An advantage that can help separate them from their competitors and sell the company as the place where top talent wants to work.

Don’t rely on people simply coming to your site. Develop SEO-friendly content and career pages that are optimized for finding the audience you want to attract. Social media is one way but be sure people can find you through Google, Bing or other searches.

The little things count:

 Many company leaders, especially those who are not web-savvy, think a complete overhaul, change and web site relaunch is the way to drive traffic. They want to spend money on a new site, promote it via a press release and make a big announcement. That might work in the days surrounding the launch, but there is no need to spend a large amount of money – and time/resources – when simply providing regular updates through the steps mentioned above. Engage your audience over time, not with one big marketing push.

 Lists:

 Everybody loves lists. Leigh-Morgan mentioned this in the ere.net article: Have a “5 Reasons to Join Us” Section. “It could be 10 reasons to join, but create a separate section and list all the unique features that will appeal to a job seeker,” says Leigh-Morgan. “Ask existing employees if they had to sell the company to a friend of theirs what they’d say to impress them.  We’ve doubled headcount in the last 12 months. You can work from home two days a week. You get free childcare. We have a team night out every month. We’re the market leader. We’ve just opened three new offices/sites in the last two months alone. Get creative. Remember you’re selling to them as much as they are selling to you.” People are often concerned about benefits, career advancement, training, and industry reputation.

Show diversity:

 Make the careers section feel welcome for men, women, entry-level employees, experienced employees and people of all backgrounds. In other words, make it so anyone who comes to your career site feels welcomed and like they would fit in.

Give them information that can help them help you:

 Your career site should provide information on how to apply for jobs, what the standard process or protocol is and how you want to best hear from job seekers. This can save your already-thin HR staff from getting emails, calls or communication/questions about how to best apply for jobs. And it can save from job applications that are poorly done.

Think short and long term:

 Those who come to your company career section may not be looking for a job at all. But they may learn something new about the company, or get more information that could lead them to coming back when they are looking for a job. Make it interesting for current job seekers and intriguing for future job seekers.

Compare competitors:

 Look at what your competitors are doing. Do you see something you like and could incorporate onto your web site? Do you see something presented in a different way you don’t like? How can you do it better or different? What can you add that can keep you on track with competitors, or give you the edge?

A study titled Best Practices for Fortune 500 Career web site recruiting published on HR.com discussed the purpose and value of company career sites.

“The behavior of individuals who cruise the web is such that they are, for the most part, not specifically looking for a job,” said the survey recap. “Therefore, by using your website as a recruitment tool you gain exposure to an audience who otherwise would not have found out about your career products.”

It went on to reference how a good company career web site can lower recruitment costs and increase the quality and quantity of the applicants to your organization.

How often do you have to revamp your corporate/company career pages? Only with a complete web site overhaul. How often should you update or manage your corporate career site? Regularly. It doesn’t have to be a major change or overhaul, but by following these tips and outline, small businesses can best use the corporate web site to their advantage.

An advantage that can help separate them from their competitors and sell the company as the place where top talent wants to work.