Google has shifted the digital recruiting sphere to focus on candidates, which is why it is important to optimize your job posts for Google ranking. With its new Google for Jobs function, full transparency is key in earning a high ranking, which results in more views to your job post and ideally, more applications from qualified candidates.
Unlike job boards, Google for Jobs is not a pay to play space. Instead, Google pulls content from your careers page, job boards and anywhere else your posting may be featured online. Job seekers can then search and apply for open positions directly from the Google search bar.
For instance, if you type “sales manager jobs” into Google Search, a box will populate with jobs that match these search terms from various online sources. The key is to get your listed jobs to appear in this search box so candidates will see your posting, front and center during their search. We’ve outlined a few tips to help your job post rank higher in Google Search.
Integrate with Google
The surest way to ensure your job listings are eligible to show up on Google for Jobs is to post your openings on job boards that have already integrated with Google. The big players include Facebook, Linkedin, ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor.
You can also make sure your website is directly integrated with Google by editing the HTML of your job postings. You may need assistance from a developer to get this done, or you can check out the technical guide from Google here if you feel brave enough to tackle this alone. It’s also essential to post your job listings on a dedicated careers page on your website that houses all of your listings. If you don’t have a careers page, or lack the ability to easily update the one you have, VIZI can create dedicated careers pages that can be live and functioning in a matter of days.
Be as detailed as possible
In each job post, it is essential to be as detailed as possible and utilize important keywords throughout your descriptions for SEO value. Here are important elements to include in each job description:
- Salary
- Including salaries on job postings isn’t common, which is exactly why you should include it. If your competitors are including salaries on their job postings, they’re ranking higher. If you’re not comfortable with one dollar figure, a salary range is a good replacement.
- Location
- If your job posting is for an office position, this is likely a non-issue. However, if the job position is remote or requires frequent travel, it is still essential to include a complete address. Since Google focuses on the searchers, job posts with addresses will automatically rank higher due to proximity. This is especially important if you’re in an area or industry with many job openings.
- Skills, Responsibilities and Requirements
- Being specific about skills, responsibilities and requirements is crucial for SEO. Keywords should be relevant to the actual job as well as the industry. For example, if someone searches “entry-level public relations jobs near me,” including “entry-level” and “public relations” in your post will make it seen by the searcher.
Stay consistent
Google for Jobs searches all the sites your job post is available for application. If your opening is on multiple job boards, it is important to stay consistent with the content as Google crawls all of the pages to aggregate content. Posting your job to many job boards doesn’t automatically increase ranking, however, it definitely improves the user experience. It is also important to note that Google will pull from your company website first, which again emphasizes the importance of having all of your jobs featured on a dedicated careers page.