Want a wee widget to help your job board shine? Widgets are little applications that perform a simple function. They usually take up very little space, but they make your web site far more functional, both for you and for your users.
Why Widgets?
Many web sites are complex, but few can compare to the data that flows into and out of job boards. Widgets allow you to give your users a more customized experience, promote your site, and bring in new users. Widgets play many roles on a site. Sometimes, they’re the electronic equivalent of a highlighter, showing off important information such as featured jobs or jobs in a user’s field. At other times they’re your best friend, spreading the word about your web site across social networks.
Go Social
Use widgets to make your site social. Automatically Tweet new blogs or job postings through widgets that offer social media integration. Share and share alike as you give users the ability to advertise for you and embed a widget that shows custom job postings or talent available from your site.
Build Community
Widgets can help you with that challenging job of building community online. Through Polldaddy you can give exit polls to your readers so you can understand why they visited and how you can bring them back. Testimonial widgets like Testimonials by Aihrus allow you to display feedback from your users, helping new visitors understand why your site’s services are so valuable.
Reach Diverse Audiences
You want your site to look good, so why does it look so clunky on a mobile device? Phone users often tap into the web to browse, and widgets such as WPTouch and Ithemes Mobile help your site look good on mobile devices. Ithemes Mobile also works on devices other than phones, such as game consoles.
Get Noticed on Search Engines
Help people find your site by optimizing it for search engines. This is one of the best jobs for a widget, since a widget can make sure that images have keywords, pages have metadata, and pages and their elements are all indexed by large search engines like Google. WordPress SEO and the Vibe SEO pack examine your site’s SEO, including page analysis and meta information. Simpler SEO Friendly Images adds attribute and title tags to images to help people find you through photos.
Custom WordPress Packages
If you’re just starting out, you may want to consider a WordPress package that contains multiple widgets specific to job boards. These are packed with useful tweaks, such as the ability to collate, screen, and track applicants. They help you manage payment, charge for different types of access and posting, and incorporate ads into your site.
How Widgets Can Boost Site Performance
Widgets might be simple applications, but there’s a lot that they can do for your site performance. They can collect information, customize the site experience for users, and build your community online. Can you have too many widgets? Any site can have widget overload, which could slow down the site and make it visually cluttered. To prevent this, think about your priorities before you install widgets on your site. Plan to manage data, improve SEO, and improve the user’s experience on the site. With these goals in mind, your job board widgets will contribute substantially to your site’s overall performance.