How The Stepstone Group Increased Conversions by 10% with TravelTime

The Stepstone Group, a multinational company that owns a portfolio of staffing and recruitment companies, including Totaljobs, Jobsite, and others, has been on a mission to revolutionise the job search experience.

Totaljobs, a The Stepstone Group company, is one of the UK’s leading job boards, attracting 20 million visits and over 4.3 million applications from job seekers every month. Over 300,000 job seekers visit the platform every day, with more than 270,000 jobs to choose from at any given time.

Jobsite, another The Stepstone Group company, gives recruiters access to over 21 million jobseekers on the Jobsite and Totaljobs combined platform.

By integrating TravelTime into its search ranking algorithm, The Stepstone Group enables users to search for job openings or candidates by commute time instead of distance alone.

TravelTime brought transformative change to The Stepstone Group companies, driving better search relevancy and a UX that has driven 10% higher conversions.

Distance-based search forces users to leave

Most job sites give users the option to search by distance. They ask for a location and mile or kilometre radius that the user is willing to commute from.

However, the problem is that a job seeker or candidate’s access to a workplace is often subject to the transport options available to them — public transport, driving, safe cycle routes etc..

As such, physical straight-line distances alone don’t really matter.

For example, 15 miles (24 kilometres) taken as a straight-line distance could translate to a simple 20-minute car ride. It could also mean a 50-minute commute, involving 3 trains, 2 buses and a short cycle.

Candidates and recruiters are also less likely to consider opportunities that fall outside their distance limit. For instance, their potential job may be on the other side of London, which seems physically far away — but they may not know there’s a direct train that could get them there in 14 minutes.

Alongside industry, experience level and salary, commute time is a huge factor in the application and decision-making process. While most factors are easily found on job portals, the lack of available commute time leads to users bouncing to external websites or applications.

TravelTime and The Stepstone group innovative approach to search

The Stepstone Group introduced TravelTime, a groundbreaking API that empowers The Stepstone Group companies to go beyond the conventional job search.

There are four key ways that TravelTime is being used by The Stepstone Group:

Totaljobs increases number of job applications by 10%

Instead of just asking users to select a specific location in which they want to work, Totaljobs asks them ‘Where do you start from?’, their maximum commute time, and their preferred mode of transport.

Job seekers can also specify transport mode preferences and their maximum acceptable travel time to reach these destinations.

TravelTime API then harnesses this data to create a customised search area and personalises the search results ranking more effectively, answering queries like, "Find me a job within a 45-minute public transport journey from my home."

The Stepstone Group Head of Product, Chris Burles, says, “TravelTime has enriched our user experience and increased conversions by 10%."

Jobsite improves the relevancy of CV search results

Jobsite is one of the UK’s largest recruitment portals. With the TravelTime API, Jobsite allows recruiters to search for candidates by their commute time to a job’s location, rather than just distance.

The Jobsite search result page displays the journey time for all potential candidates, so the recruiter can quickly decide if it’s worth contacting them.

It gives Jobsite users the opportunity to find 60% more relevant candidates that fit within the recruiter’s query. The TravelTime API ensures that Jobsite dismisses candidates that do not fit within the commute time radius and sorts those that do by their accessibility to a role.

TravelTime API saves up to 90% on API bills

For The Stepstone Group companies using the TravelTime API, the cost of distance matrix and isochrone endpoints is significantly lower than when working with other providers. 

The Google Distance Matrix, for example, is significantly more expensive when a company needs to deliver results for ten of thousands of searches per day.

With over 300,000 job seekers visiting the Totaljobs platform daily, and each user performing multiple job searches, the need for a fast, scalable and financially viable API is critical to the portals’ success.

The Stepstone Group Head of Product, Chris Burles, adds that “the [TravelTime] API is super fast, easy to use and quick to integrate.”

Commute time reduces bounce rates and increases retention

The inclusion of commute time on The Stepstone Group via the TravelTime API enables job portals to reduce the number of users bouncing to external mapping providers to understand the accessibility of a new job or candidate.

It has streamlined the job search experience, leading to a more efficient search process for Totaljobs users and a 10% increase in job applications. Candidates can now easily find positions that match their commute preferences without leaving the platform, simplifying their decision-making and increasing the commitment to applying.

Similarly, on the recruiter-facing portals like Jobsite, the TravelTime API has simplified the talent search process. Recruiters can pinpoint candidates by commute times rather than just their physical distance from a job, which keeps users engaged on the portal instead of toggling between external mapping tools to gauge feasibility of hires.

This betters the recruitment process and enhances the likelihood of long-term retention for the end-client.

How TravelTime works

The success of the TravelTime API for job portals can be attributed to its ability to filter out misleading results and present only the most relevant options to users.

TravelTime factors in locations with efficient transport links, even if they are physically further away. This prevents the exclusion of potentially winning candidates from a recruiter’s search and ensures that attractive jobs aren’t hidden for job seekers due to arbitrary distance radiuses.

“TravelTime is uniquely positioned to deliver public transport insights, as well as driving, walking, and cycling - or a combination - for job portals. This makes it more effective for the end-user, whether that’s a recruiter or job hunter, particularly when it comes to searching in a city. And the results are clear - a more personalised user experience equals happy users and higher conversions.”

Chris Hutchinson

Chief Product Officer

Elevate your property search with TravelTime

If you want to replicate The Stepstone Group’s success and provide your users with more relevant, personalised search results, integrate the TravelTime API into your platform.

Unlock the potential for higher conversions and happier customers by adopting this innovative approach to property search.

Get started for free by signing up for an API key or request a demo from one of our team.