ZipRecruiter Launches Free ZipSites for Recruiters

Recruiting today should encompass all possible communication methods – of course, this business is a phone business, but if you have the opportunity to take advantage of online tools and resources with minimal effort (as well as minimal investment), why not do so?

Forget social media and Internet research: one of the biggest hassles of developing an online presence starts at the very beginning – creating a company website. Particularly if you are a “solopreneur” with limited budget and manpower.

Thankfully there are some tools out there to help you do this – Top Echelon, for example, created its Hiring Hook product to help recruiters develop a job website and online tools to draw traffic to these sites. Top Echelon started off as a split placement network, then developed a recruiting software product called Big Biller, and now has website development services. This is a great service that I know many of you use.

I was recently introduced to a company called ZipRecruiter, a web-based service that enables companies to post jobs to more than 20 leading job boards with one click as well as search a growing resume database. The company today launched ZipSites, a new feature that lets recruiters create customizable websites to advertise their services and job openings.

The best part? Unlike most other similar services currently available, this particular service of ZipRecruiter is free.

ZipRecruiter launched in March 2010 with a core product of job distribution services. I spoke with co-founder and CEO Ian Siegel who said that when it first launched, they anticipated the services being attractive ultimately to small businesses with lean budgets and limited manpower. However, it also became quite attractive to recruiting agencies, and this category of users has quickly become some of ZipRecruiter’s best customers.

When Siegel and I chatted about the new ZipSites, he said, “We didn’t try to build the website service so that it would provide the fanciest sites – we were more focused on ease of use.” To be sure, when I tried it out myself and created a “website” for The Fordyce Letter, I was limited in how I could customize, however from start to finish it took me all of about 10 minutes to complete. For someone looking to simply get a website out there for candidates and clients to view, it’s a great tool at a price that can’t be beat.

How it works

zipsites-home-sidelayout-green — click for larger view

You start off by choosing your own layout and colors, uploading a logo, and selecting a new URL. You can then add available positions through a simple interface and automatically post them to more than 20 leading job boards. In addition, each ZipSite can be customized with your company overview, available services, team bios, and contact information. Job postings are automatically connected to their website (you do have to pay for these), and you are able to edit any of the site content at any time. ZipSites also feature SEO-optimized content that is automatically indexed by search engines, which ensures that the right candidates can easily find and apply to the your open positions.

Offering free websites for recruiters complements ZipRecruiter’s existing suite of services, which includes job posting distribution, applicant tracking, and a searchable resume database. Thousands of new businesses are signing up for ZipRecruiter every month, with more than 30% of new customers coming from word of mouth.

Siegel shared, “Since ZipRecruiter launched, we’ve spoken to hundreds of recruiters, and learned that creating and maintaining a website is one of the bigger challenges recruiters face.” A brand new recruiting company may find that it’s a great way to get the ball rolling and provide a landing place for new customers and candidates.

For example, I had a chat with Ron Pecca, owner of Desk Jockeys, a 3-person recruitment business based in Omaha, Nebraska and operating in the heavy machinery industry. Pecca started his business on April Fool’s Day this year and has been using ZipRecruiter and was a beta tester for ZipSites. He told me that it’s helped him to market to specific industries as well as begin to develop some international business leads. While Pecca also uses resources such as CareerBuilder, Facebook, LinkedIn, Post Job Free, and eBay classifieds, he says that ZipRecruiter helps to tie everything together – “…it’s like a one-stop shop. You deal with one group of people instead of worrying bout multiple contacts and invoices.”

Additionally, there are several veteran recruiters who have found benefits in using ZipSites. In hearing from Scott Barnard from M ssing Link Services (who has been in recruiting for 27 years), he said that setting up his site recently took him no time at all and that it saved him “scads of cash but gets my message out looking professional.” He also noted the team “has ALWAYS been available, friendly, helpful and fun to interact with. Ian and I talk maybe once every two weeks and it’s almost like a partnership in a way.”

My personal thoughts

As I mentioned, if you’re looking for total customization and control, you’ll be slightly limited. But then again – ZipSites are free, and who doesn’t like free. You can customize (to a certain degree) the color scheme as well as add photos and whatever information you’d like, in addition to linking to jobs and searching the resume database. Access to the latter two varies in cost depending on how much usage you desire, but the price ranges seem pretty reasonable.

For new recruiting businesses just getting started or ones that simply don’t have the time to devote to the creation and maintenance of a company website, I think ZipSites is a great tool to check out in addition to the other services ZipRecruiter has to offer. Take a look for yourself and see if it fits with your company’s needs.