If your company hopes to recruit potential employees of quality its web
site must be easily found by job seekers. Unfortunately, many web pages
designed to recruit workers are invisible to search engines.
You may think that most people look for jobs through large collective sites such as Monster.com or Craigslist, but the truth is that hundreds of millions of searches a month are made with regular search engines. Most commonly entered requests will include a word like “job, “career,” or “position;” the type of work desired; and a geographic location. This information can help you design a web site that job seekers can find.
Hidden Recruiting Pages
Job listings are often invisible to search engine robots. For example, if your organization uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), an internet search may not find your company’s list. You will need to instruct your web manager to modify what files the robot can index.
If your job postings are accessed through a search box, they are also invisible. Someone would first need to specifically come to your site and find your postings page. Pages behind a login are not indexed either.
A simple way to discover what pages on your site are being indexed is to perform this test using Google. Into the search box, type Site: and then copy the URL of your job listings page. This will return a list of the only pages which searchers can find.
Good Keywords
It’s critical to build your recruitment site with keywords that potential employees use when they search.
- Be specific. Never use generic phrases across all your job and career listings.
- Searchers rarely look for a specific company, be sure to list specific job functions.
- List specific locations with city names, metro areas, state and zip code. Spell the words out.
- Don’t use abbreviations only, no matter how well known the lingo may be in your field.
- Create short phrases as well as single keywords. These are ranked higher in most searches.
Using Coding
- Make good use of the title and description tags. Place strong and specific keywords there.
- Create backlinks. Link to your career pages from a company blog or other places on the web site.
Don’t be fooled by a professional-looking but invisible recruitment page. Take the time to ensure that your company’s openings are being found by good applicants.
You may think that most people look for jobs through large collective sites such as Monster.com or Craigslist, but the truth is that hundreds of millions of searches a month are made with regular search engines. Most commonly entered requests will include a word like “job, “career,” or “position;” the type of work desired; and a geographic location. This information can help you design a web site that job seekers can find.
Hidden Recruiting Pages
Job listings are often invisible to search engine robots. For example, if your organization uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), an internet search may not find your company’s list. You will need to instruct your web manager to modify what files the robot can index.
If your job postings are accessed through a search box, they are also invisible. Someone would first need to specifically come to your site and find your postings page. Pages behind a login are not indexed either.
A simple way to discover what pages on your site are being indexed is to perform this test using Google. Into the search box, type Site: and then copy the URL of your job listings page. This will return a list of the only pages which searchers can find.
Good Keywords
It’s critical to build your recruitment site with keywords that potential employees use when they search.
- Be specific. Never use generic phrases across all your job and career listings.
- Searchers rarely look for a specific company, be sure to list specific job functions.
- List specific locations with city names, metro areas, state and zip code. Spell the words out.
- Don’t use abbreviations only, no matter how well known the lingo may be in your field.
- Create short phrases as well as single keywords. These are ranked higher in most searches.
Using Coding
- Make good use of the title and description tags. Place strong and specific keywords there.
- Create backlinks. Link to your career pages from a company blog or other places on the web site.
Don’t be fooled by a professional-looking but invisible recruitment page. Take the time to ensure that your company’s openings are being found by good applicants.
