Human Resources Blog - Spark Hire

How To Optimize Your Website Design for Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition has undergone significant changes in the past two years. Ever since the COVID outbreak started, many companies have adopted a remote model which allows them to recruit employees regardless of their location.

But the candidates’ mindset has also changed. Many quit their jobs and started working elsewhere. They’re aware they can now work in a company a thousand miles away from the comfort of their home. 

Job seekers looking to create website design in Philadelphia, for instance, no longer have to move. Consequently, companies now must put a lot of effort into attracting the right candidates. 

Though some people think talent acquisition is entirely in the hands of recruiters, that’s not true. Optimizing your website for talent acquisition is equally important. No matter how good the job posting is, candidates won’t take you seriously if the website doesn’t look good.

Keep on reading to find out what you can do to thrive in talent acquisition.

Maintain Your Website

Launching your website is just the beginning. As time goes by, your business will change. Your office location will change at some point. You may decide to tweak your logo a bit. It’s important to implement each of these changes diligently on your website.

So, go through all the content on your website. If your website contains videos with your old logo, update the video by inserting your new logo. 

Make sure all external and internal links in your blogs lead to the right sources and web pages. 

You should know how to set up Google alerts for your business. It would help in your company’s growth. 

The same goes for the rest of the website design. Users’ preferences change from time to time, and companies should be able to acknowledge that.

For instance, textured backgrounds were really popular back in 2010. Now they’re no longer popular, replace it with a design in line with the newer trends.

You want to make a good first impression, don’t you?

Nail Your ‘Careers’ Page

We understand that businesses have many options on display for job postings. Places like LinkedIn and Indeed Jobs are all great ways to boost your search for new talents. LinkedIn InMail templates can come in handy, But you shouldn’t neglect your website either if you want to maximize results.

The ‘Careers’ page is the right place to highlight and organize your job postings. Users should be able to check for open positions with little to no effort. You can achieve that by organizing the ‘Careers’ page into sections.  You can also include a recruitment video to showcase our company culture and values. 

Don’t forget that not all google your company and search for open positions once they reach your website. Some are doing the opposite: they search for open job positions by googling keywords like “junior web designer new york”. 

As a result, each of your job postings must be keyword optimized if you want people to find you. 

Make the Application Process Simple

The application process starts with the call-to-action (CTA) button. Candidates behave just like any other user. They need to see the call-to-action button clearly spelled out and in a visible place. Don’t make them look for it.

Once they click on it, there should be a form they need to fill out. But nobody likes long forms asking for unnecessary information because they take too much time.

We have one word for you – priorities. Determine which information is necessary for the initial phase of recruitment. Remember, you can ask candidates for more information at any point later on. 

Also, don’t be repetitive when asking for information. It’s completely unnecessary to ask candidates to fill out a form field on education information if they’re going to upload a resume, anyway.

The application process needs to be seamless on all devices. Keep in mind that a lot of users are on their phones when applying for a job. Your website should be mobile-optimized for the application process to go smoothly.

Show Who You Are

It’s not uncommon to see people work long hours or pull all-nighters for an important project. But to do that, they need to find their work at the company meaningful. After all, would you stay up all night for something you didn’t care about?

That’s what mission, vision, and values statements are about. Sure, these statements ensure everyone is working towards the same goal. But they’re also important in the talent acquisition process. 

They allow job seekers to get a close look at the company’s culture and drive like-minded candidates to you. If you miss out on conveying these messages, you may end up having the wrong people by your side. So, let’s go over each one of them.

Mission Statement

Your mission statement explains the overall purpose of the company. What do you do? Who do you serve? What are you trying to accomplish? These are all questions you need to answer before you come up with your mission statement. 

Vision Statement

Though mission and vision statements may seem similar, there’s a difference. A mission statement is all about what you’re doing now, while a vision statement talks about the future. What are your long-term plans? What do you want to bring into the world? It needs to be motivational and inspiring.

Values Statement

The values statement communicates the company’s core principles. Every time you’re making a business decision, your core values should guide you. What behaviors do you find desirable? How do you treat your employees?

You can convey your mission, vision, and values on the ‘About’ page, but we also advise you to implement them on the ‘Careers’ page. 

You can use photos to showcase your team’s energy and allow job seekers to see the company’s culture. Or, if you’d like to get creative, try using animation or video to portray the unique energy you offer.

Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is also something job seekers care for, especially the younger ones. 

Research conducted by PWC shows that as many as 86% of female and 74% of male millennials find an employer’s policy on DE&I important when deciding whether they want to work for the company. 

If you still don’t have a policy in place, create one because this may be the reason for potential candidates to choose someone else over you.

Keep An Eye On the Analytics.

Though some think Google Analytics is useless in talent acquisition, they’re wrong.

Google Analytics allows you to keep track of different metrics, such as conversion rate, the number of first-time users, average session duration, and many others. Some of them, such as the bounce rate and ‘time on page’, can point you in the right direction. 

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of single-page sessions, with the visitor leaving without viewing another page on your website. If your bounce rate is higher than 70%, your audience doesn’t find your content compelling, or your website isn’t properly working. 

Don’t forget to check how much time they’ve spent on these pages. Anything over a minute is good because it means users are consuming the content ahead of them.  

Optimizing your website design for talent acquisition is just as important as writing a detailed job description. Job seekers, just like everyone else, need a seamless user experience

Besides that, your company’s culture needs to be communicated right away on the ‘About’ page. After all, people are driven to companies that provide a sense of meaningfulness.

About the Author

Denise Langenegger is part of the team at Instasize – a content creating tool kit for anyone editing photos and online content on mobile.

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