How to start a Powerful Job Finder Website with a Very-Small Budget

Monday, 8 September 2014

In today’s How-to Guide, I will show you how to start a powerful job finder website with a very small budget.


The motivation to write this post came after going through a news story  on the BBC on “How three Nigerian Students - Ayodeji Adewunmi, Opeyemi Awoyemi and Olalekan Olude – created one of the leading job sites in Sub-Saharan African”. 

The story has appeared on BBC, Recruiters and many other top online news hubs. These names continue to rock the global ecosystem based on their innovation and zeal for business. 

Even though Jobberman founders narrated how they got started, they refused to leak the technology behind their success


You might have a similar idea either to create a powerful job search engine just like Jobberman, a job finder website like Hotnigeriajobs, job boards like Jobrapido or job blogs that are scattered around the Nigeria blogosphere. You might even want to become a job consultant just like Careerjet where you take your clients (job seekers) to employers directly.  

So, what are the necessary tools and technology that you need to create this powerful online edifice. What software or scripts do you need to create a powerful job website? How do you create a powerful job search engine, Where and how do you host your job website to withstand the targeted huge website traffic? What type of web design should you adopt to ensure easy page navigation? These and lots more are what I will cover in this post.

Before you start...
There are three cardinal things you need to consider when creating a powerful job finder website.

See the opportunity
Of course, it won’t be advisable to venture into any business that’s not lucrative. What’s the opportunity behind starting a powerful job finder website or job search engine? 

The answer is obvious considering the fact that Nigeria still remains Africa’s largest economy with over 170 million people and still growing. According to economic analysis, the country still has massive unemployment problems, especially among young people. 

This section of the population (young people) is also more likely to be connected to the internet on a daily basis. For instance, Jobberman got a multi-million dollar valuation in just after five year of kick-off. Currently, they employ over 125 people (and still growing) from different nationalities.    

Also, considering the population of Nigeria, one job website can hardly cover the demand of the whole country. It’s now up to you to decide how to do this business and take it to a meaningful height.

See yourself there
Do you want to do this business? If yes, it’s time you nurtured a real entrepreneurial spirit for success. Anybody can do this business, and it all depends on how you see yourself. 

These guys behind Jobberman started their business during their idle moment while there were in the University. Do you think they stumbled on the idea? I disagree; because they started a well planned business which I believe will stand  the test of time.  

So, develop a winner’s mindset and see yourself there. Luckily, this post will provide the needed resources for you to get started.  So use the checklist to create a marketable business plan for your job search engine. 

Know what you need – Key Features!

Another important thing you should do before starting this business is to determine exactly what you need. Know the key features of a powerful job finderwebsite. Take a look at the important features every good job finder/search website should have.
 

Monetary Requirement and Investment  
Naturally, you’ll need a huge budget to get a job website with features close to the one highlighted above

Many job websites pay heavily every month for job board scripts to get their job website running smoothly. See jobboardscript for instance, starting from 399 Euros per month (this is quite exorbitant). 

You can’t afford this if you are just starting. How much Jobrapido pay in the month for their script is what I don’t know?   

But, fortunately, I will walk you through a simple process that you can achieve this with a very minimal budget then helping you to save money.  If you are not very conversant with web development, you might employ the service of a good web developer. The idea is to give you the necessary recourses to help you build your powerful job finder website.   

Part I:  Scripts and Content Management System (CMS)  
 Here are the two major way you can create a powerful job finder website; use of job website scripts (in the form of HTML5, PHP, PSD) and Through Content Management System (CMS) such as Joomla or WordPress.  

1. Use a Job Website Scripts of PSDs
Job website scripts are macro or batch files that contain a list of command which forms the building blog of a job website. This is one of the method you can create a powerful job finder website and other web-pages. Like I earlier said, most job website scripts will do the job perfectly but there are very costly. Fortunately, I have found those that are seemingly cheap for you. All of them have the above listed features, browser compatible PHP 5.5 and above with JQuery. They will just get your website online on the go. See full list of Best Job website scripts here.
 
2. Use Content management System (CMS)
There are two (2) powerful content management systems that will help you succeed in creating a powerful job search website. Most interesting, these CMS (Joomla and WordPress) are free for everyone to use. Let’s see...

(a) Joomla
Joomla is a powerful (FREE) Content Management System (CMS) with typically uncountable features. It’s used to publish different kind of web contents and it’s a perfect platform for creating your job finder website. It has all the above listed features where you can integrate through Joomla Extensions.  

(b) WordPress
WordPress is free web-based software you can use to create beautiful websites, job boards, or blog. The most interesting thing about WordPress is that it’s both FREE and PRICELESS. That is, it so good that you cannot even affords to buy it. It’s easy to use that Joomla and it’s a perfect tool for creating powerful job finder website.  WordPress robust functions are supercharged by its enormous plug-in and widgets.   See  

Part II: Domain Name, Development and Hosting 

(1) Fine a Good Domain Name
You will do your business real good if you find the best top-level domain name for your job website. Your domain name should include “anchor” text(s) that explain your business. Use an anchor text such as “job” or “career” as prefix or suffix of your domain.  A typical example of a good domain name is “jobpotter.com”. You can use the tool below to find your domain name. 
 
(2) Buy a Good Hosting Plan and Install your Script of CMS
You might need the service of a professional web developer if you chose to use scripts for creating your job website.  However, you can do it alone if you use either of the two CMS: WordPress or Joomla.  Since the idea is to save money while creating a powerful job finder website, I recommend the use of CMS. Although the pro developers will be very okay working with Job Website Scripts. In either case, it’s up to you to choose. 

Chose the Best Hosting for your Job Websites
You are expecting tons of monthly traffic from thousands of job seekers around the country and beyond. So, you need a very good hosting with CloudFlare functionality. This will make your site to function as expected. I know what you need, - best hosting with up-time performance with a minimal budget – right? Here’s our recommendation below.   

Hosting Recommendation for Job website
I personally recommend Bluehost. Why?   Here are few reasons why they are leaders in hosting technology:
  • Bluehost is one of the largest and most used hosting providers globally. That means, you are going to host your website along with millions of other happy customers.
  • Bluehost has integrated with MOJO marketplace thus making scripts, plug-ins, and themes installation very easy.
  • Bluehost has official WordPress recommendation since 2005 as the best WordPress hosting provider.
  • Bluehost is a 100% US-based Company that runs entirely in-house operations.
  • Bluehost Accounts are unlimited. That means you can install many websites and manage many domains as you like.   
  • Bluehost comes with FREE one year domain registration
  • I personally like Bluehost for their unbeatable support. They are famous for quick response and fast solutions to any problem you might encounter
  • Their knowledgebase bank is up-to-date with on-hand video training.
  • Bluehost have stat-of-the-art data center which is fully redundant with uninterrupted power supplies. By this, your site online 24-7.
  •  Bluehost is known for reliability in hosting solutions.     

Now that you have your domain name and a hosting plan, go ahead and install either the best job website script or any of the two CMS (WordPress or Joomla). 

Resources:
If you want to create your job finder website with script, the best job website scripts and PSDs
If you want to create your job finder website with WordPress, please refer to the best Job WordPress Themes.
If you want to use Joomla to create your job finder website, please refer to the best Joomla job board extensions and templates.

In any of the three ways, you’ll do a great job by creating a powerful job finder website with minimal budget.

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