Lack of online traffic and candidate conversion are the critical issues that trouble many recruitment sites today. However, even with the stiff competition, it’s always possible for a small recruitment website to outrank even the larger ones. It may take some planning, but you can engage more candidates if you implement the right strategy.  Your success in providing qualified candidates can also attract more clients for your business. This is the reason your recruitment website requires an effective SEO strategy. This article contains some useful recruitment SEO tips you can use.

Applicable SEO strategies for recruitment

1. Find the keywords that candidates use in their job searches

Keywords will help your recruitment website appear in the search engine results. So when a candidate searches for a job using your pages, keywords play a critical role in your site’s success.

To find suitable words and phrases for your recruitment board, consider using the tools from Google (Keyword Planner) or Bing (Keyword Research Tools). They help you gauge the popularity and competitiveness of your chosen keywords. Then you can decide if it’s worth the effort to include it within your content. 

2. Ensure that your site content is helpful and truthful

If you want your message to reach both your potential candidates and clients, you need to communicate it effectively. Impress them with words and stir their emotions. However, don’t mislead them or make statements that you can’t fulfil. Your content should be something that readers can trust.    

3. Include local SEO in your recruitment strategy

Recruitment websites can reach anyone in the world. However, if you’re offering jobs in a specific location, make sure to use local SEO. Even if you’re offering jobs all over the country, it’s essential to create pages specifically for local employment. It can help attract candidates living nearby, especially if they are the ones that the client prefers. 

4. Write a job description that candidates will find relevant and trustworthy

Job descriptions can persuade candidates if the position is the right one for them. Many recruiters don’t mind copy-pasting the posts from other sites offering similar positions. However, since the content has already been published, Google may flag your site for plagiarism. To avoid possible penalties, you need original and relevant job descriptions. 

5. Share the job postings in various social media channels

Aside from search engines, social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, are also essential in your recruitment efforts. You can persuade site visitors to ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ your page and spread it to other potential candidates and clients. With social media, you can build relationships with your target audience. Another great thing about obtaining shares in social media is the cost – it’s free.

6. Optimise job listings based on your candidate’s preferences

Here’s one of the most crucial recruitment SEO tips you should consider. As a recruiter, you need to optimise your page based on your candidates’ taste and preferences. Of course, you’ll need to conduct some research to find out what those are. Once you have them, make sure to include them in the description.

For instance, if you’re posting an accountant’s position in London, you need to know how candidates will use the search engines to find your pages. People from certain regions may have specific styles in entering queries in search engines. If this is the case, you need to know what your potential candidates will likely use so you can obtain more visits.

7. Adopt your competitors’ successful strategies

You don’t have to rely solely on your SEO efforts to attract candidates to your website. You can study and learn about your competitors’ strategy. Identify the keywords they are targeting and determine the SEO tactics they are using. Identify what works and then create a much better version of it for your own campaign.

8. Boost the loading speed of your recruitment website

Candidates actively looking for jobs are likely to avoid slow loading websites. After all, they have plenty of recruitment websites to visit. Make sure that your site’s loading speed should take no more than three seconds. Every second after that increases the risk of candidates leaving before they take a look at your job pages. 

9. Build links to increase your site’s authority

Backlinks can enhance your recruitment site’s reputation and increase its online traffic. However, always prioritise quality over quantity. If one low-quality website is linked to you, Google may penalise you for such backlinks.  

10. Include an FAQ page

You should be able to convince candidates to stay on your site long enough for them to give you their contact details or join your talent pool. One effective way to ensure that they will stay longer is by creating a FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page.

If you have an FAQ section, make sure it will answer all the candidate’s typical queries. This enables you to provide job seekers with the information they need. At the same time, it helps convince them to sign up for your services.

Take Away

Search engine optimisation is a useful technique for boosting online traffic and attracting candidates to your recruitment website. It can help you become visible to the right audience: potential candidates and clients. To help you in this quest, you’ll need to know what keywords and content to use. Keywords help attract your target audience. Meanwhile, content is useful for engaging and gaining the trust of your readers – candidates and clients. 

Planning and implementing the right SEO strategy, however, will require expertise and experience. If you need help with your optimisation, consider reaching out to us here at Recruitment Traffic. We can aid in your recruitment effort by providing you with insights and advice on how to improve your site’s ranking and increase your business. 

In late January, we noticed some visible changes in Google’s local search algorithm. The last time Google updated its local search algorithms was in November 2019, but the search giant only confirmed it the following month.  As a result, people in SEO forums are wondering if the recent changes are the product of a bug or an update.

What is Local SEO from a recruiter’s perspective?

