All jobs posted to Careerleaf-powered job boards use the structured data formatting – called JobPosting Schema – that Google for Jobs uses to recognize and display job posts. That means that jobs posted to Careerleaf-powered job boards in the US are being indexed and displayed in Google for Jobs search results.
A Background on Google for Jobs
Before Google for Jobs: Job posts were indexed by Google and showed up in search results, but weren’t categorized specifically as job posts. They were equal to any other webpage as far as the type of content – unlike images or news articles, which Google may identify as belonging to a different category of content in search results.
After Google for Jobs: When someone searches for “front-end development jobs NYC”, Google search results will display a section devoted to Google’s new job search tool. You can click through to explore Google for Jobs, and the jobs listed there use the same search terms you entered into the regular Google search, but restricts the results to only job posts from across the web. The jobs have a uniform look and feel with the job title, company name, contract type, job location, and the job’s source name (such as your job board).
How Do Jobs Get Listed in Google for Jobs? Any page on the web that isn’t specifically telling search engines not to index it, is being indexed by Google in the general sense. What is different now is that job post pages that use a special kind of formatting (called structured data for jobs or JobPosting Schema) will be recognized by Google as being the type of content called a job post, and relevant searches will display those jobs in Google for Jobs search results.
What Job Boards Need To Do
If you’re already partnered with Careerleaf or your solution uses the structured data markup that Google for Jobs requires, remember that there is more to the story and the role that you play when it comes to your jobs.
SEO and Google for Jobs are awesome, but they’re not magic. Google for Jobs has carved out what looks like a pretty convenient pathway for job seekers to find jobs, and it is exciting to see how job boards will benefit.
However, Google for Jobs and technical SEO alone will not deliver those job seekers to you unless you also pay attention to these key elements:
1. Quality Job Content
Jobs are what people are looking for most of all, so you need to have them, and the better they are, the better the results. The jobs you publish need to be valuable, relevant, and unique enough to show up.
If all your job content has been posted on twenty other job boards and aggregators, the version of that job that exists on your job board may not be top of the pile unless it’s somehow better or more complete.
2. Engaging Job Seekers
If somebody finds your job through Google, that’s great. But what happens once they get there?
You need to concern yourself with what their experience is beyond that point – whether or not they apply, register with you, and whether they explore other jobs and content on your job board. How do you engage with that job seeker once they leave your site?
3. Value Beyond Jobs
Part of minimizing the number of “done-in-one” job seekers, who visit your board once to view or apply for one job and then disappear forever, is providing value beyond just jobs.
Content like advice, resources, and articles on careers and employers on your job board will not only help you get found in the plain old regular Google search results (which is still very important!), it also provides job seekers more reasons to stick around and stay connected.
4. Having a Niche
Where does your job board fit in? The advantage that you have over big sites like Indeed and LinkedIn is that you can focus on a particular market and specialize in the jobs, companies, and careers found there.
Once you have that focus, it’s important to spell it out in all the places that make a difference. This means using keywords and phrases that help differentiate you, and can be included in your content, in page names, taglines, social media, and meta titles and descriptions.
Continuing to test and research what jobs and candidates people are looking for in your niche will help you evolve and optimize your content and marketing.
Got questions about Careerleaf and Google for Jobs? Get in touch.