Maximising Recruitment Website Conversions for Sustainable Agency Growth

A strong web presence is crucial for success, particularly when it comes to hiring top talent. This guide will walk you through the essential elements needed to optimise your website, drive candidate conversions, boost your brand’s reputation, and continuously improve to stay ahead of the competition. 

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Getting the basics right

Your website is more than just a virtual storefront - it’s a critical tool in your recruitment strategy, as for many potential employees,their first interaction with your company is through your website. This makes it essential for your site to effectively communicate your brand, culture, and job opportunities. Consider what the purpose of a recruitment website is – to convert interested candidates into applicants within your recruitment CRM. To achieve this, you first need to get the basics right.  

‍First Impressions

Ensure your website is visually appealing and easy to navigate. If it isn’t, you will find the drop-off rate is significantly higher.A 20-40% drop-off rate is ideal, but anything over that signifies that the user journey may not be up to scratch (or your SEO keywording may not be relevant,but we’ll cover this later in the article). 

Another important factor for your web pages is speed. Making sure your website load speed is about 0-2 secs is important, as no one wants to wait on a clunky website loading and it dramatically decreases the user’s overall experience.  ‍

Dedicated Pages

Dedicated pages should be informative, engaging, and easy to find. These could be for specific content, industries, or locations, and by creating them you are adding another layer of personalisation that will make your candidate feel like the journey has been tailored to them, instead of leaving them with a distaste for landing on a random, generic page.

This also makes your agency look like a leader in the industry - so candidates will want to come to your agency for information on specific areas.  ‍

Application Process

Dedicated pages should be informative, engaging, and easy to find. These could be for specific content, industries, or locations, and by creating them you are adding another layer of personalisation that will make your candidate feel like the journey has been tailored to them, instead of leaving them with a distaste for landing on a random, generic page.

This also makes your agency look like a leader in the industry - so candidates will want to come to your agency for information on specific areas.  

“One thing that I've found,is that if a candidate finds it difficult to apply, they will just not bother. So it has to be really easy.

Rachel Filby, RF Recruitment

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Making the user journey fit the candidate

There is no one-size-fits-all approach in recruitment, nor should there be one on your website. No matter how niche your industry, there will always be variations between roles, seniorities, and salaries. Presenting every job to every candidate simply dilutes your message and reduces the likelihood of conversions. Your website should be segmented into separate candidate journeys tailored to each candidate profile your agency caters to.  ‍

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Creating a strong brand and reputation to enhance agency growth

Your brand is more than just your logo or colour scheme;it’s the perception people have of your company. When people think of Disney,they think of the word ‘fun’ - and when they think of Volvo, they associate the word ‘safe’. This is not because the brands say it in their logo but because it’s the values they have instilled through branding. 

A strong brand and positive reputation can be the deciding factors for top talent choosing to work with you. Taking this one step further though, you can use your web platform to create individual candidate journeys which will not only help in that process but also paint you as an expert in your field/industry.  ‍

Consistency with your visual identity

Ensure that your branding is consistent across all platforms. This includes your website, social media, and marketing materials.

Use a consistent colour scheme, logo, and brand messaging that reflects your brand’s personality and integrity. 

Enrich every candidate application

If you want to enhance your brand reputation for growth you should be using your web platform to create individual candidate journeys so that when a candidate lands on your website, if there is a relevant journey for them to take, they will do so and feel more involved with the brand than if they landed on a generic page. 

This can be done by segmentation, looking at creating journeys based on industry, location, and sector, and even creating targeted campaigns to your database through your CRM, driving them to pages or content that you know is relevant and enticing them along into the journey. 

How to optimise your website for best performance  

Optimisation is key to ensuring your website performs at its best. In the context of hiring, a well-optimised website can significantly enhance the user experience, improve accessibility, and increase the chances of attracting top talent. Focusing on making your site faster, more accessible,and easier to navigate is key. Here are some ways you can do that:  ‍

Mobile-friendly

Ensure your website is responsive and works well on all devices is key. With over 50% of job applications said to be made on mobile,taking the time to make your website mobile-responsive will have a massive impact on your business. Cover the following checklist: 

🔹Can you see all the images? 