When changes in local searches occur, SEO experts like us here at Recruitment Traffic take notice. Whether you’re a new or established recruiting company, you should consider doing the same. Google has made great efforts to make the local search results relevant to users. This helped many people obtain clearer and more useful answers, which often encouraged them to take prompt action.

What’s the importance of Local SEO? Almost eight out of ten local searches end in a phone call. Such an excellent result is hard for recruiters to ignore. Typically, potential clients would visit the agency nearest their location first. For recruiters, it makes face-to-face meetings easier to set up since your prospects are nearby.

Local SEO is your means to increase your presence in local search engines. For example, Google can pinpoint the location of your prospective clients and candidates based on their registered IP address and if they are using mobile or tablet devices. The search results will then prominently feature the local businesses on the top page. If Google is aware that you’re operating in a particular area, your chances of appearing in local searches could also increase. 

What benefits can you gain from Local SEO?

1.   You’ll face fewer competitors

Vying for the top spots in the national searches could be challenging since you’re competing with a significant number of competitors. Also, there’s no guarantee if most search results will result in engagement with clients or candidates.

If you optimise your recruitment site for local searchers, you’ll only reach a smaller demographic. However, you’re reaching out to a more specific target audience. By focusing on local searches, you can increase the likelihood of attracting clients and candidates near your place of business. 

2. You can save money

SEO campaigns cost money. Fortunately, with Local SEO, you can achieve excellent results but at a lower cost. Once you finish optimising your website for local search engines, you’ll only need minimal resources for its maintenance and monitoring.

3. Obtain more local traffic and visibility

The challenge for both new and well-established recruiters is how to gain and maintain market visibility. Traditionally, companies will sponsor local events or advertise in print media. While such methods can be successful, they are often time-consuming, and there are no guarantees for their success.

In contrast, correctly implemented Local SEO strategies can yield the same results – making you visible to prospective clients and candidates. Also, such approaches can be quantified and measured by reliable tools, such as Google Analytics. 

How can you make local SEO work for your recruitment agency?

Indeed, the importance of Local SEO to your online marketing strategies cannot be stated enough. Here’s how you can make it work for your company.

For example, let’s say you own FinExpert Recruiters, a London-based recruiting firm that specialises in helping financial service professionals find employment. If you’re a new firm, your main challenge is to make yourself visible to prospective clients and candidates within London and its surrounding areas. Afterwards, you need to reach out and engage those who are interested in your service. You can achieve these goals by optimising your website and using local SEO strategies. Making your site Local SEO-friendly also allows search engines to recognise you as a legitimate London-based financial service recruiter.

If your efforts are successful, FinExpert Recruiters will appear once searchers type ‘financial service recruitment companies in London.’ In addition, you can even appear in generic search terms, such as ‘financial service recruitment companies in the UK.’

Even if attracting clients and candidates in your locality is not your primary objective, Local SEO can still provide your company with certain advantages over your competitors. Sending strong signals to Google regarding the nature and location of your recruitment service can also boost your rankings for general yet relevant search terms. 

Conclusion

Local SEO is the new frontier for gaining market visibility and revenue for many businesses, including recruitment agencies. By incorporating local search tactics in your overall digital marketing strategy, you can boost your search rankings with lower costs or fewer competitions. Such benefits are more than enough reason for you to engage in local optimisation.

While it can be simple to implement Local SEO strategies, you can also reach out to experts for help to achieve better results. At Recruitment Traffic, we provide valuable insights into creating local SEO tactics suitable for your recruitment efforts. Consider reaching out today, and we’ll help you achieve excellent local search rankings.

Adding images to your recruitment site is an effective way to make it more visually striking. Because most of us appreciate beautiful things, enhancing the aesthetic value of your website will encourage more candidates and employers to visit. Using relevant images can help improve overall web user experience, as well, which convinces visitors to return or even take your desired conversion action.

Beyond making your website attractive, did you know that relevant imagery and web image optimisation can also help you rank higher on search engines? 

Why Are Images Important to SEO?

There are two ways of having a visually attractive recruitment site can help your business. One is that photos and diagrams make it easier for your audience to understand your web content. Since the human brain can process images faster than text, it will be easier for your web visitors to absorb the message of your articles or blog posts if there are pictures or illustrations included.

Another benefit is that images make your webpages more search engine-friendly. By adding pictures to your written content, you have the opportunity to tell Google and other search engines that your site is 100% relevant to the keywords you’re targeting. Because Google wants users to obtain the best search result and web experience possible, adding related images to your webpages can help boost your site’s search rankings. 

