The Essential Elements of Building Your Staffing Firm Website
I know, that you know, that I know, that you know, that improving your staffing firm website is important. We’ve talked about responsive design, the importance of your Applicant Tracking System integrating with your website, and all of the reasons why it’s important to have a modern and up-to-date website in 2020. But, what we haven’t talked about is what goes into the process of building a new website and the importance that should be placed on the process. So, with this blog, let’s jump into the essential elements that turn your website into a lead generating, candidate driving, and revenue producing machine.
The Essential Elements of Building Your Staffing Firm Website
When you look at your staffing firm website, the project of redesigning and developing involves a number of key areas. Each of these areas ensure that the website delivers ROI. The essential elements include, design and photography, content creation, functionality, integration, SEO, and lead generation. All of these various components of the project are the Lincoln Logs to build your website. So, let’s jump into each of these and discuss what you need to know.
Design and Photography
There are certainly designs that speak to a modern day, contemporary 2020 design, but the most essential part is that the design you choose reflects your organization. Regardless of the design theme, the choices you make determine whether or not the site reflects your staffing firm. Several staffing firms choose to have a very open and ultra-modern feel, but these are firms that operate with a very similar methodology. On the other hand, some firms choose traditional layouts that have more boxed and uniform approach to their design. The color palette in your design goes a long way to describe the type of firm you are, whether you use muted colors, more flamboyant colors, or take a more traditional route. Your photography choices also give you the ability to express a modern and creative approach vs. a more traditional approach. Be conscious that the design is truly intended for your audience; however, you and the members of your staffing firm also have to like what they see each day and feel that it reflects them as well.
Content
Content begins with an overall review of the navigation of your new staffing firm website. Do you want the navigation to be simplified to a single choice of client or candidate? Do you want a navigation that spells out section by section what you are trying to say? The choice you make is based on what you’re trying to say to your audience and how easily they are able to find your intended content.
The navigation works similarly to a table of contents. Each layer of your navigation clearly defines what you are going to be writing about, but keep in mind the content is intended for your audience whether it is client or candidate. Determine whether or not you want a standard paragraph layout, bullet form, or visual and infographic content. We talk more about SEO in a moment, but content is one of the primary drivers of search engine optimization. Keep in mind that overly short content is valuable for ease of reading, but it does not work to your benefit when it comes to SEO.
With this in mind, we recommend that the content be broken off into bite sized chunks to allow easier reading and it’s the necessary length to include keywords and drive SEO effectiveness. The tone of your content is almost as important as the words you choose. I’m sure many of you reading our blog recognize that we offer a slightly more sarcastic approach to our content writing for ourselves as well as the attempt to bring our content a little more down to earth. Some staffing firms prefer content that is direct and without whimsy, while others prefer to have an engaging and simpler tone. Both design and content are very personal decisions that reflect who your staffing firm is to the audience. So, when it comes to content, remember the style, tone, and length you want to use as well as focus on readability for your audiences.
Functionality
The functionality that goes into your website needs to be determined early on. We are always able to add functionality to a site; however, any functionality that can be determined in the original build phase offers you a less expensive approach rather than adding it in later on. Functionality decisions include everything from video capabilities, chatbots, social sharing, sliders, lead generation forms, SEO capabilities, security and much more.
The needs of various functionality on your site are based on what you’re trying to achieve. Sliders provide a great deal of value in mixing up what people see when they come to your site, so they have a new experience each time they visit. They are also able to carry the various messages you have between clients and consultants as well as technologies and practice areas in which you work. But, if this is not a need for you, then sliders may be less important. Video capabilities are only necessary if you plan on doing video. Responsive design is another key component and piece of functionality for your staffing firm website. It allows your website to understand where someone is requesting access to your site. The responsive part of responsive design means that your website responds to which device is visiting. For instance, a mobile user will be served a mobile version of your site while a desktop visitor with be served a desktop design of your site. Responsive design is an important functionality to keep in mind when you’re building your site as it is now built in the beginning of development.
Social sharing functionality is a necessity for your search jobs and apply as much as it is for your blog and shareability. Security functionality allows for employee login sections as well as controlled content. It also minimizes hacking successes and overall intrusions. SEO functionality allows you to visualize your site’s ability to have SEO success and to efficiently get there. In general, the choice for functionality is based on the needs of your staffing firm. Be sure to look at all that’s available in terms of driving value to both your staffing firm and your audience.
Integration
Modern websites are now built with multiple integration points because of all of the technology advancements seen. From your ATS integration, you should expect a seamless “search jobs” and “apply” that comes from your ATS and goes back to your ATS. Additional integrations with tools like Herefish or Sense offer visibility into your marketing efforts and drive ROI. Integrations with other tools such as Hubspot allow for your site and the CRM to work in tandem and it provides real-time, everyday actionable data and leads to your sales and recruiting teams. The integrations with your staffing firm website are endless, but are completely dependent on the needs of your organization.
SEO
As we discussed a moment ago, SEO is one of the primary drivers of visitors to your staffing firm website. Have you set up your SEO on each of your website’s pages? Have you audited the pages to see how they are performing? Is your content in line with the keywords you’ve chosen for each page? Think of your website as a giant repository of words. When someone is using a search engine, the words they choose to search are evaluated against your repository of words to determine the level of importance of your site compared to others. Additionally, the use of keywords in your website’s back end provides value to your SEO. The number of outbound and inbound links are also factors. Try to think of your website from a points perspective. In other words, you get points for doing certain things. The use of keywords in your page names, titles, content, and in the back end are all worth various points. The overuse or underuse of keywords can penalize your website’s SEO, so don’t go too crazy. Creating links to other pages in your site (internal links) gives you points. Links from other websites back to your site gives you points (inbound links). Lastly, links to other websites gain you points (outbound links).
The quantity of visitors to your site is important because it’s also a factor in your SEO score. Growing your website audience helps your SEO as much as anything. Responsive design is another factor in SEO as the search engines penalize sites that aren’t mobile. When looking at your SEO, keep in mind that the easiest clients, consultants, and candidates to reach are already looking for you. Turning up high in the search results for specific searches provides greater opportunities for ROI.
Lead Generation
Years and years ago, websites were thought of as online brochures. If you still carry that belief, we thank you because you are making way for your competitors (my clients) to outperform you. Your staffing firm website is a lead generating machine that is either being utilized or not. Do you have dedicated landing pages created to draw in specific audiences? Have you gated that content for lead generation? Gated content is placing a form in front of the content in an effort to drive leads before someone gets to the content that they desire. Tools like Hubspot, that are integrated with your website, provide inbound lead generation and tracking throughout your site that delivers leads directly to your sales and recruiting team. Case studies, white papers, and specifically desired content are all lead generation components, and the only limiting factor is how well you promote each area. The underuse of lead generation is the only cause for a lack of leads from your website.
It’s imperative to the success of your staffing firm website for you to consider the impact of your decisions regarding these key elements. Does the site reflect your organization in the way you want to be seen in the marketplace or is it an online brochure? Give us a call, let’s discuss. If you need assistance we’re always here to help. Stay safe and be healthy.
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations. www.sjhemleymarketing.com