Have you just posted a job online? And do you want to attract a diverse group of candidates? Find the best possible candidate? Then your job needs to be easy to find online. You’ll need search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve this. Because using SEO in job descriptions makes them findable in search engines like Google and Bing. Do you want to reach as many people as possible? Then your job ads need to be easy to find for everyone.
But how do you optimize your job descriptions for SEO? Read about the dos and don’ts below.
Keywords dos and don’ts
Keywords are an important part of SEO. They are the words people use to search on search engines. So, SEO in job descriptions means you use keywords in your ad that are related to the job. What keywords will people search for? Those are the ones to use. There are also tools you can use to help choose the best keywords. Use these keywords a number of times in your job description. And don’t forget to mention them in the title and some headings.
Don’t stuff your job descriptions with keywords. Search engines notice it when you repeat them to many times. This will have a bad impact on your ranking. Mentioning your keywords once or twice per paragraph is enough.
Readability dos and don’ts
Readability is important for readers and search engines. Long lists of nice-to-have qualifications in job descriptions confuse candidates. Just like walls of text without spaces and bullets do. For search engines, these are a don’t as well. Instead, you should create brief job descriptions with clear headings.
You do want to create a visual experience. Search engines don’t just look at written content. They also value pages that are visually attractive. Just like readers do.
Job titles dos and don’ts
What you don’t want to do is write a complicated job title. It’s tempting to create a fun or lengthy job title. But people probably won’t search for those on search engines. The result? Potential candidates won’t be able to find your job ad. Do you want to score with SEO in job descriptions? Then you need to keep your job titles short and simple.
Something else that you need to do is rely on local SEO. You need to add a location as SEO keyword to your job title. People often add the place they want to work in or near to their search query. So do mention the location with your keyword a couple of times. It’s an SEO tactic that can significantly increase the findability of your job ad.
SEO in job descriptions and Textmetrics
The Textmetrics platform has a special recruitment module for SEO in job descriptions. It helps you do several things. Like writing job ads that are optimized for SEO. And descriptions that don’t exclude anyone, but include the right job motivators. And job ads that are perfect for Google for Jobs. You’ll end up with job descriptions that are easy to find online. Just what you need to attract a diverse group of talented candidates.