Face-to-face meetings are no longer an option during the current COVID-19 pandemic. While this can put recruiters in a difficult situation, job seekers can still be contacted via digital means.
Rather than them visiting a physical office, you can direct them to your website instead. However, you must make sure that your site is well-organized and easily accessible.
Here are 10 tips that will help convince candidates that your site is the best place to submit their CVs.
1. Add separate landing pages for every service you offer
If you have multiple positions available, it is advisable to create different pages for each job offer. For example, you should use separate pages for ‘administrators’ and ‘finance managers’.
For every job role, make sure that you are:
- Building a page that contains the specific details and requirements of the job;
- Listing the qualities that you are looking for in a candidate;
- Mentioning why your company is different from the competition.
This strategy will work in your favor.
- For SEO purposes, let’s say your landing page is tailored to people looking for ‘finance manager’ jobs. When prospective clients visit Google and type in ‘finance manager position UK’, the search engine’s algorithm will include your web page in the search results.
- Once potential candidates visit your website, your brand will get a ranking boost and your site will be recognized as being reliable by people applying for ‘finance manager positions in the UK’.
When creating your pages, you should write at least 500 words or more for each page and resist the temptation of adding too many keywords.
As a rule of thumb, a page’s keyword density should not go over 3%. To check this, divide the number of keywords by the total number of words and multiply it by 100
Keywords play a vital role in SEO.
For example, when you search for “COVID-19” on Google, you will find a plethora of information about the virus, including the countries with the highest number of cases, the origin of the virus, and the ways of protecting yourself.
However, if you use specific keywords such as “COVID-19 recovery rate”, you will be directed to more relevant and accurate information, particularly if you want to know the number of people who have overcome the disease.
According to this recruitment SEO guide, the success of your online recruitment campaign relies on the keywords you use.
While there are numerous available tools to help you, the most effective is Google’s Keyword Planner.
2. Separate the landing pages for each industry
By separating the pages, you can achieve a significant ranking when it comes to industry-related keywords.
For example, nurses and finance managers should be separated based on their particular industry; nurses are in the healthcare sector while finance managers are of course in financial services.
The landing pages are essential marketing tools as many candidates will visit several websites before making a decision.
Therefore, it is important to write emotionally appealing content to convince people that your company is the ideal place to apply for a job.
In fact, the landing page is one of the most effective persuasion tools in your arsenal. Your content can help sway potential candidates to accept your job offers.
3. Create a location page for every office
You should build location pages for each office that your company maintains. These pages will serve as local homepages that will boost your online ranking, especially when people are searching locally.
After building a location page, you can add a local directory citation.
4. Ensure that your website is SSL certified
Search engines such as Google consider SSL certificates to be a sign that your website is trustworthy and secure. It is also an essential ranking factor in search algorithms.
So, by applying the ‘HTTPS’ protocol, your site can achieve a higher ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
5. Consider optimizing for full screens
You need to optimize your website for mobile devices. However, you should not ignore candidates who are using either a desktop or a laptop when searching for a job.
So, consider optimizing your site for various screen sizes, including 23 and 15 inches.
There are online tools you can use to check whether your site will look good on all screen sizes. Once you have identified your requirements, make the necessary adjustments.
6. Ensure that potential candidates can contact you easily
Employees are the lifeblood of any business, especially for companies that need to stay open and fully functional during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If there are any critical vacancies, you need to fill them as quickly as possible.
When you find the perfect candidate, make sure you provide them with all your contact details, such as:
- Email address;
- Phone numbers;
- Physical address.
Also, don’t forget to include:
- A form for every page;
- Clear call-to-action buttons (make sure they are distinct).
7. Optimize your recruitment site for speed
You may have a beautiful and sleek-looking career page. However, people are unlikely to stay there for long if it takes forever to load.
Studies have also indicated that approximately four out of ten people leave websites that take more than three seconds to load.
Remember, a fast-loading page will boost your search engine rankings. However, don’t forget that you must also provide an excellent user experience for your visitors.
8. Include a competitive “About Us” webpage
It is critical to impress candidates once they have landed on your website. Introduce your company, tell them about your job offers and why they should choose you over the competition.
You only have a limited amount of time to sway candidates to accept your job offers. Therefore, on the “About Us” pages, make sure you include photos of your staff, their profiles, and a short bio.
9. Don’t neglect your Google My Business (GMB) profile
A GMB profile is essential as it can prove that your business exists. If you don’t have one yet, inform Google about your office location.
Once this has been verified, the search engine will send a postcard and pin it to your physical address. You can then confirm your address to Google.
Once you have a GMB profile, you should optimize it further by incorporating your logo and any relevant content and images.
You should also post information about:
- Your business hours;
- Contact details.
Even with the current lockdown restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, your GMB posts will keep candidates updated about your job offers. For this reason, updating your GMB profile is now more important than ever.
10. Encourage reviews of your website
Many large and well-established websites include reviews and recommendations. This is a simple but effective strategy so consider asking newly hired candidates to provide their positive feedback.
Moreover, obtaining video reviews from former and current candidates will also benefit your company – you will have social proof while building your brand authority.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted many companies to update their digital recruitment strategies. Some of these tips can be easily implemented, while others may take time.
Nevertheless, these tactics will certainly boost your online recruitment efforts and improve your brand reputation among your potential candidates.
