Why Did I Start this Stupid Company Blog in the First Place?!

 They all say to do it—all the experts that is. They say that if companies put the time and effort into creating a blog, it could be a great tool in recruiting. The idea is that companies can share expertise, display the culture and build their employer brand with a fun and informative blog. Too many recruiters and hiring managers go into this endeavor with the “build it and they will come” attitude.

If you want to know why no one is reading your company blog and how to remedy that, here we go…

Are You Socially Awkward?

I think it’s safe to guess that you have your blog on “the Twitter” and other social media outlets, but it probably wouldn’t be safe to assume that it’s being socialized correctly. The best content in the world won’t get clicks, likes or shares if no one can find it. Consider sending an email blast out to let people know that the blog exists. Also, be sure that there is a link on the company home page to the blog. No one likes to click through.

Additionally, the blog itself should be optimized for social media sharing. Broaden your reach by adding social sharing buttons to all posts and the home blog page. One share can mean a totally new pool of potential readers. Don’t try to do it on your own, use social optimally.

Is That Your Content or a Sham Wow Promotion?

While we’re on the subject of social, it is important to note that in order to get any amount of shares or readers, the content can’t be ‘sales-y’ or self-promotional. Aim to be informative and compelling. No one wants to share information about a company’s 3^rd quarter numbers. They do, however, want to share a story on how that company directly impacts their community or a post sharing industry expertise relevant to the audience. In other words, leave your company out of it. Make it about your audience, industry and candidates.

Marketing 101

With any marketing initiative, consistency is the key. If you just rolled this blog out and you’re wondering why numbers haven’t skyrocketed; give it some time and lovin’. You can’t expect to be considered a reputable source day one. It takes time to build an audience and prove yourself as an expert in your industry. Keep at it and be consistent.

Your Titles Suck

No one wakes up in the morning and fires up their iPad to check out company blogs; you have to entice them! Readers don’t click on articles; they click on titles and pictures. We live in a 140-character world now, which means that there is a very small window to capture attention online. Titles and pictures are your foot in the door; use them wisely.

• Sucks: “Humanization in the Hiring Process”
• Rocks: “Humanization is Recruiting Bacon”

• Sucks: “The Importance of Creative Content”
• Rocks: “Content Should Have Soul!”

Where’s All Your Google Juice?

Believing that compelling copy is enough to drive traffic is a pretty big missed opportunity. Pamela Vaughan wrote in a Hubspot Marketing post,

“One of the reasons blogging is such an effective inbound marketing tool is its direct tie to search. Because each blog post you publish is another page to get indexed in search engines, the more blog content you create, the more opportunities you have to get found by searchers.”

She goes further to point out that when blog posts are SEO (search engine optimization) friendly, they will continue to show up in searches long after the publish date. The small amount of time that it takes to research keywords and competitors’ keywords will yield some surprising numbers.