Blog Post: Is video right for your recruitment website?
Author: Emily Buckley
Website: RecWebs
Status: 🌱 Draft | 🕑 Scheduled | ☑️ Published
Publish Date: dd/mm/yyyy

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Title: Is video right for your recruitment website?


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Online video is everywhere. Scroll through any of your social media channels and a huge amount of the content will be in the form of video. Multinational technology conglomerate Cisco has recently forecasted that online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022 and tech review website tech.co has listed video content as one of the six biggest social media trends of 2021. Video has undeniably become a huge trend in content marketing but is it right for your recruitment website? 

According to the Content Marketing Institute, website users are around ten times more likely to engage with video content than any other form of media. However, video isn’t right for every business or every website. Consider your demographic, the quality of video you can produce, whether you have the time to invest in it, and how video would work with the other content on your website before you decide whether it is the right media for you.  

Pros of video on websites

Increased engagement
Visitors engaging with your content rather than passively scrolling is likely to increase your conversion rate massively. If they’re engaged, they’re more invested and they will stay on your page for longer. Search engines recognise and reward this with higher rankings as it means the page has value so it can be great for SEO purposes. Engaging visitors through video will mean they are more likely to seek out further information on your website. Including video interviews with leaders in the industry you recruit within, advice for candidates, or helpful webinars can be far more engaging than solely publishing written content - if done in the right way. For the biggest impact, written and video content should work together.  

Increased approachability 
Incorporating videos onto your homepage, About Us, and/or Meet the Team pages gives you greater opportunity to inject personality and strengthen your brand. The ability to show rather than just tell potential clients and candidates why they should work with you rather than any other recruitment agency has huge value. You are far more likely to connect with a visitor to your website via a personable video than through words alone and that connection is so important in recruitment. Done right, video can create trust and bridge that gap between your digital persona and potential clients and candidates.   

Cons of video on websites

Accessibility issues
Technological developments have meant that video content is more accessible than ever before but there are still many who have poor or unreliable internet connections, especially those living rurally. Accessing quality video via mobile may be harder, especially if you are travelling in and out of hot spots. Given RecWebs data has shown that 43% of visits to recruitment websites are via a mobile device, that is a huge consideration. Depending on the quality of your internet, videos can cause page load speeds to drop dramatically which could be enough for a user to click away onto another site. RecWebs data has also found that the bounce rate increases by 32% at just 2 seconds, rising to 123% probability of bounce at 10 seconds, which is 0.3 seconds from the average time a recruitment website takes to fully load. And there is the issue of disability accessibility to consider. Having a fully accessible recruitment website will ensure that you are not limiting your reach and, by extension, your talent pool. 

Not everyone is a fan of video
It’s important to consider the ways in which visitors to recruitment websites prefer to consume content. Although data suggests that a huge number engage more with video content, much of that number will be consumers browsing different lifestyle brands. Those searching for information and news-based content may prefer to read text in order to quickly find what they’re looking for. According to data from the Reuters Institute and Oxford University, 41% of millennial media consumers prefer reading news content to watching video, claiming it's faster and more convenient. If, for example, a candidate arrives at your website wanting to find whether you recruit in their geographical area or at their level, they will want to scan your text for the answer rather than sit through a video.

The 6 different types of video for recruitment websites 

Brand videos - In recruitment, your people are your business. Videos that showcase them and the way your team works with both clients and candidates can be powerful. Consider embedding these on your About Us or Meet the Team pages as a way for visitors to make those connections that a static website would struggle to achieve.

Event videos - Attending an exhibition or hosting your own event? You could either livestream or provide a highlights video - or both!

How-tos - Videos offering helpful advice can be great for both candidates and clients. Consider a series on interview techniques or CV writing for candidates, or flip it and record a video on how to conduct an interview and what to look for in a CV for clients. Not only do these provide value, they establish your expertise, knowledge and credibility.

Testimonial videos - Testimonials are an incredibly valuable marketing tool. They build brand credibility and convert leads. Video testimonials can be even more powerful as they humanise the words and increase trust. Watching a happy client or candidate talk about your services is more compelling than reading their words on a screen.

News videos - Won an award? Let the world know! Recruited someone new? Introduce them. Moved premises? Give a tour. Fundraising? Show your charitable work. Attending a big event? Share details, build excitement and invite clients. 

Background videos - These play behind the text on a page and create atmosphere, establishing a certain mood for your website rather than delivering information. It is vital they don’t distract from the information being displayed but rather play subtly in the background for effect.