Your corporate website – the most powerful employer branding tool

It’s important to make a good first impression: going to a company website is the first thing students do when they want to learn more about an employer—what they find on the site will reflect negatively or positively on the employer brand. In addition to the types of information students want, companies should take great care in making the site easy to navigate and visually attractive, a boring or cumbersome site easily translates into a boring and cumbersome employer.

Website do’s
Testimonials from employees are popular and so are application pages where students can submit their resumes. It’s important to students that the site contains relevant information for them and is easy to navigate.

Quotes from American students:

• “The best websites are the most informative on the application process, and the career opportunities. Hard, concrete facts are always best!”
• “Information, emphasis less on philosophy than on what philosophy has accomplished.”

Website don’ts
Students bristle at irrelevant information, cluttered websites, pop-up advertising and dead-end links.

Quotes from American students:

• “Many are designed for customers, rather than prospective employees, with no access to the employment areas of the website.”
• “Pompous fluff! Every company has ideals; I want to know what the difference is between your company and the others in your field.”
• “If the website is hard or confusing to navigate, it doesn’t look professional.”

Re-published:  Universum Quarterly, “The Importance of Websites”, by Catrine Johansson.