WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
Once a website is optimised, depending on the market, it can take a comparatively small regular commitment to maintain it’s search engine rank position. This article looks at one company not realising the value of its website, and suggests why you should look at your current website strategy.
HISTORY: Drake has been in existence since 1951 and is still fully owned by its founder, Bill Pollock. With offices in 11 countries they are a sizeable operation. However a recent IBIS report has shown that from 2002 to 2006 the company had decreased total revenues each year – from $254M in 2002 to $154M in 2006.
Drake Australia Revenue Trend - Ref IBIS 2008
The company has been trying for the last few years to transform its image from being known as a 'flex' and 'labour hire' company to a major player in the senior executive and talent management space, with limited success. For this reason and the revenue trend shown above, it is suggested that an effective website presence aimed at engaging clients and quality candidates would surely aid this kinid of company's brand and revenue aspirations.
ACTION: Working full time in a marketing licensing manager role I quickly realized there was a large gap in Drake’s online strategy www.drakeintl.com/au/home.aspx and their aspirations. Essentially their site was stagnant at a similar development level that I found the Adaps site (see the Adaps SEO article), prior to myself optimizing it and gaining it a page one presence on Google and Yahoo.
As the marketing team was 'swamped', I pro-actively researched the current state of the site's optimisation and the core online market that Drake was competing in (recruitment). In regard to online market share (visitors), I gained raw data from a resource that did not contain some of the main players in the Melbourne market such as Hays and Hudson. The graph below shows that while Drake is shown to have a share of around 4% its actual market share out of the top ten players was likely to be less than 2%.
RESULTS
I created and offered a detailed SEO exploratory report to senior management. You will find that as of April 2009 the Australian site is still completely non-optimised for ‘on page’ or ‘off page’ activities. The feel of the site remains dated and there is very little new information or the chance for any genuine visitor interaction (web 2.0) except for the homepage survey. This survey is a standard plug in that comes with many sites, I know this as I am using one on this site. One of the minor issues with this is that Drake's survey consists of a single 'yes / no' question which has only been refreshed three times over the last three years.
CONCLUSIONS
Most people acknowledge that an online presence will be an important part of most businesses futures. It has been the future since the year 2000, however not every company has been able to seize the massive opportunity that it represents. As you can see, unwillingness to effectively compete online in a company's core market is not limited to just the small players. It takes will, commitment, skills and usually a small budget at least to attempt to be seen to be competing.
Another strategic consideration is that recruitment companies typically have low P/E ratios and low assets making market entry relatively easy. In industries like this it is vital that companies look to gaining whatever strategic advantages they can over their competitors - and a high performing website is one of those tools to maintain an edge!
The recruitment industry is very competitive and it is forecast that the global financial crisis may see up to 30% of Australian recruitment companies disappear in 2009 / 2010. It is extraordinary that some of those companies visions do not incorporate a strong online presence adding very cost effectively to the brand and bottom line.
If you are considering what it might take for you to compete effectively online and begin gaining revenue from this source, please contact me for a discussion.
