An overhaul of design and functionality in Michael Page’s career website in Singapore led to a 50% increase in mobile application rates, winning the firm gold at the inaugural Asia Recruitment Awards, Singapore.

Silver at the awards ceremony, which was judged by directors of HR from across the region, was shared by JobStreet.com and Aspire Singapore, while the bronze went to Renaissance Management Services.

Michael Page’s website project, titled NextGen, started with the aim of improving usability for clients and candidates, with the expectation that this would translate directly into increased revenue.

Some of the key improvements included a more responsive layout, smarter job searches, strengthening SEO, and integration with social media.

“We conducted research prior to beginning the project, which ensured we had a good vision, a solid plan, excellent technical partners and company buy-in – a good blueprint for future implementations,” stated the company.

The actual implementation took place within the planned deadline, with few bugs encountered. Throughout this time, regular regular project meetings with key members of each team in order to ensure tracking to target.

Upon launch, the website was promoted internally and externally, which helped build engagement, but also provided feedback. As an additional benefit, the content team was also enabled to showcase blog, report and career content on the homepage and throughout the website.

Singapore’s NextGen website was, in fact, the first to launch globally within PageGroup. The new look and feel saw a 12% increase in application rate, as well as a 26% increase in job search activity on the site (measured by keyword search and browsing).