Is your recruiting website acting like an “extra employee†that brings in new contacts for your business while you are out playing golf?
If you’re like most firms in our industry, your website looks pretty but does little to bring in actionable leads. Most sites fall into the “online brochure†category. An online brochure is a fairly static set of web pages that don’t engage the visitor in an active manner.
A site designed for developing business on the other hand is designed to get the right visitors to take an action step on their first visit. In order to do this, your copy must speak to your target audience specifically and quickly.
Here are 9 steps for designing a website that actually generates profit:
1.   You must capture the Email addresses of your visitors:
This is the number one goal of a business building site. Studies show that unless you capture your visitors’ Email on their first visit, you’ll never see them again. People are too busy to write down your URL and come back in two weeks. You must capture their Email on their first visit if you want to have the chance to build a relationship with them.
2.   You capture your visitors Email by offering something of value for free:
What could you offer for free? How about a special report on the top 10 hiring mistakes and how to avoid them? How about a niche newsletter with valuable articles. Or an industry survey with relevant questions?
3.   You must make your copy (words) scanable:
People don’t read online, they scan. Because of this you must use bold, spacing and small paragraphs that make your copy easy to scan.
4.   Have 1 clear action step per page:
“Sign up here,†“Submit your resume,†etc. You should lead your visitor to one easy step per page. The step should be obvious and involve very little risk or commitment on their part.
5.   Put your action step in the right place:
The top right area of your home page is the best real estate in terms of getting people’s attention. Put your action step here and you’ll get better results. For an example of this, see the free report offered on my consulting site: www.therecruitinglab.com.
6.   Have no more that 7 links on your home page:
Again, people have a short attention span on the web. Make your choices simple by limiting the amount of links on your site.
7.   Have your links running down the left side of your page:
Studies have shown that links running from top to bottom (as opposed to across the top) do much better in grabbing people’s attention.
8.   Make your home page about them, not you:
Most sites talk endlessly about themselves, “we find the best talent … we’ve been around for 1,000 years …†This info is relevant at the right time but not when someone first gets to your site. An easy way to make sure you’re focusing on your visitor is to use the word “you†at least 50% of the time.
9.   If you need help, hire an expert:
Here are some resources that may be able to help you; www.accelerateonline.com , www.buzzrecruiter.com, www.topechelon.com.
Gary Stauble is the principal consultant for The Recruiting Lab, a coaching company that assists Firm Owners and Solo Recruiters in generating more profit in less time. Gary offers a FREE special report, “The Search Process Checklist: a 17 step recruiting tool,†on his website. Get your copy now at www.therecruitinglab.com.
