. Your clients — whether they are employers, job seekers, or both — want to work with a professional recruitment firm that offers particular expertise for their needs. Use your blog to market the industry, occupational, niche, or other specialty knowledge you have to demonstrate your credibility.

If you have avoided creating a recruitment blog, it’s time to take action! Blogs are still relevant for all of the reasons I’ve listed above, and probably a host of others as well. If you’re not blogging, why not? If you are, what other benefits have you seen in your recruitment firm? I welcome your input.