Is your career website up to snuff?

A study conducted by Dr. John Sullivan and Associates found that over 90 percent of candidates that visit a company’s career website never apply. This little fact is likely a surprise to most marketing and talent acquisition departments.

With the amount of time and money spent in today’s technology-driven world on positive candidate experiences, why is it that we’re only able to grab the attention of 10 percent? Why does the other 90 percent turn away from those career sites and determine that those are not the organizations for them?

The career site is the most frequented touch point you will have with all candidates. Many recruiting processes drive candidates back to the career website, so it must be engaging and it must draw the attention of the right talent to apply. But what you think is engaging might not be working.

Here are two ways to increase engagement on your career website:

1. Provide the answers. First, make sure you are providing answers to the questions these potential candidates will have. For example, what is it like to work at your organization? How will employees spend their day? What is your brand and how does it affect culture? Put yourself in your candidates’ shoes. Would you apply without having these answers? Communicating these pieces of information on your website is a high-impact and low-cost improvement.

Two easy and affordable ways to do this are to use your internal marketing team to create podcasts, employee blog pages, or videos that depict a day in the life of a typical employee. Secondly, use your recruiters to open up a recruiter response tab where you can post your most frequently asked questions. Avoid vague answers and instead give direct information.

2. Make sure your site is easy to navigate. In addition, your site must also be highly functional. If a candidate can’t easily find job listings, they might not know the right ones exist. For example:

How easy is your site to navigate? How many clicks does it take to get to the job you would like to apply to?
Can candidates use their LinkedIn or Facebook profile to apply and capture information? With so many candidates coming from social media networks, this could be a key convenience feature.
Is your URL confusing or hard to find? Consider a vanity URL that is easy to remember and can be used in advertisements.
Do you allow candidates to leave their information even if a position they are interested in or qualified for is not current available? Ask your IT department to create a virtual business card drop-off center that enables candidates to leave a few pieces of information (such as name, email, phone number, LinkedIn profile, or resume) for future consideration and contact by a recruiter.

Some of you might be wondering if it makes sense to invest now, when budgets are restrained and job openings scarce. The answer is absolutely YES!

The economy and job recovery might seem slow, but that doesn’t mean your competitors’ top talent isn’t interested in making a change. While job growth has become stale, companies have also slowed in providing salary and benefit increases and job stability that many employees look for. These talented employees might be dissatisfied and ready for a change of scenery.

Your career website needs to be ready to entice and capture these migrating employees. Even if there are limited positions available at your company now, an engaging and easy-to-use website will inspire candidates to return and check back for more positions in the future.

A website helps tell the story of who your company is. And communicating that message effectively will help talent decide if they want to be a part of the team.