In this blog article, we will provide you with a comprehensive checklist of the most important details for planning, aligning and creating a successful career site for your business. With these insights, you will be able to attract the right talent for your company and qualified applicants for your open positions. We have created a detailed checklist for you that covers a wide range of topics, from strategic considerations to technical details and essential content.

1 Define the goal and purpose of your career site

To begin, ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is the target audience for this site?
• (For example: active or passive job seekers? Former employees,…).
• What key performance indicators (KPIs) and measurable goals for the success of the career site do you want to establish?
• What message and image do you want to convey?

2. Choose the channels you want to use

• From paid search engine campaigns and organic sharing via social networks, to organic traffic via search results and Google for Jobs, there are many options to choose from.
• Develop a holistic strategy for publicizing and marketing your career site. Do this by combining paid search engine campaigns, organic social media posts, and search engine traffic.
• Use many different platforms if possible. This way, you’ll achieve the greatest possible reach and be able to address your target group in the best possible way.

3. Design an attractive home page

• It is important that you immediately grab the interest of visitors with the landing page of your career site.
• Use images, videos or graphics to convey your company’s culture and values in a clear and appealing way.
• Place important information, such as your employer brand, career benefits, or company history, front and center. This will make them highly visible to any and all visitors.

4. Create a clear URL for your career site

• Use a small number of relevant and unique keywords in the URL. This improves findability.
• An important tip: Keep the URL of your career site simple, precise and easy to remember, such as “karriere.unternehmen.de” or “jobs.unternehmen.de”.

5. Optimize the H1 tag of your career page

• Make sure the H1 tag is set up and placed correctly in the HTML structure. It is the most important heading (in the H1-H6 progression).
• Make sure the H1 reflects the purpose of the content. For this, formulate the H1 heading as expressive as possible to describe the main content of the page.

6. Include subheadings, bold keywords, and links

• Break down the text of your career page into sub-headings (H2, H3, etc.). This supports better readability. Use keywords in each heading.
• Use bold keywords methodically. This allows you to highlight important information.
• Think of descriptive anchor texts for links to other pages.
• Place thematically relevant internal and external links to delve deeper into different topics.

7. Be sure to include an accurate description of the images used

• Use relevant keywords in the file name, this supports SEO optimization.
• Clear alt texts are particularly important for the accessibility of your page.

8. Formulate meaningful metadata

• Allow enough time for the formulation of the title tag and meta description. The more precisely they are formulated, the higher the positioning and click-through rate in search results.

9. Write tags for social media

• Use Open Graph tags (elements are stored in the source code or marked in the header)
• Make sure you have a clean look and feel when sharing content via social media – this can increase engagement and click-through rates.
• Create interesting preview text and images for social media sharing. This way, you’ll increase user attention and interaction.

10. Make sharing as easy as possible

• Check that your users can easily share your content with a clickable icon.
• Include easily recognizable, clickable icons. These make it easier to share content across different platforms.

11. Put a call-to-action

• Provide your potential candidates with different ways to get in touch with you.
• In other words, provide potential candidates with clear options for action, such as relevant jobs, job alert sign-up, contact forms, or events.

12. Present a wide range of career options

• Present an extensive collection of different career options. This way, you appeal to a wide range of different talents.
• Categorize your job listings by department, location, or job role. This makes it easier for your visitors to find suitable jobs.

13. Provide insight into the application process

• Talk about the application process in a transparent and easy-to-understand way. Start with the receipt of the application and end with a possible hiring.
• Provide information about the interviews, the selection process, assessment tests and the feedback mechanisms used.

14. Let your employees have their say

• Share authentic experiences and stories of your current employees. This will give your potential applicants an insight into your corporate culture.
• Present testimonials and show videos or blog posts in which your employees talk about their work and experiences at your company.

15. Provide insights into career development and training opportunities

• Showcase the career development and training options within your company.
• Point out the variety of training, professional development, and mentoring programs your company offers. This demonstrates how your company supports its own employees to build and expand their skills and subsequently move up in the company.

16. Spotlight your corporate values and social responsibility

• Describe your corporate values and your company’s sustainability goals and social initiatives.
• Highlight the important contributions your company makes to increase the engagement of potential applicants.

17. Remember to optimize your careers page for mobile

• Make sure your careers page works smoothly on a variety of devices. This is especially true for smartphones and tablets.
• To do this, resort to responsive design elements. These ensure a user-friendly experience on all screen sizes.

18. Keep your career site up to date by maintaining the content regularly

• Don’t neglect your career site. Keep job listings, events, and news up to date.
• Check regularly that all links and information are correct. This will give your company and career page a professional impression.

With all the tips and information out there, one last piece of advice: always keep an eye on the overall impression of your new career site and, if needed, get support from the professionals in the field of networked, attractive and successful career sites.

Contact us! Our experienced team will guide you on the way to a successful career site that will attract the right talent to your company.