What is on-page SEO exactly, and what makes it so important for employers? Here we talk you through the different types of on-page content and how to measure its effectiveness to make sure you are getting the most out of all the content on your careers website.
On-page content is the written, visual, audio, video and downloadable content that appears on a website. In the case of a careers website, it is content that amplifies an organisation’s employer brand. On-page content plays a critical role in not only in bringing traffic to your site, but also in engaging and converting candidates when they get there.
When it comes to the part that content can play in your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy, there are two types of SEO that will help your site to rank highly on search engine results pages (SERPs): on-page SEO (focused on your website's content) and off-page SEO (focused on content published elsewhere online). Both account for about 50% when it comes to boosting your site up the search engine results pages (SERPs), so it’s critically important to give attention to on-page SEO.
In this blog post, we'll take a look at exactly what constitutes on-page content, why it’s important and how you can measure if it’s delivering the best possible results for your organisation.
There are two main reasons why it’s important to get your on-page content right when it comes to careers websites. Firstly, to get candidates to your site in the first place, and secondly to convince them that your company is the one they want to work for once they arrive on your site.
To make sure you’re maximising this opportunity from an SEO perspective, work with a recruitment marketing agency to develop a keyword strategy and weave your chosen keywords into the site. Well-optimised on-page content can improve a company's search engine rankings, which makes you more discoverable for passive candidates who might search queries—long-tail keyword phrases like “how to become a better leader” or “is software programming a good career choice?”—that your site could answer. Do this consistently with useful and engaging content, and you’ll build an audience around your brand that will be ripe for conversion when the right job opening comes along.
To steer passive candidates towards your brand, on-page content can also share information about your company's values, mission and work environment, to give prospective employees a glimpse into your corporate culture. This will help you to attract talent that aligns with the company's ethos.
There’s also the information that active job seekers will come looking for, from detailed job descriptions, requirements and benefits that can help them understand the available opportunities and evaluate their own suitability for the role. This leads to higher overall applicant quality by causing those who are unsuitable to deselect themselves, while inspiring suitable candidates to apply.
And it’s not just potential employees who might find on-page content valuable–if it’s done well, it also engages existing employees. Consider including employee testimonials, stories and sharing successes in your on-page content, which can help to engage and motivate current employees, improving overall job satisfaction and reducing turnover rates.
Want to know more about getting on-page content? Book a consultation.
On-page content can come in many different forms and it’s a good idea to include a diverse range as this can increase traffic to your site by appealing to different audiences. Let’s look at some of the different types of on-page content which employers might find useful for recruitment.
At Genius we are big advocates of blogging because having a strategically planned, well-written and maintained blog can bring so many benefits to employers, including:
Creating whitepapers and eBooks that give your audiences valuable information are a great way to incentivise visiting your website or signing up for your newsletter. Producing guides that teach your audience something that will be useful to them demonstrates the generous nature of your company and thought leadership. That makes you more attractive to passive candidates who might not actively be looking for a job but will be much more interested in any future vacancies at your company that might be suited to them.
Images can be a powerful communicator of your employer brand, which is why on-page image content requires careful consideration. Pictures of the company's workplace, events and activities can give potential employees a sense of the company's culture and values, which can help attract the right type of candidate. You can also use images of employees at all levels from diverse backgrounds to demonstrate to people from minority groups that they are not only welcome but also able to achieve their potential at your company. This will also help attract candidates who value diversity and are looking for an inclusive workplace.
Video is consistently one of the most engaging media and there’s still huge appetite for video content among audiences. A recent survey found that nine-out-of-ten people would like to see more video content from brands. Video content can give a quick insight into company culture or be used for authentic employee testimonials that allow audiences to see the kind of people they’re likely to be working with before they apply. Because video content is so engaging, it can increase the amount of time candidates spend on your site, which boosts SEO and increases the visibility of your site.
On page content in all its forms is great for driving traffic to your website or careers site—CTA buttons will encourage that traffic to take a desired course of action or ‘convert’. Examples of CTA buttons might be ‘Sign up to our newsletter’, ‘Download the whitepaper now’ or ‘Apply now’ to go through to a job application. Weaving carefully crafted and strategically placed CTAs into your on-page content will enable both you and your audience to get the most out of visiting your website or careers site.
Interested in developing on-page content that will optimise conversions and SEO? Book a consultation.
Creating effective on-page content is a process of educated trial and error, tweaking and improvement. To find out if it’s working, or where you’re going wrong, involves tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to your recruitment goals. At Genius, we work with our clients to do this, looking at KPIs to measure the effectiveness of on-page content for recruitment which include:
Developing effective on-page content is a serious undertaking requiring a large amount of expertise, both in terms of content creation and project management. The benefits it can bring, however, both in attracting talent to fill your immediate vacancies, and in the long-term by driving search engine visibility, can make it a very worthwhile investment.
Want to learn more about on-page content? Book a consultation with Genius.
Genius Group Limited
The Watermill
Broughton Hall
Skipton
BD23 3AG
01756 701222
hello@thegeniusgroup.co.uk
