Why is SEO important for human resources?
Posted by: Mansour Baker
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing a web page ranking in an online search. There are plenty of general SEO resources out there, but the focus is on SEO for human resources, and what should be done to give your HR web pages better visibility.
Did you know that Google processes over 5 billion searches per day (Internetlivestats)?
Google for Jobs
There is no central job listing like Google for Jobs, which brings together job postings from across the web, whether they're on websites run by businesses or job boards with thousands of listings. Never have we had access to such an array of job postings under one roof!
One of the first things job seekers do is to simply run a Google search of their desired job title, and location.
The best part…wait for it….you don’t have to pay for these tools, as you can get them for free from Google.
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Why is SEO important for human resources?
If you are looking to attract candidates, then yes, SEO should matter to you. Good search engine optimization means better visibility in online searches, and higher views on your job postings. Optimizing for relevant keywords means people searching with those terms will find your job more easily and your content will get boosted to the top of searches.
Tip: Google Trends is a tool that allows you to check data on the volume for certain keyword searches. This can be useful when looking at HR trends across various regions and languages.
How to add structured data?
The Google Markup Helper is designed to help you implement structured data on your site. One of the cool tools available is job posting which is specifically for Human Resources.
Structured data is information organized that helps to serve search results. Structured data markup is a universally language format that helps search engines understand and return the best results for users who are searching for relevant data. Schema markup is the foremost type of markup that Google is using to deliver results.
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Job Postings Structured Data
You can improve the job seeking experience by adding Job Posting structured data to your HR web pages. Adding structured data makes your job postings eligible to appear in a special user experience in Google Search results as shown in exhibit 1.
Pay close attention to the job title, consider your own industry, and use specific words to each role instead of generic terms. The more useful your job description is to a candidate, the better it will be for SEO.
Job Training Structured Data
The job training experience on Google Search helps people discover a new career path and acquire skills for their next job.
Pathways is a new feature within Google Search that helps job seekers find local training programs that prepare them for in-demand jobs in their communities.
When people search for things like “entry-level jobs” or “job training” on Google, they’ll be able to find jobs that are in demand, discover local training programs to prepare them for those jobs, and compare program costs and outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Structured Data
A Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page contains a list of questions and answers pertaining to a topic. For example, how can I apply for a position? followed by the answer. This can be especially useful for HR in dealing with Q&A and commonly asked questions.
Test your results
Submit your URL page to Google Rich Results and it will show which rich result types were found on the page, as well as any errors or suggestions for your structured data.
SEO Considerations
- What happens to the page link once a job post has been filled?
- What happens to the training course link after the training?
- What does the user see?
These are links that are no longer active. If they are shown a default 404 page not found error, this is bad practice, and it doesn’t help the job seeker or a person seeking training.
Any job post or training course that is removed from a site should show a message explaining that the job or training course is no longer active, along with options to go to other relevant web pages or you can use a 301 redirect if it's permanently changed.
Ensure you optimize your website for mobile. As of 2019, mobile devices generated about half of all website traffic globally (Statista 2020).