Your staffing firm website is the first impression a prospect gets of your company, so it’s no surprise that you want to make it a good one. But how do you spruce up your website to align with the 2021 trends? Is your current site already up to the standards? This post delves into some must-have’s when it comes to improving your staffing firm website this year.
Give it Some Style
No one wants to stay on an ugly site – if it’s not already, make your staffing firm website pop! This doesn’t have to mean bright, bold colors (although this is a 2021 trend). Use shapes, different sized hero images, and new layouts to spice up your website feel. Organic shapes are in this year, which means no harsh lines – utilize circles, and any fluid shapes behind text, or images to give it a creative flare. Additionally, use a full height hero image as your homepage or take out the image altogether to create eye-catching text as your hero section.
Another design trend is using minimalism – think “white space”, but it doesn’t have to be white. The goals is to create space for your text and images to let them “breathe” and give the site a more clean look, like Apple. A last trend to try out this year is “dark mode” – users have the ability to flip this modern style on and off to reduce eye strain if they please. But, overall, make sure your website speaks to your brand, regardless of trends. Stay true to yourself first, get trendy second.
Level Up Your Navigation
It’s no surprise that mobile friendly sites are no longer a “nice to have”, they’re a must have. You should be creating your staffing firm website with mobile in mind first, and desktop second. Additionally, you must make sure that it is thumb-friendly, as this is the way we scroll on our phones. This means making the menu bar, contact buttons, etc. in an easy-to-reach spot. Try to steer clear from putting these navigations in the tip-top or lowest corners as these cause a user to have to strain to reach them. Make your site as easily navigated as possible. Lastly, you want to ensure your website load time and speed are as fast as possible. Your load time needs to be less than two seconds, or users are likely to leave your site. The easier your navigation is and the faster your site loads, the more people are likely to stay.
Utilize Smart Content
Content is king – this is nothing new. But in 2021, there are new ways to create valuable content. First, utilize smart video. We already know that video is one of the most engaging forms of content, but you don’t want to just throw videos on your site just to have them. Make sure you plan out this content with a purpose. It is much better to have one well thought out video on your site than seven random ones that don’t really provide the most value to a user.
Additionally, add progressive lead generation forms that are integrated on your CRM. These forms are dynamic and request different information depending on where the user is in their journey on your site. You want to break these forms into chunks – no one wants to fill out a long form, especially if it is their first time visiting your site. These dynamic lead forms allow your CRM to recognize when a user returns to your site and request some information about them (two or three questions like name, company, and email address). With their return, other information can then be requested to gather bits and pieces along the way.
Lastly, make your chatbots more human-like. Remove customer support costs for your staffing firm with automated bots! While these have been on the rise for a few years now, the advancements in machine learning and AI are creating more opportunities for these bots to help customers with more sophisticated questions. These help you both financially, and provide easy, quick access to answers for your users. Along with this, chatbots are being ramped up even further to create voice chatbots. While this is not prevalent on sites yet, it is an upcoming trend that will allow for users to search things through their voice as opposed to text, as well as chat with a bot in this manner.
In 2021, there are so many trends that are coming to the forefront of website creation. You’ll want to choose the right ones that make sense for your staffing firm and remember that the ultimate goal is to provide the richest user experience possible. Need help with leveling up your staffing firm website? Contact us for help!
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations. www.sjhemleymarketing.com