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If you’re going to start recruiting like it’s 2024 you better have yourself a fancy, hi tech website...I mean, look at all those awesome space age graphics, marketing slogans, and HD videos...that’s sure to draw police officer applicants in, right? If your head is shaking up and down right now...you really need to see the rest of this newsletter...keep reading! 👀
Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, we’re talking police recruiting websites and the 5 essential elements your page must have if you want your visitors to become...your applicants. ✋
OK...like you, I’ve seen all the fancy hi tech police recruiting websites popping up all over the place. I’ve gotten the sales calls and emails and Instagram messages from website and video designers wanting to partner up, so they can use their skills to help our recruiting. 📽️
When you visit their websites or look at their demos, things look great and you’re going to be blown away by how awesome everything looks. And because they look so amazing and modern you begin to justify the often times ridiculously high cost associated with them, as being a necessary cost of doing business. 🤷♂️🤷♀️
Now...the recruiting video and website companies aren’t going to like this very much, and if you’ve already spent a ton of money with one you might want to make sure you’re sitting down...but the simple fact of the matter is...you don’t need a fancy hi tech website to be effective in police recruiting. In fact, you’re probably turning more people away than attracting them. 😳
Here’s why.
Hop on a computer and take a look at any police agency website that has purchased one of these high dollar website packages. Again, looks phenomenal at first. Now...do the same thing on a cell phone...you know, the tool that most of your police officer recruit aged applicants are going to be using. Suddenly not so awesome. 😑
There’s a lot going on and those same motion graphics, videos, and self-scrolling elements now on a smaller screen really bog things down and overwhelm a user. Translation = their going bye-bye and leaving your site. 👋
How do I know simpler is better? My agency had the most boring, basic website for the first 6 or 7 years of my recruiting career and then upgraded to a slightly more modern, yet boring and basic inexpensive website for the past 5. The results? Record number of hires over the past few years. 📈
I’ll tell you why by asking you a question. Do you buy a car because you saw an awesome, graphic laced commercial for it? No...you buy a car because you sat in it, drove it around the block and like the way it feels. 💯
So, if you want your website visitors to start testing driving your agency, drop the fancy graphics and hi tech looks and incorporate these 5 simple elements into a basic website. 👇
1. Rotating Job Ad banners at the top of the home page.
This is such a simple and basic feature of any website and will cost you next to nothing to produce. People often come to your site just to apply. So, make it easy for them to do so. Just a simple banner ad, with a smiling face, position you are hiring for and the words ‘click here to apply’ will do it. 😁
Now, before you say I can’t have rotating banners, Tom, I only have one job open right now...let me tell you a trick that will help you. If you are hiring police officers, you can have four banners up at all times. Police officer recruit, in-state lateral police officer, out of state lateral police officer and one that says ‘click here to see all of our open positions’. 🤯
It doesn’t matter if all three police positions go to the same application and the open positions one does the same...having the banners split up makes applicants feel like you are looking for them, whatever their situation is. 🫵
2. Smiling Faces
I’ve talked about this a million times, and I’m going to talk about it a million times more before I’m done. Smiling faces equate happiness. Super serious faces put off an image of misery. Look, do me a quick favor. Visit BeGPD.com. That’s our super basic website that converts eyeballs into applicants. Scroll down the home page, and really any page you want to, and take notice of all of the smiling faces one after another. That’s what I’m talking about. ✔️
If you want more people to be interested in your agency, you better show them that the ones who work there enjoy it. 👍
3. Employment Process page
The number one question applicants have about applying for an agency is what are the steps involved...what do I have to do? Don’t make them ask you in person. Again, this is such a simple page to create, will cost you nothing to do, and you don’t need to overwhelm anyone with anything fancy. 😎
Remember...they’re looking for basic information...give them basic information. If I go to the grocery store and ask the produce guy if this melon is ripe enough to eat right now, I don’t need him to show me a video of advanced melon production or to sell me on why this melon is setting the standard all other melons look to. I just need him to say ‘yeah’ or ‘no’...do the same. 🍈
4. FAQ page
This is another really easy page to implement into your basic police recruiting website and will save you a ton of questions in your inbox later. Get your whole recruiting group together for a meeting and think of all the most frequently asked questions you get when you’re out at testing, at a job fair, or talking to your applicants. 👥
Then, take the most common ones and answer them on your FAQ page. Super simple. 🙌
5. Contact page with pictures
This, seemingly basic and boring page, is actually one of the most critical you can have on a police recruiting website, and you better get it right if you want your applicants to make a connection with your agency. ⚡
List everyone in your unit that can answer questions about recruiting on the page with their title, first and last name, email address or phone number to contact them, and picture featuring...a smiling face. 😃😃😃
What happens is, and this is basic human nature, applicants will visit this page, scroll through all the pictures and search for the person who speaks to them visually. It could be because they remind them of themselves or someone they know, yes, that they find the person attractive, or even just because the person in the picture looks like a nice person. 😇
This subliminal and gut feeling connection starts the relationship building process off on a positive note. Make sure to give your audience options and remember...it doesn’t matter why they chose the person to contact...it’s just important that they do. 🧠
Ok, there you go...ditch the fanciness and make sure to get these basic elements into your police recruiting website to start converting visitors into applicants. 🧲
Need more tips on how to start recruiting like it’s 2024 without dumping endless dollars on recruiting solutions that don’t work? 🙋♂️🙋♀️
My Road to Better Recruiting course is now open and I can’t wait to teach you everything you need to know to get started. I’m super excited to bring you this course and you can see everything you’re going to learn on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr. Buckle up...and get ready to turn things around! 🚀
Hey, do you have a friend at another agency who needs to see these website tips too? Share this video with them so they can avoid spending a bunch of money on something they don’t need! Trust me, they’ll be stoked that you did. 🤝
Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing, or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. ⛑
Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃
Tom
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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.
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