Niche microsites offer great results for large and small companies alike to showcase their recruitment brand and reach job seekers in a highly targeted and many times less trafficked environment.

Here are 5 companies that have taken advantage of niche microsites and optimized their outreach to job seekers with extremely specific searches:

Room To Be Yourself - Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)
IHG is an international hotel company focused on creating Great Hotels Guests Love. With 7 hotel brands including Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites, and Crowne Plaza, IHG has more than 666,000 rooms in over 4,500 hotels in 100 countries and territories around the world.

According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the hotel industry is expected to grow by 5 percent over the 2008-18 periods. To efficiently and effectively connect with qualified candidates for high demand chef openings, IHG setup IHG-Chef.jobs as a niche microsite. Google Analytics revealed that a job seeker searched on “Chef Departie Jobs in Hotel Sankara Nairobi” and received IHG-Chef.jobs as a returned result, which the user clicked, and applied for a position.

In addition, a job seeker searched for “Commis Chef Hiring in Manila” which returned the IHG-Chef.jobs site in the search results. This user also converted to an applicant.

Careers with Energy - ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips is the third largest integrated energy company in the U.S. and the fifth largest refiner in the world. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with operations in more than 30 countries and approximately 29,600 employees worldwide.

The market for IT talent is extremely competitive. To improve the branding around technology positions, ConocoPhillips-InformationTechnology.jobs was created. Shortly thereafter, a job seeker entered a very specific inquiry for “Internship Opportunities Information Technology Oklahoma” which returned ConocoPhillips-InformationTechnology.jobs in the results and lead to that user applying for the opening.

A similar success was tracked when a job seeker searched for “Account Specialist Jobs in Houston Texas.” The niche microsite ConocoPhillips-Finance.jobs converted that job seeker into an applicant as well.

Combining the Power of Science and Technology with the “Human Element” - Dow Chemical
Dow Chemical Company is a leader in specialty chemicals delivering products and solutions to sectors such as electronics, water, and coatings. With customers in approximately 160 countries and approximately 50,000 employees worldwide, Dow manufactures more than 5,000 products at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe.

Focusing hyper local, Dow created Dow-Louisiana.jobs resulting in an application from a job seeker who searched on “Analytical Specialist Plaquemine LA.”

A job seeker conducting an online search for “Account Manager Position in Oil and Gas” applied to Dow’s location microsite at Dow-Texas.jobs.

Our Energy Begins With You - DTE Energy
With 9,845 employees, DTE Energy businesses currently operate in 24 states, and are headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.

Despite being a smaller organization, DTE was able to capture two applicants through the strategic use of two niche microsites. The first user searched for “Nuclear Security Newport Michigan” from which returned DTEEnergy-Nuclear.jobs in the results. In the second scenario, the user entered “Utility Technician Jobs in Michigan” and clicked to the DTEEnergy-Power.jobs link.

These results and more are proving that job seekers behavior is changing and search engines can deliver some great applies if you have the microsite infrastructure in place to take advantage of these super specific niche searches.

Tips on Creating Your Own Niche Microsites
This is a great strategy for those really difficult to fill positions because you can create an entire web page solely devoted to showcasing a specific area of talent or requisition. Research what attracts the type of people you are looking for and add specific content to your site that will drive the traffic. Analyze your data and build sites around the communities close to your high producing facilities. Bottom line, casting a narrow net can yield bigger results. Lastly, utilize the Google keyword tool to help provide ideas about keywords or phrases that you might not be thinking of.

DirectEmployers Association has digital strategists available to assist with exploring all of your options in creating your own niche microsites. Call (866) 268-6206 or email info@directemployers.org for more information.