Using SEO In Job Postings: How To Make The Greatest Impact?

Improve your talent acquisition with SEO

The release of Google for Jobs monumentally simplified finding opportunities for job seekers across the US. It has since improved the job search for talent in Canada, India, Spain, parts of Africa and, most recently, the UK. Instead of looking through dozens of websites to identify vacancies, job seekers can just turn to their trusted search engine, Google, to scour the internet for their perfect job.
 

While this has added an element of ease to the search process for talent, it also introduced a new factor most talent acquisition and hiring professionals aren’t familiar with: SEO.
 
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is traditionally used by marketers. But now, you have to understand how search engines work to ensure the best candidates are finding your job listings. This means adjusting how you approach writing and posting your vacancies.
 
At first, this can be overwhelming. But once you start thinking like a search engine, your job listings will be at the top of all the results pages. Here is how to get started with optimizing your job posts: 

Search engine optimization is the process of using tactics to move web content up on search engine results pages. Sites like Google and Bing “read” web pages looking for signifiers about what information they contain and how credible the source is.
 
Without getting into all the gritty details, search engines look at factors such as how long people spend on a web page, whether it’s linked to from content elsewhere on the internet, and how often keywords are used. The search engine ranks web pages by this information. Then results show sites that are closest to a user’s query starting at the top.
 
In practice, this matters a great deal because people rarely scroll past the first page of results. Quite simply, if your job postings are optimized, they appear toward the top of Google’s results and lead to more job seekers seeing them. 

Keywords are the foundation of any SEO strategy. It's imperative you know what words and phrases candidates are searching so you can use them effectively in your job postings. The trick is in discovering what keywords candidates use when looking for the kind of roles you have open.
 
A good place to start your research is a free keyword tool. Create a list of different ways to describe the job. For example, marketing specialist, marketer, and marketing manager could all signify the same position. You need to see which version is the most popular keyword with job seekers now. Keep in mind, this could change over time so be sure to check your keywords each time you update your listings.
 
A good tool will tell you how many times the keyword is searched for and how much competition there is to rank for that phrase online. You want to identify job keywords that have a high search volume and low competition. Finding that sweet spot will increase the odds of ranking high on the first page of search results.
 
It’s also helpful to get feedback from candidates who apply for your positions. During the hiring process, ask how they searched for and found the role. This will help you refine your list of keywords so you can target the right candidates. 

Results pages are compiled based on how you use keywords. For example, when you use a certain keyword more often, search engines conclude the web page is more closely related to that topic.

Other factors that increase ranking for specific keywords include:

Dwell time is the amount of time a person spends looking at a web page after clicking it on the search engine results. The rationale is the longer a person views the page, the more relevant it is to their search. If numerous people immediately back out to the resulting page, the search engine will move the listing further down because it’s not a good match to the keyword.
 
With job listings, the best way to increase dwell time is by including all the information job seekers want to really know in an easily digestible format where they can find it immediately within your listing. If they have to leave the page to research salary and benefits, for example, it hurts the post rank.
 
Go into details about the company. Provide an overview of the culture and the organization’s values and missions. Just be sure all the information is useful and interesting without going overboard. If job seekers click on your posting and find thousands of words, you’ll overwhelm them and they’ll return to the search engine. 

There’s a debate about whether search engines weigh social signals -- or how a web page is shared on social media. Google has repeatedly said they do not consider social signals. But there have been studies that found a strong correlation between how much a web page is shared on social media and where it ranks on results pages.
 
Take advantage of this impact on ranking by sharing your job listings on your social profiles. One great approach to getting your listings shared and seen by more talent is incorporating social sharing into your employee referral program. Encourage current employees to post the job listings on their social media. This increases unique social signals on the post while spreading it to more job seekers. 

Since 2017, Google has rewarded web pages that are mobile-friendly. People regularly use mobile devices to search for information, and search engines want to make sure top results can be viewed from a phone or other mobile device.
 
When deciding which job boards to use, find out how mobile-friendly each platform is. Consider more than whether your listings can be viewed on a smartphone. Look at the full user experience. Job boards that are easy to use and visually appealing will lead to much higher dwell times.
 
Don’t forget about your career page. Work with your web developer to make it mobile-friendly. Then view it through the eyes of a job seeker to determine if it’s engaging and sends the right message about your roles. If the text is too small or the images take forever to load, talent will quickly abandon the job listing.
 
Search engines are a huge part of our lives. They’re our primary access to immediate information. Make sure you’re not limiting the number of job seekers who see your listings. By making these small adjustments, you’ll see large improvements to your talent acquisition strategy.