It seems like only last year (maybe it was) that firms called us clamoring to get “something up on the web.” Anxious to get a billboard on the information super highway, they filled in a template with the words from the firm brochure, posted a few shareholder photos and breathed a sigh of relief.

Firms that still have their first or second generation website are missing some critical opportunities. When referred to a new firm, most prospects go first to the website. When seeking a new job, most candidates go first to the website.

If your website looks staid, boring, and “template-like,” that one chance to make a great impression is over. The key to great websites is to think through who will use it, and how to communicate not only your services, but your unique culture and the value you bring.

Besides differentiating your firm from the pack, your website should also provide value and a reason to return. There are far more bad websites out there than well-designed ones, even among the Fortune 500. Your company has a great opportunity to shine online for recruitment and business development.

Web Strategy

Before you write one word or design one page, consider what you want your website to do. Do you want it to speak primarily to prospects or recruits? Is it an information service for clients? Is it something cold shoppers for your service should be able to find on a search engine?

Making it pretty is not enough. Be clear about your target market and what you want to communicate to them. When we work with clients on a website, we like to establish some key messages about the firm that can act as a guide for content. This sets a tone and ensures that this firm’s website isn’t a cookie cutter.

Start your website with a map of pages and how they link together. The worst sites offer no sense of direction so users are forced to hunt for simple things like contact information or a company summary. A web map can help you lay out content in a way that is easy to navigate.

Too many companies try to explain every detail of their services online, while others assume that prospects “just know” what they do and explain nothing. There is one school of thought that says you don’t want too much detail online — competitors might steal your message and processes.

The best way to think of your website is like a dynamic executive summary — just enough detail to intrigue prospects without handing intellectual property to your competition. For example, you don’t want to archive proposals or list jobs on bid. Depending on your niche, you may not even want to list specific clients on testimonials or case studies.

The Society for Human Resource Management offers these suggestions to create an attractive informative website to prospective employees researching your firm:

• Keep content to a single page, using links to other relevant pages.
• Emphasize company benefits, monetary and non-monetary.
• Personalize career content for experienced hires, recent graduates and interns/trainees.
• Include application guidelines and clear Contact Us information for the firm and each department.
• Include an outlet for feedback, questions, and surveys to capture visitor data.
• Depending on your market, consider tools to forward job postings by email and translation of content to other languages.

According to the Riley Guide, a comprehensive guide to the job search, companies should offer at least some of the following pages:

• News or What’s New
• Mission Statement and/or Description of Services
• Career opportunities, job listings and application guidelines

The Riley Guide also encourages applicants to review the overall look and feel of the site as a general impression of the organization. Are they funky? Conservative? Well organized? Cluttered? This initial research may determine whether or not a job candidate or prospective client ever contacts the company.

Other sources of information that job applicants and prospective clients may use in their research include business rankings, press clippings, and testimonials from current and former employees. Some firms offer streaming video of the firm headquarters and employee interviews to give visitors a sense of the culture. These items can be incorporated on the website’s News and Career pages.

Don’t add too many bandwidth-taxing bells and whistles. Introduction pages that force you to click through to the real content can be a nuisance. Graphics and moving icons take longer to download and not everyone has the latest online technology. Design your site to accommodate the lowest tech users out there.

Search Optimization

Everyone wants to rank high on Google and other search engines. There are many ways to build a website that will rank better. When using general keywords related to your business in a search engine, where does your website pop up? This is one test to determine where your website ranks among the competition. Go from general to specific: “Twin Cities CPA” to “Twin Cities CP Manufacturing.” Or try “Personal Injury Lawyer Minnesota” and “Worker’s Compensation Lawyer Shakopee.”

You can boost the ranking of your website by doing several things. First, choose keywords that are unique to your business. Brainstorm these words and phrases in your website committee and make sure they are used frequently in your site content.

Try to establish external links to your website. Have your company name posted on organization websites to which you belong, contribute articles to trade sites, and allow relevant websites to link directly to yours. Just having your company name listed on another website can help boost your ranking.

Update your content regularly. At Google, fresh content is a key factor in moving sites they’ve recently discovered out of their “sandbox” to an official ranking.

Finally, have your website designer develop meta tags with your keywords in them. Meta tags are the words that show up at the top of each web page as well as the description of your site when it shows up in search engine results.

Design and Writing

It’s easy to pick out self-designed pages. The copy is bland and stilted like it was copied and pasted from multiple documents. Frequently, we find typos and bad grammar.

One thing we cannot emphasize enough is quality, from professional photos to design that is consistent with your brand. Hire a good photographer and ask for photos that show character. Visually appealing people with well-written bios, great quotes, and good credentials make a huge difference.

Use a professional writer who has experience with websites. It also helps if the writer understands your industry. Have that person write the sections that matter most: your Home Page, Services, and About Us. If you are having trouble recruiting, hire a writer to add some snap to your recruiting section. If your firm is moving into a construction niche, work with a writer to develop key messages and web content that makes your firm look like the logical choice.

Your website should be included in the budget for marketing and business development. Take it off the back burner. An old website can do more harm to your firm’s image today than ever before.