Kyle Davidson, founder of Job Boardly also has his own job board called GetOutdoorJobs.com a site that requires a membership fee from job seekers. It contains 3-4,000 job listings and its starting to make consistent money.
In this video, Kyle Davidson, the founder of GetOutdoorJobs.com and JobBoardly, shares his experiences and insights on running a niche job board and developing job board software. Kyle’s journey in the job board industry is particularly interesting because of his unique approach to monetization and his deep understanding of the outdoor industry niche.
GetOutdoorJobs.com is a niche job board focused on jobs in the outdoor and travel industry. Kyle’s background in the outdoor industry, where he owned and operated a tour company for nearly a decade, gives him a significant advantage in understanding the needs of both employers and job seekers in this space. This firsthand experience has allowed him to create a job board that truly caters to the specific requirements of the outdoor industry.
One of the most intriguing aspects of GetOutdoorJobs.com is its reverse job board model, where job seekers pay for access to job listings. This approach, while unconventional, has proven successful for Kyle. He offers three pricing tiers:
$3 per week
$9 per month
$29 per year
Interestingly, the weekly subscription is the most popular option among users. Kyle believes this is because it offers a low-commitment way for job seekers to test the service before potentially upgrading to a longer-term subscription.
Kyle’s transparency about his job board’s performance is commendable. He shared some recent statistics, including:
* $673 in gross sales for January (18% month-over-month growth)
* 2,400 unique visitors
* Domain rating of 16 (recently increased to 43)
* 4,097 newsletter subscribers
Speaking of the newsletter, Kyle sends it out monthly and includes several key components:
– A brief update or message from Kyle
– Top 5 job picks of the month
– Featured paid job postings
– An inspirational tweet
– Three links to top outdoor industry news
This newsletter structure provides value to subscribers and keeps them engaged with the platform, even if they’re not actively job hunting.
One of the most valuable insights Kyle shared was about the importance of SEO and backlinks for job board success. He recently experienced a significant boost in his domain rating, jumping from 16 to 43, thanks to a single high-quality backlink from Stripe. This backlink was a result of Kyle opting into Stripe’s climate contribution program, which creates a dedicated page for participating businesses with a backlink to their website.
Kyle emphasizes that building a strong backlink profile is crucial for job board success. He admits that he wishes he had focused more on this aspect from the beginning, as it can significantly impact a site’s visibility and traffic.
Another key takeaway from Kyle’s experience is the importance of creating high-quality, original content. He shared an example of a page on his site ranking number one for “best outdoor companies to work for,” which drives a significant portion of his traffic. This underscores the value of investing time and effort into creating informative, well-researched content that serves your target audience.
Kyle also discussed some of the features of his job board software, JobBoardly.
The platform offers:
-Easy-to-use backfilling tools with access to a database of about 7 million active jobs
-A unique lifetime access plan (currently priced at $395)
-A subscription option for those who prefer a lower upfront cost
-Paywall functionality for job boards that want to implement a similar model to GetOutdoorJobs.com
One of the newest features Kyle announced is the integration of Google’s indexing API, which allows job postings to be indexed faster, potentially leading to increased traffic.
Throughout the discussion, Kyle emphasized several best practices for job board owners:
– Focus on building high-quality backlinks consistently
– Create original, valuable content that serves your niche
– Implement social proof elements on your site (like the sales popup Kyle uses)
– Personalize your job board by including information about yourself as the founder
– Be patient and persistent, as building a successful job board takes time
Kyle’s approach to the paywall model is particularly interesting. While he acknowledges that it may result in fewer job postings from employers, he finds the recurring revenue model more enjoyable and sustainable. This highlights the importance of choosing a business model that aligns with your preferences and goals.
One clever tactic Kyle employs with his paywall is leaving all jobs indexed by search engines, even though only the first ten are visible to non-subscribers. This allows him to maintain the SEO benefits of having a large number of job listings while still providing value to paying subscribers.
Kyle’s experience also sheds light on the challenges of building a community around a job board. He’s been experimenting with a Facebook group for GetOutdoorJobs.com, which has grown to about 500 members. While the group hasn’t been as active as he’d hoped, Kyle remains optimistic about its potential as the membership grows.
The interview also touched on the importance of authenticity and transparency in building a job board business. Kyle’s willingness to share his revenue figures and traffic statistics not only provides valuable insights for other job board owners but also builds trust with his audience.