🔹Is all the text aligned properly? 

🔹Are headings the correct type?‍

Accessibility

Website accessibility is crucial as it ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, can access and navigate online content with ease. By adhering to accessibility standards, websites can be inclusive, providing equal access to information and services for everyone.Additionally, accessible websites often perform better in search engine rankings, benefiting from improved SEO.

Almost half (47%) of UK employers don’t have a Diversity, Equality, and Inclusivity strategy in place. Putting these simple strategies into play and enhancing your website will allow you to stand out from the crowd and create a great inclusive experience.

Adding value to candidate journeys with content 

Content is the cornerstone of any successful website. It serves as the primary factor for communicating your brand’s message, values,and opportunities to potential candidates. High-quality, relevant content can engage visitors, encourage them to explore your site further, and ultimately lead them to apply for positions.  

Blog Posts

Having a blog on your website is vital for several reasons.It enhances your site's SEO, making it easier for potential candidates to find you through organic search results. Blogs provide a platform to share valuable content, establish your authority in your industry, and engage with your audience.

Regularly updated blogs can keep your site dynamic and relevant, encouraging repeat visits. They also offer opportunities for social sharing, expanding your reach and attracting new visitors. Examples of blogs for your recruitment niche could be:  

🔹The Future of AI: What Tech Companies Need to Know 

🔹How to Retain Top Talent in the Healthcare Industry 

🔹Strategies for Recruiting Top Educators in a Competitive Market ‍

Customised Journeys

Adding other forms of content to your website, such as customised job pages, team pages, and campaign pages can help take your website to the next level.

For example, creating customised job pages that automatically update with new relevant vacancies as they go live not only takes an element of manual work out of the process for your team but also ensures your jobs are straight to market on the website and reaching the relevant audience ASAP.

The importance of SEO for your online presence  

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a critical component of your online presence and recruitment strategy. In a competitive job market,ensuring that your website ranks high on search engine results pages can make a significant difference in attracting top talent.

SEO involves optimising various elements of your website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. SEO can also sound complicated and daunting for a recruiter to think about but here are some techniques that can be implemented easily to draw more traffic and potential candidates to your site. 

Keywords and Meta Descriptions

Keywords and meta descriptions are crucial for SEO. Keywords help search engines rank your site for relevant queries, while meta descriptions attract clicks by summarising page content. Using them effectively boosts your site’s visibility and user engagement.‍

Recency & Frequency

Recency and frequency are crucial for effective SEO as they ensure your website remains relevant and attractive to both search engines and users.

Regular updates signal to search engines that your site is active, improving its chances of ranking higher. Fresh content also engages users, reducing bounce rates and enhancing credibility. By frequently adding and updating content, you can target a broader range of keywords, and attract consistent traffic.  ‍

Don’t forget, continuous improvement is key 

In the rapidly evolving world of recruitment maintaining a static website is not enough. Continuous improvement is essential for staying competitive and ensuring that your website effectively supports your recruitment efforts. This approach involves regularly assessing and enhancing your website’s performance, content, and user experience to meet changing needs and expectations. Here are a few things you can do to implement this:

Analytics

Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement. 

Feedback

Regularly seek feedback from users and employees about their experience on your website. If the journey is not working you need to know so that you can make the improvements and hopefully see better results.  

Updates

Keep your website’s content, design, imaging and messaging fresh and make sure you are updating these at least twice a year.  ‍

Maximise conversions from your recruitment website 

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A strong web presence is no longer optional, it’s a necessity. By focusing on branding, optimising your website, creating high-quality content, and continuously improving, you can attract top talent and build a reputable brand. Start today and see the difference it makes in your hiring process.  At Firefish we offer a web solution to fit your individual needs.

Firefish recruitment websites are a key part of your engagement engine, seamlessly integrating your brand's digital presence with your Recruitment CRM. Our dynamic templates provide complete CRM connectivity,and inbuilt native AI features and are completely mobile-friendly. Every interaction is tracked into your CRM, meaning no manual work and attracting 45% more qualified candidates through your website.  

Want to find out more, book a demo today.