With .jobs, the world is your oyster - Part 2

Once you point it - make sure it sticks!

So you've taken the plunge...you've acquired a .jobs domain name. Congratulations! But now that you've got it, what the heck do you do with it? In Part 1, we concluded that the quickest, easiest and simplest thing to do is to point your .jobs domain at one of your HR pages - one that already exists within your company's current .jobs site.

Ok, great. You've pointed your .jobs domain to your HR front page, and the world is truly your oyster. You're using MyCompanyName.jobs in your print ads, your online ads, at job fairs, etc., and you're driving quality people to your HR front page. You're thinking - this is great! But wait -- it can get better. More polished. More professional.

Just have your IT folks make sure that your .jobs domain sticks in the address bar of a user's web browser. Here's what we mean:

When you pointed your .jobs domain to the HR front page of your company's .com website, what you really did was redirect people from your .jobs domain to a page within your company's .com website. That's fine, because your two main objectives have been met: you have the simplest and easiest way to identify your online identity (your .jobs domain), and your users get to where you want them to go (your HR page). But when they get there, because they've been redirected, look at what they see:

They see your old .com website address. (Or here, .edu) Now, why is that?

The address bar in a web browser tells a user where the page they're currently looking at comes from. Because you redirected users from your .jobs domain to your HR front page in your company's .com website, they see the .com address where that page exists.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Instead, you want you .jobs domain to stick (or, as the techies say, to "hold") in the address bar. By comparison, how does this look:

Better? Cleaner? More professional? Of course! And yet not too complicated for your IT folks.

So look what you've done...for the low price of one .jobs domain and a little time from IT, you've created what for all practical purposes is your own HR website! How cool is that?

Of course, pointing requires you to have something to point to, and you are limited to what you already have at a .com website. We're not saying this is a bad thing - many .com websites have highly professional HR sections, and look great when redirected to a .jobs domain, especially when the .jobs domain sticks in the address bar.

But you are not limited to just pointing your .jobs domain. In Part 3, we look at the option of creating your own website at your .jobs domain. So, until (and if) you create something, be sure to point it!

3.1 - The easiest thing to do is point it to your current content. 3.2 - It is more rewarding to point it and make it stick! 3.3 - You may choose HR nirvana and create your own HR website.