How I’m building a job board for Data Analysts, Update #11 - for November 2023
Hi all,
on Dec 19th I launched DataAnalyst.com - this is the 11th update.
Want to make sure I document the journey, and keep myself honest, so each month I will be making a post about the statistics, progress, some thoughts and what are the next steps I want to be focusing on.
So, just a reminder that early stages vision is to become the #1 job board for data analysts - hand-picking interesting data analyst job opportunities across industries.
Let’s dive right in:
DataAnalyst.com Statistics
1. General Observations
Stats
DataAnalyst.com has been online for just over 11 months, and we’re bringing new, hand curated data analyst jobs onto the site daily - all of them including a salary range.
There’s now 2,600+ people subscribed to the newsletter, and I can’t thank you enough for your support and for joining us on the journey.
The tale of two halves:
Twas the first half of November, and the traffic never been so high,
but it all disappeared one day, in a blink of an eye.
as Thanksgiving approached, visitors did depart,
leaving behind page views, an abandoned art.
The analytics weeped, as stats took a fall,
a virtual ghost town, no visitors at all.
So, my dear job board, be patient, get through the night,
and await the return of the digital light.
TLDR: first two weeks highest traffic ever, then everyone went away, to stuff the turkey and themselves with some treats
Another part to this was Google giveth and Google taketh away, and if DA was ranking in the top 15 results for the last month, after recent updates it’s down to 40th+ place. (currently fluctuating between 11th - 42th place over the last week)
It clearly shows the importance of diversifying traffic acquisition channels, and yet again, the importance of a memorable, descriptive and “on topic” domain name. Whatever Google does, there’s still been over 3,000 people who typed in the domain and came directly.
Where did 7,600 people come from?
- Organic - 52%
- Direct - 40%
- Social - 7% (automated job postings on Twitter, Linkedin, Reddit, FB/IG)
- Other - 1% (honestly no idea where that’s coming from)
Also happy to share that we’ve had second paid “fast track” posting. Yet again, this was an organic inbound request, so it’s great to see the site is being found. We’ve partnered with the Emerson College, who are looking for an equity research analyst.
Quick BusinessAnalyst.com Statistics update
As I’ve mentioned before, I launched BusinessAnalyst.com - where I’m looking to replicate step by step what I’ve done over the last 11 months with DataAnalyst. The overall idea is to create a network of sites, benefiting from the same infrastructure, serving and helping different career paths, and making a collaboration with organisations much more appealing (after-all, most companies who hire for data analysts also look for business analysts and vice versa).
Arguably, this might not make much sense seeing that DA still hasn’t brought any consistent revenue in, but on the other hand, I can reuse the whole tech stack and structures already in place, halve my cost per project, while doubling the surface area to catch me some luck.
While as mentioned above, the lack of revenue is concerning, I’m mainly raising eyebrows about the lack of progress I’m seeing with BusinessAnalyst, as shared in the previous update as well.
I’ve created the site with all the learnings from DataAnalyst - automations, site structure, on-page SEO + programmatic pages, automated social media, filters, Google schema and job posting distribution.
What the heck is going on there? Is there’s some sort of penalty on the domain? Have Google updates been aggressively punishing the site?
I fully understand that the demand for data analyst roles, and data analyst as a career path has skyrocketed in recent years, which likely drives the interest in DataAnalyst site, but the difference should not be that drastic.
What it also doesn’t explain is the lack of results from the SEO side. Scratching my head.
Anyone any ideas?
3. Day in a life of a Business Analyst, with SJ, Ani and Muthalib
Hopefully end of year also means some quiet time for all of you.
To scratch your productive itch over this period, we brought you 3 interviews to read. All sharing extremely interesting journeys, with truly unique perspectives being offered in each case.
I highly recommend reading all three interviews in full. The real life evidence of achieving goals through determination, resilience and going one step further than most are willing to do.
From business owner, to absolutely loving his data analyst role, with SJ
Originally, SJ ran a successful small business for almost two decades, then COVID hit and things shifted. He feels like what he did is completely opposite of what you see people on social media doing. Most people work an 8-5 and dream of working on their own. He had the business, loved it… but it was time for a change.
You can read the full interview with SJ.
Starting career as frontline agent, and growing into the director for analytics role, with Ani
In our second interview, we spoke with Ani, who’s career spans 18 years, beginning with a hands-on tech support role as a frontline agent. From being a self-taught analyst to advancing to Director of Product Analytics, he’s now the founder of Framework Garage Consulting, where his passion lies in elevating analytical maturity for his clients and coaching analysts.
Something that’s not just specific to data analysts, but it’s universal across different career paths, is career progression toward leadership roles.
Just because one is a brilliant individual contributor, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be a great team/leader. As Ani says, leadership requires a very different skillset and many forget to hone it on their way.
You can read the full interview with Ani.
From being a Dentist, to a data analyst role at a healthcare company, with Muthalib
In our last interview, we spoke with Muthalib - he studied at a dental school in 2019 and worked as a dentist until 2020 before moving to states, where he did Masters in Medical Informatics.
In another great story of persistence, he did volunteer work for over 12 months to showcase his interest and loyalty as a health data management intern. This followed by landing a data analyst job as well as having the company sponsor his visa.
You can read the full interview with Muthalib.
Huge thank you to Ani, SJ and Muthalib for taking the time, and sharing their experience!
Things in the pipeline
- New data analyst jobs, added daily
- Actually launching the weekly newsletter with the pick of best jobs directly to your inbox
- Monthly US data analyst market summary
- Improving the overall site experience (this one is a never ending activity)
- Continuing to bring you Data Analysts across their experience levels, to share tips, tricks and their thoughts
3 ways you could help
- Looking for a new challenge? Check out the website - I’m adding new jobs daily
- Looking to hire a data analyst to your team? Do you know anyone looking to hire? Shoot me a message at alex@dataanalyst.com and I’ll upgrade your first listing for free!
- As I mentioned, we have an ongoing “Day of a Data Analyst” series. For those of you who are open to do an email based interview about your data analyst career journey, please just send me a message and we’ll organise something - would love to get you featured and share your experience with our readers!
If you have any questions, concerns, come across glitches - please just reach out, happy to chat.
Thank you all again, and see you in a month.
Alex