Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by definition is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high up on the list of results returned by a search engine such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. For the modern recruiter, getting candidate traffic to your company career page is so much more than just posting jobs. While it is necessary to give your candidates a great on-page experience by presenting them with a branded career page and intuitive apply process, you must also optimize the job seeker’s search experience by ensuring your jobs show up first on the results list. Here are 5 things you can do today to start getting more traffic:
1) Make Sure Your Job Titles are Relevant
Search Engines have built-in algorithms designed to find the most relevant information for the user in the shortest amount of time. Since job titles often rank high on the page due to their HTML title tag, make sure your job titles are clearly defined and easily understood by the job seeker. Leverage Glassdoor to research common industry job titles and find out what people are commonly searching for. While it might be tempting to try to attract the millennials with cute titles like “Sales Ninja” and “Chief People Officer,” those job titles are going to get buried on the job boards.
2) Make your Job Description Fresh and Engaging
This is a big one. On many job postings, applicants can see the date a job was either posted or last updated. Do not let this get stale, otherwise, you are more likely to see a higher bounce rate on this job page (and search engines look at bounce rate). Candidates already feel like they are going into a black hole when they apply to jobs, so why would they want to apply just to go to the bottom of the pile?
Additionally, your job description should be substantive by including key words and phrases that your users would be looking for so they are more likely to be engaged and stay on the page longer. Be smart about your keywords though. Don’t just stuff them into the job description without context; search engines can penalize you for that, and it takes time to work your way back up to the top.
3) Leverage Social Media to Link Back to Your Career Page
Believe it or not, this is a simple way to build site traffic and give your company’s website domain validity in the eyes of the search engines. By optimizing on multi-channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, it will build your social reputation and increase the likelihood of job shares on the networks, which means maximum exposure to your jobs. Multiply yourself by doing more with less.
4) Make Sure Your Job Postings are Easy to Navigate
Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and apply to one of your jobs. Ask yourself: Is the jobs page easy to find on your company website? How many clicks does it take to apply? Is the site safe and can it be trusted with my personal information? If your users get frustrated, it will surely affect your applicant conversion rate. Work with your web team and ATS vendor to make sure your career page is doing what it is intended to: help you capture candidate data and fill your jobs faster.
5) Be Authentic
Tell your story. Why should a candidate apply to your company? Recruiters are effectively selling your company and employer brand through the career page and job description. You are more likely to attract candidates who will be a good fit for your company, and be more likely to stay with your company in the long-run, by describing the role and company culture in detail.
Pereless Systems takes a consultative approach with our customers, which is why we are so much more than an Applicant Tracking System. We carefully design the career page with SEO techniques and the candidate experience in mind. With our built-in social media tools and simple mobile apply, you can feel confident that you aren’t just getting a world-class recruitment automation tool, but also leveraging the power of the social networks and job boards to ensure your site will rank high on the results list.