We’re all familiar with Google. The largest search engine in the world, Google is used daily by almost everyone for any and all needs. This is no different when considering something like searching for a job. While job boards like ZipRecruiter are a powerful tool for a job search, Google is often the first place a candidate might start their research.

Many recruiters and HR reps make the mistake of not utilizing Google as a hiring tool. But when thinking of Google for jobs and hiring, what can you be doing to improve your hiring search?

It seems beneficial to put together a guide and process of best practices for hiring with Google. Unlike using a job board service like ZipRecruiter, hiring with Google requires a bit more optimizing, testing, and manual work in order to get visibility to your job postings.

The core difference with using Google though is it’s completely free and is typically the first step in a potential candidate’s job search. So below are some tips and things to focus on to ensure your job posts are getting the visibility they need through Google for jobs.

 

What is Google for Jobs?

Although “Google for Jobs” might sound like a recruiting job board, it’s not. Google for Jobs is an enhanced search feature within’ the standard Google search engine. It works to aggregate listings from job boards and career sites so that they’re clear and accessible for Google users. This means that a job listing shown via Google for Jobs can have wide visibility and tons of quality interaction.

How to Get Your Job Posting on to Google for Jobs

Since you can’t post your job ad directly to Google, you’ll need to work in line with Google’s algorithm. With Google for Jobs, results are aggregated from job boards and career pages. This means that if you want to get your listing onto Google, you’ll need to add your listing with either of these options:

Using a Job Board

The simplest way to get your listing on Google is using a job board platform. Because Google is a search tool, their system pulls and listings from third-party sites. This means if you are using a site like ZipRecruiter, Monster, or Indeed your listing has the potential to show up on Google already.

But there are additional things you can do through your job listing to help get on to Google:

• Location – Ensure your location and hiring area are correct on your posting. Because Google uses keyword searches to provide results, location is key. If you’re hiring in Bellevue, WA for example, you’ll want to make sure you post your listing for Bellevue and not Seattle. This ensures your listing will populate for searches like “sales jobs in Bellevue”.
• Job and Company Details – Try to highlight important keywords in your job listing. Think of common keywords that are both descriptive of the job and something a candidate would search for. Examples would be: “jobs for communication majors” or “small business finance jobs”.

Using a Company Career Page

With the increased usage of third-party job boards like ZipRecruiter, company career pages are becoming an afterthought. But without a careers page, your visibility is limited on search engines like Google.

That’s because Google will feature your careers page if it’s in line with what the searcher is looking for. So to ensure you are getting organic visibility via Google, try following these tips:

• Optimizing for Google – Having a careers page isn’t enough to be listed and ranked on Google. You’ll need to make sure your site is integrated properly to be indexable by Google. Follow Google’s best practices for SEO, including using proper keywords, formatting, and linking.
• Add Structured Data – Adding JobPosting structured data to your site’s job posting web pages makes you identifiable and eligible to appear in Google for Jobs search results. This is a must if you want to show up on Google’s search features.
• Create a Sitemap – Sitemaps are used to provide information about pages, videos, and files on your site. They also explain the relationship between all of these variables. With a sitemap, Google’s bots can easily crawl your site and listings, making them recognizable to be added to Google’s search features.

More Advice About Google for Jobs

On top of this, make sure you are optimizing your postings to improve ranking on Google for Jobs. Use the Google Search Console platform to track analytics and performance for your listings. This information will give you what you need to help increase visibility for your posting and your site.

Need more job recruiting advice? Take a look at some of the other recruiting platforms we’ve reviewed.