How to Optimise Your Web Images

Your website’s performance could suffer if you have unoptimised images, which are often the culprit behind slow-loading webpages. For this reason, you have to perform web image optimisation before using pictures on your recruitment site.

1. Image pixel size optimisation

Make sure to consider these factors when it comes to the size of your images. 

a. Pixel dimension

Always ensure that your web images aren’t bigger than they need to be. Otherwise, your website will resize them automatically, which will result in slower loading speeds. This is a huge inconvenience for your web visitors because every time they view a page, they will need to download extra pixels that they won’t even see.

b. Cropping

Your site’s content management system, or CMS, could also crop the images if they are too big. However, just because your CMS crops an image, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the extra pixels are gone. Even if your visitors cannot view these extra pixels, they are still there, which means they need to download them to see the pictures on your webpage.

c. Tools

Fortunately, you can use a wide range of tools to resize large images. They include:

• Content management system such as WordPress
• Online tools such as cropp.me, resizeyourimage.com, and pixenate.com
• Picture editing software such as Adobe Photoshop

2. Image compression optimisation

It’s vital to compress your images after resizing and cropping them to the correct size and dimension. However, keep in mind that compressing them can reduce their quality. As such, you must consider your settings carefully to ensure excellent image quality. 

a. WordPress plugin

If you have a WordPress website, the most convenient way to compress your web images is by using a plugin called Compress JPEG & PNG images. Take note of the instructions below:

• Install this plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/tiny-compress-images/.
• To register and create the API key you’ll need, follow the instructions that will pop on your screen. You’ll need to provide your email address, as well.
• Create an API key once your email address has been verified.
• Add the API key within the plugin settings of your WordPress CMS. This will enable you to take bulk optimisation actions, including compressing the images, via the plugin settings.

b. Online tools

You can also use the following online tools to compress your images:

• tinyjpg.com
• tinypng.com

3. Alt tag and title tag text optimisation

The alt (alternative) and title tags are vital elements of your website. For instance, the alt tag provides search engines with a description of an image. It also helps visually impaired web users by telling them what a picture is all about when they use screen readers. Finally, the alt tag will appear when an image fails to load, explaining to visitors what the missing picture is.

Once critical rule of web image optimisation is that when creating alt tags for your recruitment site, you must ensure that they are original. They should also provide an accurate description of your images. To make your alt tags more SEO-friendly, you can include the keywords you want to rank for, but don’t overdo it.

As for the title tag, you don’t have to use them all the time. However, when you do, see to it that it is not entirely identical to your alt tags.

a. Adding image alt and title tags to your WordPress site.

To make sure that all of the images on your WordPress site has alt or title tags, consider the following instructions:

• Log on to your WordPress account.
• Navigate to Media, then Library.
• View the Library in “list mode.”
• Search the images you want to optimise.
• Click “Edit.”
• Add the alt/title tag text.
• Click “Update” when you’re done.
• Repeat the steps for all of the images on your list.

Make Sure to Optimise Your Images, Too!

To ensure that your recruitment site is search engine-friendly, you have to optimise every part of it, including your web images. By optimising your images, you can improve your search rankings while providing your visitors with excellent web user experience. Consider the tips above to give your website a considerable boost.

Want to improve your search rankings further? Then let the experts help. At Recruitment Traffic, we provide tried-and-tested SEO solutions to help recruitment agencies make the most of Google. Contact us today and let our team of highly experienced optimisation specialists take your website to the next level.

Aside from being user-friendly and having excellent content, what do you think is another quality that separates successful recruitment websites from the rest? We believe it is having good backlinks. 

When it comes to search engine optimisation, having quality backlinks is one of the secrets to having better online visibility. Google considers backlinks as a vital ranking factor. When many websites link to you, it tells the search giant that your site is an excellent source of relevant and useful content. Not only will this make your website more searchable online, but it also helps you establish yourself as a recruitment expert. 

There are many ways to obtain quality backlinks from many different websites, but perhaps one of the most effective methods is by using infographics. By nature, humans are visual learners. As such, we learn faster when pictures or illustrations accompany the text we’re reading. Infographics bring the best of both worlds by combining short text with beautiful images. As a result, they help you educate and inform your audience while keeping them entertained and engaged.

Infographics are highly shareable, too. According to research, online users are three times more likely to share them than any other type of visual content. This quality makes them an effective backlink and lead generation tool.  

Generating Backlinks with Infographics

In this recruitment SEO guide, we’ll teach you how to amass the power of infographics to gain quality backlinks. Follow these steps to improve your site’s search rankings and attract more traffic. 

