Differentiation - The importance of custom design

Let's start with much used problem statement - “My website doesn't get me any business”

The recruitment agency market is a busy place.

There are over 50,000 recruitment agencies in the UK, all fighting for the best candidates, clients and consultants. If you’re going to have a chance of standing out, you need to make a statement.

Your website is not THE answer to attracting great candidates, clients and consultants. You need a good marketing budget and a great marketing team to get to page 1 of Google. Also 9 times out of 10 people arrive at your website through other referral sources such as job boards, social media and word of mouth.

But your website is critical to the conversion process. Once a visitor comes to your site (candidate, client or consultant) they start to judge you very very quickly.

In less than half a second, a visitor to your website makes a judgement on whether they’ll stay. It’s an incredibly short amount of time and it’s based almost entirely on the visual impression your website starts to make as it renders on their screen.

And it's there - 24/7/365

If you want to create a good impression then you need to look brilliant.

“So where do I start?”

Building a website is hard. It relies on pulling together information from all areas of your business. The project often has many stakeholders and when it goes live it’s highly visible… so you don’t want to mess it up!

Above anything else, a great website understands what a visitor wants. In a recruitment website this is often a candidate (to place), a client (to work with) and a consultant (to work for you). If you start by addressing your visitor in a way that is attractive to them then you’re off to a good start. For example;

For a client, tell them about;

The sectors you’re amazing in

The reasons why you’re better

The reasons they should trust you

For a candidate, tell them about;

Your amazing list of active vacancies

Your expertise in helping other candidates

The reasons they should trust you

For a consultant, tell them about

Your incredible company culture

Perks of working for you

The reasons they should trust you

“So I know why I'm awesome… what next?”

You then need to consider how you’re going to present this information. In words? Images? Graphics? Infographics? Video? Audio? Animation?

Do a post-it-note exercise to think about how you’re going to arrange the content on your pages. This will start to form the basis of your navigation and offer structure to the important landing pages for your candidates, clients and consultants.

“But my content doesn’t fit into this pre-designed template I’ve bought?”

SHOCKER!

This is where pre-designed, pre-built templates and themes fall down.

You’re starting to re-write your content to fill the space. You’re starting to cut out the things you like. You’re having to cut out entire pages because there isn't a template in the theme that you’ve bought. That brand you spent so much time working on looks dreadful on the page. You're trying to find stock images of people that don’t work in your business just because there is a place for a picture. And that great video you produced that shows your company off doesn't even have a place.

Your vision for your website is dwindling away. It doesn't feel like you. It feels very same same.

“So design templates are bad?”

Definitely not. Everything has its place.

If you need a quick and dirty website design OR if you don't really care about the conversion process then go for it. A template can look pretty and perform its duty. BUT it definitely will compromise your wow factor, your identity and your vision.

With a template;

It's not been designed for your customer

It’s not been designed to work with your brand

Your content might not all have a place

It cannot be modified to your exact requirements

Your website is the same as someone else's

Your biggest differentiator - your people - are not being well represented

Your identity is compromised

“So what should I do?”

Be brave and make a statement.

Take some time to do the job properly. Work with a company that cares about you and what makes you unique. Address your audience properly. Answer their questions and build trust. Help them to pick up the phone, fill in the form or apply for that job. Be the brand that stands for something that visitors will engage with and fall in love with.

Do everything you can to help your visitors convert.

Right now, you have now idea how many opportunities you're missing.

SourceFlow only offers custom design for their websites. They’re the experts and they’re here to help. For more information contact us on 0333 006 7705.