When you create a job posting, you have a clear goal: to have as many potential candidates view it as possible. The more people see the job posting, the higher the chances of finding the perfect match for the position.
You need to optimize your job posting so Google ranks it higher in the search results. In this article, we will go over the main tips for SEO for job postings that can help you improve your employer’s brand visibility and make your job posting and LinkedIn page more visible.
SEO for Job Postings
More than 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine, and this includes finding a job. Just like with any other search query, people usually pay attention to the top search results in Google. Thus, when someone is looking for a position, the higher the link is in the results, the higher the probability someone will open it. Therefore, the employer’s goal is to ensure that as many people as possible see their job postings on Google.
These days, the usage of SEO for job postings is not as popular a topic. With so many websites with job postings, it may seem impossible to promote your organization and find the perfect candidate. Indeed, it is not an easy task, but it’s more than possible if you use the search engine optimization tips we will talk about next.
If you learn how to do keyword research and use keywords properly, gain backlinks, create the right type of content for the job posting, and use catchy titles and job descriptions, your chances of ranking higher in Google search results will skyrocket. Moreover, you don’t have to do all the research manually.
These days, there are numerous tools for SEO analysis. For example, you can use the On-Page Checker by SE Ranking to evaluate your on-page metrics and compare them with your competitors. The tool suggests SEO and content improvement opportunities to increase the chances for your page to rank higher. Then you will be able to increase your employer’s brand visibility and get more visits to your job posting and LinkedIn pages.
Knowing how to gather and process data, plus having the proper tools at your disposal, gives you a competitive advantage. Business owners liked reading Google analytic alternative guides in 2023 and this isn’t going to change in 2024. Employers and recruiters should learn how to apply these tactics for better results.
Tips to Optimize Job Posts for Search
Now, let’s move on to the tips that will help you optimize your job posting so you can show it to more potential customers.
Write relevant metadata
The two fields that show up on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) are meta titles and meta descriptions. Thus, your first goal should be to make them relevant, simple, and straight to the point. That way, people looking for jobs will immediately know whether your job posting is relevant for them without even having to open the link.
Moreover, meta titles and meta descriptions allow you to interest the user and catch their attention. Adding keywords to your metatags will increase the chances of displaying relevant pages to the relevant job searches.
The meta title is the job posting title people will see on the SERP, and the meta description is the caption underneath the title. It is used to describe what the page is about. Remember that the meta title should be under 65 characters, and the meta description should be under 155 characters. Google will display them as needed without cropping them.
The thing is, you want your potential candidates to find everything quickly and know immediately whether it’s what they were looking for. Long titles could confuse people.
If you’re unsure of what to write, you can search for similar job openings on Google to see what other employers wrote in their meta titles and meta descriptions. However, remember not to copy others and write unique copies.
Create a visual experience
Nowadays, a web page consisting of only text without any visual elements or formatting is less likely to attract visitors. With such fierce competition, you need to go the extra mile to attract potential candidates, and simple text is not enough anymore.
The visual experience is important for both website visitors and search engines. Just as people like engaging content, search engines tend to value pages that are readable to humans and have clear formatting.
When writing content for your job offering, keep the formatting in mind. Don’t put all the information into huge blocks of text that aren’t readable. Instead, break information into smaller pieces, use bullet points and bold text, and keep it concise.
People should find your text not only informative but also visually pleasing. If they see a giant job description without any highlights, bullet points, or paragraphs, they won’t read it.
Use Search Optimized URLs
Your job posting URL matters. Here are a few tips on how to create a search-optimized URL for your website:
- Keep it simple. According to Google, “A site’s URL structure should be as simple as possible.” Thus, your URL should be short so that people can remember it easily and return to it even without adding it to bookmarks.
- Take out any extra words. Words that add little or no meaning to your URL should be deleted. For example, you don’t need to use words like “that” or “and”.
- Include relevant keywords. Google and other search engines, as well as people, can learn about your job offering content through the keywords in the URL. For example, if it’s a UI/UX designer position, include that keyword in the URL.
- Make it readable. Your URL should be easy to read and understand. This means that the URL should still make sense after you delete any unnecessary words and add the main keywords.
- Use hyphens. To make the URL readable, separate the words with hyphens. Don’t squish a lot of words together, and don’t use underscores to separate them.
Following these tips and making your job posting URL SEO-friendly will help increase click-through rates and trustworthiness and make search results more meaningful.
Using structured data
Another way to optimize your job posts to get noticed on Google is to use structured data. Structured data is a set of information that is structured in a way that helps search engines like Google understand the context of your web page content. It is different from the information that people see on the page. In this case, structured data is a set of code that tells browsers how information should appear on the page.
According to Google, adding structured data can elicit rich results, which are search results that are more engaging to users and might encourage them to interact more with your website. Pages with rich results have higher click-through rates than pages without them.
Remember to follow structured data guidelines for job posts if you want more people to interact with your job posts.
Include an FAQ section
When done right, an FAQ section can provide people with valuable content and attract more visitors to your job post page.
Your FAQ can bring a lot of value if it is optimized for relevant keywords, designed properly, and answers important questions your candidates may have. This way, you can convince candidates to stay on your site longer to give you their contact details or join your company.
When providing answers to questions, start by researching what people are interested in when looking for similar positions. For example, if you’re hiring a Project Manager, people might ask what the responsibilities of a PM are. Make sure to include the responsibilities a person would have at your exact place of work.