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When it comes to your website,
first impressions really do count! "Many thanks for getting this to me so quickly"
(Or, why you should consider getting your recruitment website professionally reviewed)
 OK, I admit it. My website isn't the best. It does a job - that job being to direct people towards it for more information, examples of my work, testimonials etc. I know the line length is too long in places and some pages could do with a bit of imagery inserting, but the fact is I built and manage it myself and use it pretty much as an online brochure on a need-to-know basis. if I were reviewing my own site I would definitely say 'could do better' but, and it's a big but, I don't rely on it day-in, day-out to get me business. It's not interactive, it doesn't contain a job search facility or lots of useful information for job seekers and I'm not trying to build any kind of database that might serve me well in the future.
You, on the other hand, as a recruiter, presumably in this day and age, live or die by your website? If you do, read on.
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Why you should review your web presence
Whether you want it to be all singing and dancing, or it's there simply to serve as an online brochure, provide a useful job search facility for candidates,
impress existing clients or attract new ones, your presence on the web
must make a good first and lasting impression.
And yet so many
recruiters don't make the most of what they've got.
I've heard stories
of a 'sister's boyfriend's mate' who 'knows a bit about the web' building their
site because he was cheap. I've known of instances where a technical wizard with no creativity has been entrusted to produce the finished product, design and all. And perhaps worst of all, tales about the generalist
web design firm with no experience or knowledge of the recruitment
market place taking ages to fail to come up with something that the client, the recruitment consultancy, was happy with, only to present them, not with a finished website, but a hefty bill for their troubles.
Eliminate your concernsThat's why, if you have any concerns about the functionality, content or look of your website, it makes eminent sense to get an
unbiased review done by an industry professional.
You may well discover you need nothing doing to your site at all. Alternatively, you might need to ask your Webmaster to make a few minor tweaks here and there - maybe to the typeface, layout,
positioning of certain elements and the menu bar. Or perhaps you'll need to
consider an overhaul, but still be able to use a lot of the information
that is already there on the site.
Get an inexpensive and quick solutionWhatever you need, it's far better to find out inexpensively and quickly, rather than putting yourself in the hands of the sister's boyfriend's mate, the technical wizard or the web design generalists I spoke of earlier. That's where I come in.
Deal with an industry professional
Having started my career in recruitment advertising in newspapers (I sold space for a national and a regional, as well as for a London media sales house where I represented over 100 newspaper titles across the UK)
I moved into recruitment advertising agencies as a client account handler and
worked my way up to Group Account Director level. Along the way I handled some of the largest recruitment accounts in the business and worked with recruitment consultancies in a wide range of business
sectors. Then, eight years ago, I set up my own business as a freelance
copywriter specialising in - you guessed it - recruitment. Since that time I have been involved in thousands of writing exercises,
including reviewing and producing copy for websites.
Until
recently, I worked as a third party i.e. I would be commissioned by an ad agency
to produce the content but certain creative aspects, including the final design were outside of my control. But, because of the experience I have gained down the years, I decided to branch out and conduct a few website
research projects myself. And people seem to appreciate what I had to offer!
"Very impressed. Highly recommended"
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Here are a few things that people have
said about the service I provided them with:
"Greatly appreciated and I will take suggestions on board"
"Nice to see some of my concerns reflected by a third party"
"Just had website review done, now I've really
got something to think about! Great service, thanks"
"If we need a wordsmith anytime soon, I'll certainly be in touch"
"Very good insights given on our website and with a very efficient turnaround! I like the way you presented them too"
"I really appreciate your points. Your input is very interesting"
"All very interesting comments - some of which
we'd already started to kick about internally"
So how much does this all cost?
Less than you might think. An 'initial impression' website review covering content, user-friendliness and navigation costs just £49.95. This is a special price which I will hold until the end of 2010. For that you will receive a report that starts with my first impression observations and then goes on to review each one of your menu/navigation bar pages individually. Then at the end of the document you will get a summary giving my overall impression and recommendations.
Contained within each page summary may be practical suggestions, easy fixes, positional advice, layout concerns, my opinion about the written content and any buttons, whistles or bells you may have going on. I may suggest merging pages or deleting stuff, or even adding some bits. I won't know until I have seen your site! But, one thing is for sure - all my suggestions will be from the point of view of a first-time visitor who has got a 'recruitment hat' on, not a business generalist or a technician.
And, if, when you get your report back you're not happy with the advice I have give then you needn't pay for it. That hasn't happened yet and I am confident it won't, but it's your insurance policy just in case.
So what are you waiting for? Start making your website work harder for you today. Call me on 07932 161392 for an informal chat or email AlasdairDMurray@aol.com for a free sample report.
"Your feedback will be really useful as a starting point"
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