Thinking about investing in a new recruitment website? There are a number of factors you should consider to ensure it delivers the results you need.
Your recruitment website is the online face of your company and thus should represent your brand and core values. It needs to attract candidates to your jobs and appeal to potential clients. A good recruitment website can be one of your highest-performing tools.
We look at the most important factors you should consider when thinking about the design of your new recruitment website.
Mobile-friendly design
There are over 6 billion smartphone users worldwide, accounting for 80% of the world’s population – double the figure from 2016. Because of this, websites are increasingly viewed on smaller screens.
Jobseekers are often on the go, fitting in job searches between work and other engagements. It is therefore imperative that your recruitment website is designed with mobile devices in mind. This became even more important when Google switched to mobile-first indexing in March 2021. That means that Google now looks at the mobile version of your website when ranking it, making it even more crucial that it is optimised for mobile with a responsive design.
Simple navigation
Want to know an easy way to lose visitors to your website within minutes? Present them with a confusing layout and unclear navigation.
Take time to think about your sitemap. Where do you want visitors to go first and what will they want to find when they land on your website?
Prioritise links to pages your visitors will be looking for first and make them clear on your navigation bars. Clear navigation is particularly important for recruitment websites that may need to send candidates and clients on different user journeys.
Advanced job search functionality
Most candidates will visit your website to view your jobs so it is important that your jobs page is easy to navigate to from any page and that you offer a range of job search functions.
The ability to refine a job search is key. Include extra fields such as such as job categories, salary ranges and locations to help candidates fine-tune their results. Giving users as many options as possible when searching means they can filter the results depending on their requirements.
A strong approach to SEO
A good recruitment website must be optimised for search engines and there are multiple ways to do this, including:
- Intelligent use of keywords
- Utilising internal linking
- Keyword-rich meta descriptions and page titles
- Streamlined navigation
- Decreasing page load time
- Regularly updating content
- Adding alt tags to images
Taking time to get your SEO right will reward you with a higher Google ranking, raising your online presence and increasing organic traffic to your recruitment website.
Blog content
Is your recruitment content strategy based solely on posting jobs to your website? Consider expanding this with insightful content in the form of blogs and news articles.
Starting a blog may seem daunting but write about what you know and what you think candidates and clients might find interesting and you’ll find it comes more naturally (plus read our tips on how to start a blog on your recruitment website!).
Focusing on regular, good quality content should keep your visitors coming back to your website and can help to establish you as an authority in your industry. Keyword-optimised blogs can also boost your SEO and can be repurposed for social media, providing you with even more exposure.
Clear calls to action
An effective call to action (CTA) drives conversions, which is why every good recruitment website will have at least one on each page.
Make it clear what you want the user to do when they’re on your pages. That way, you can achieve the outcomes you’re aiming for and it will help make things clearer to the people visiting your site.
Think of CTAs as signposts, helping users to navigate through your website and urging them to perform specific actions. The perfect CTA should be persuasive, compelling, clear and concise. It will lead your users to perform the action you want them to, whether that’s applying for a job, contacting you, registering, or something else.
Strong branding
Your recruitment website is your online ID and as therefore the perfect vehicle to boost your branding, in terms of both design and company values.
Ensure your logo and brand colours and shapes are featured on every page and keep the tone of the copy consistent with your brand tone. Ensure the images you choose reflect your brand.
A good recruitment website will also convey your brand values through its content. Publish your D&I policy, use your blog to convey key messages, weave your values through the body of your website copy. All this helps to boost your branding and cement who you are and what you stand for as a business.
Testimonials and reviews
When candidates and clients visit your website, they’ll make a judgement about your company and if you’re the best fit for their needs, often in a short amount of time.
When trying to make a decision regarding whether to use your services or not, they’ll want to know about the experiences of others who have used your company. Positive testimonials and reviews are powerful means of social proofing, establishing trust and confidence in visitors to your website using third party influence.
When requesting testimonials from candidates, ask them about their experiences with your company. Why did they decide to apply for the job that they did? How smooth was the recruitment process? Ask your clients for some honest feedback about how your recruitment agency is helping them with their recruitment needs and why they would recommend you to other companies.
A good recruitment website involves getting the fundamental design right from the very beginning. This means thinking about navigation, page priorities, images and branding. Recruitment features and functionalities such as an advanced job search and job alerts are also key. Other important elements to consider are SEO, responsive design, a regularly updated blog, clear CTAs and a range of testimonials. All will help ensure that your recruitment website works hard for you, attracting both talent and clients.
