How to Build a Careers Website that Boosts Your Employer Brand

A high-quality careers site is among the most vital components of your employer brand. It is your shop window that turns window shoppers into job candidates and, ultimately, key employees.

A careers site allows you to showcase your company's culture, values, mission and vision. Ultimately, it's an opportunity for potential candidates to engage with your organisation. They get to know what to expect at your company and in the role.

A well-executed careers website will help to sift job applicants and attract top talent. Below, we discuss what to include on your careers site, including the elements, features and factors you need to have a better careers website.

Table of contents:

• Technical Aspects of a Good Careers Site
• The Importance of Quality Job Descriptions
• Pages to Include on a Careers Site

Technical Aspects of a Good Careers Site

Adopting and adapting the right technology on your careers site is crucial and must be done seamlessly and in a way that future-proofs your site from requiring avoidable and expensive rebuilds just a year or so later.

Making the right choices at the outset will save time and money in the long run. This means investment in a comprehensive suite of applications that will enable your site to tell your story, convincing the right candidates to apply while also incorporating all the requisite search engine optimisation (SEO) elements.

• Interactive features: You can create a seamless and interactive experience for candidates visiting your careers website by integrating videos and images. For example, you can include employee Q&A videos, virtual office tours, employee interviews or behind-the-scenes looks at your company.
• Page speed: Your careers website should load and render in no more than 3.8 seconds. Anything slower than that will cause the Google page rank to fall, affecting the visibility of your careers site to potential applicants. It also significantly increases bounce rates.
• Mobile responsiveness: In 2023, mobile devices contribute to 55% of total website traffic. This makes it essential to optimise your website for mobile devices. Making your site mobile-friendly means it should look good and be easily navigable on a mobile device.
• Site security: You can boost site security and improve visitor trust with an online security certificate. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the gold standard in site security. It creates an encrypted link between the user and the page, protecting the applicant's personal information and keeping the transfer of information private and secure.
• Google rank: If you're not on page one of Google, you're nowhere. Page one of Google accounts for over 75% of all the clicks made to websites. Having a well-optimised website with great structure and content will assist you in showing where it really matters when it comes to search. On page one.
• Schema markup: Schema markup is basically the language of search engines embedded in your site's construction to look at the contents of the page. It tells search engines what they need to know about the page, breaking down all the elements such as job description, title, location and so on, which can help it rank on Google for Jobs.

The Importance of Quality Job Descriptions

Job descriptions are a key feature on career pages or websites. Improving job description pages communicates the employer's expectations by defining the demands and requirements of the job.

They provide insight into what life at your company will look like to help candidates determine whether they're a good fit for your company and the position. As a result, you're able to attract top talent and make skill-based hiring decisions.

Highly effective job descriptions on career sites typically include:

• Job requirements.
• Duties and responsibilities.
• Licensure requirements.
• Education and training requirements.
• Performance standards in the company and the industry.

Simply listing these requirements won't cut it. You need to add some creativity to job descriptions and increase their effectiveness.

Start by conducting personal research to understand the pain points, motivations and aspirations of the current workforce. Addressing a particular person in your job descriptions ensures you appeal to top talent more directly.

Be sure to give insight into the experience of working in your organisation and inspire action by including a clear call to action in the end.

What Pages to Include on a Career Site

Your careers website should tell a story that attracts quality candidates. It becomes easier when you include the following career site must-haves:

• Culture page: Define your company's brand, values and culture to make you more appealing to the best talent on the market. You should also craft a compelling employee value proposition (EVP) to clarify performance expectations.
• Team page: Showing potential applicants existing staff members and their roles showcases the talent you already have. It helps them decide whether they are a good fit for your team before they apply.
• Office locations: Make sure to state where your office locations are so that candidates can determine logistics and travel time before they send in their applications.
• Employee testimonials page: Current or former employees can supply the best testimonials for your company. This way, potential candidates can hear first-hand what working for your company is like.
• FAQ page: This should address any other queries that might come up regarding the application process, the type of positions you offer and how to use the careers website.

Give Your Candidates a Seamless Experience on an Optimised Careers Site

Reach candidates more effectively with an intuitively designed careers site by Happy Dance. We design mobile-first career websites with lightning-fast loading speeds and user-friendly designs.

We can create your careers site using our functional designs, or we can custom-build templates for you to meet your specific needs. Request a demo today to meet with our Careers Sites SaaS evangelists, who'll break down the process of building your site and answer any questions.