iTnews

SEEK quadruples click-through rate with user analytics

By Matt Johnston on Oct 15, 2018 11:33AM
SEEK quadruples click-through rate with user analytics

Job applications increase six-fold.

Job search company SEEK has increased user click-through rates four-fold and sextupled the number of actual job applications thanks to a text-mining and analytics research project with RMIT and the University of Melbourne.

The three-year "Seeksy" project incorporated a query amendment system into SEEK’s search function and made it possible to expand search terms to include uncommon or colloquial variants.

The expanded array of variables comes from text mining techniques informed by analysis of user history and behaviours.

Seeksy can therefore cope with synonyms for the same job - think  “governess” and “nanny” - that describe the same job but are used only in different places or groups.

It can also modify overly-specific search terms to broaden the range of results presented to users to offer a more comprehensive, targeted experience.

A/B testing of the technique showed that click-through rates with the Seeksy tool increased four-fold for a select group of the most problematic search fields, while the number of job applications submitted increased six-fold.

Project Lead at RMIT associate professor Lawrence Cavedon said analysing and improving job queries has been vastly different to traditional web searches.

“Job search involves different behaviours and goals to standard web searching, so we started this project by exploring user behaviours on the site through log data analysis,” Cavedon said.

“This showed us where to focus on designing automated techniques that would really help people find what they were looking for more easily.”

He added that it was satisfying to know the improvements were based on evidence of what users actually need to get better outcomes from the service.

The project, now in its final phase, kicked off in 2015 thanks to a $394,000 linkage grant from the Australian Research Council.

Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.
Tags:
rmit seek seekcomau software university of melbourne

Partner Content

Shut the door on ransomware
Promoted Content Shut the door on ransomware
Tackling cybersecurity in 2021
Partner Content Tackling cybersecurity in 2021
Why companies fail at picking cloud modernisation partners
Promoted Content Why companies fail at picking cloud modernisation partners
Improving returns from SD-WAN spending
Partner Content Improving returns from SD-WAN spending

Sponsored Whitepapers

The top 5 tech trends to deliver business outcomes
The top 5 tech trends to deliver business outcomes
10 reasons why businesses need to invest in cloud security training
10 reasons why businesses need to invest in cloud security training
Your guide to application security solutions
Your guide to application security solutions
State of Software Security: Open Source Edition
State of Software Security: Open Source Edition
Five questions to ask before you upgrade to a SIEM solution
Five questions to ask before you upgrade to a SIEM solution

Events

  • On-Demand Webinar: How Poly and Microsoft are Embracing Future Work Environments
  • [iTnews and Micro Focus] Navigating the cloud modernisation minefield
By Matt Johnston
Oct 15 2018
11:33AM
0 Comments

Related Articles

  • RMIT leans on big data for online shift
  • University of Melbourne automates emergency coronavirus payments
  • Australia’s ICT jobs market a boom crash opera, reckons Seek
  • Coronavirus forces universities to rapid scale online education capabilities
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Email A Friend

Most Read Articles

TPG Telecom to start enticing NBN customers to move

TPG Telecom to start enticing NBN customers to move

Infosys scores another $40m for Centrelink payments engine build

Infosys scores another $40m for Centrelink payments engine build

Telstra InfraCo opens up telco's own fibre network

Telstra InfraCo opens up telco's own fibre network

Transport for NSW data stolen in Accellion breach

Transport for NSW data stolen in Accellion breach

You must be a registered member of iTnews to post a comment.
Log In | Register
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.