1. Choose a topic carefully

Your infographics should contain not just beautiful images, but also valuable information. More people are likely to share or link to your infographics if they have substance. 

When creating infographics, the first thing you need to do is choose your topic carefully. Content with statistics usually gets many views and shares, so consider doing any job-related study or research. For example, you can survey the most in-demand jobs in certain parts of the UK. 

If you don’t have the time to conduct your study or survey, you can always compile various statistics and present them in your infographics. Alternatively, you can create a quick guide about a particular topic, such as what to wear in your job interview or how to make a good impression on your first day of work. 

2. Determine where you should post your content

Next item in this recruitment SEO guide is to identify where you should post your infographics. Your site should be your priority since you’d want other websites to link to you. Since page loading speed is a crucial search ranking factor, ensure that your infographics have fast loading time. It also helps to post them on other sites, such as Pinterest and Infographic Journal, to give your content more exposure. 

3. Publish your infographics on similar websites

Consider posting your infographics on the sites of other recruiters. While you are essentially teaming up with your competitors, getting your content published on sites similar to yours can help you find new members of your audience. 

If you don’t know who to ask, you can use ahrefs.com. It can help you identify websites where you can potentially post your content. Start by typing in a keyword into the site’s “Content Explorer” section, and it will give a list of webpages that contain the keywords you entered. From the list, identify the sites where you can submit your infographic. 

4. Conduct an email outreach programme

Once you have identified where you can potentially post your content, the next step is to contact the people behind those websites. You may send an email to their content manager, editor, or marketing officer. 

Doing an email outreach programme can help you gain their interest. You can send the emails manually or use an automated mailing tool. Each method has advantages and disadvantages, so make sure to choose the one that is more suited for your situation. 

For instance, manually sending emails is usually time-consuming. However, you can tailor your message to better suit its recipient. Conversely, using an automation tool can help you save time and effort, but the caveat is your emails all sound generic. 

No matter which method you choose, ensure that your email is mobile-friendly since many people these days use their mobile devices to read their emails. It also helps to use shorter subject lines because emails with shorter subject lines have more chances of being opened. Finally, end your emails with a strong call to action. 

5. Promote your infographics

The final step in this recruitment SEO guide is to promote your infographic. You can use your social media pages to encourage your audience to view your content. By spreading the word about your infographics, you can gain more traffic and backlinks for your site.  

Give Your Infographics a Boost with Recruitment Traffic

Using infographics is a great way to gain quality backlinks and make your website more search engine-friendly. It also makes your site more memorable as it allows you to provide your audience with something educational and engaging. 

If you want to take your infographics and the rest of your web content to the next level, we can help. At Recruitment Traffic, we have content marketing and SEO experts who can provide you with the online marketing solutions you need. Contact us today. 

Do you want to increase your authority as a recruitment expert? Perhaps you want to expand your audience and build a more significant online presence? Whatever the case may be, it is undeniable that running a blog can help you accomplish any of these tasks. Demonstrating your recruitment expertise through the written word is an effective way to attract more audience and gain their trust. 

However, when it comes to writing blogs, gaining your audience’s attention is just half of the battle. You must also take the necessary steps to keep them engaged and interested. 

How to Keep Your Audience Interested in Your Blog

Here are some blog format best practices you should consider to ensure maximum engagement and repeat visits to your recruitment site. Applying them to your blog posts will make it easier for job candidates and employers to consume your content, encouraging them to return for more. 

1. Add headings and subheadings

No matter how well-written your article is, your web visitors are less likely to enjoy it if it’s difficult to read. Reading on a screen is already challenging as it is. Therefore, you should make an effort to make your blog posts more reader-friendly. 

You can start by using headings and subheadings in your post. Similar to your headlines, headings and subheadings help your readers understand your written content well. At the same time, they help break up massive walls of texts into smaller sections, giving your visitors’ eyes the chance to rest. 

2. Keep it narrow

Another way to make your blog posts easier to read is by limiting your column width. Keeping your post narrow makes it easier for the human eye to scan it. This gives your web content a significant boost since many web users these days merely scan or skim online articles. 

How narrow should your column width be? Generally, anywhere from 55 to 100 characters per line (spaces included) is deemed acceptable. However, many experts agree that 80 characters per line or shorter offer the best results. 

3. Choose the best font type and size

You might be tempted to use fancy-looking fonts that you often see in wedding invitations because they are aesthetically pleasing. However, your readers might not be too happy with your font choice. Not only are they distracting and hard to read, but these fonts also force your visitors to focus more on the process or act of reading instead of your blog’s message. 

For best results, opt for a sans-serif font, such as Arial or Verdana. Regardless of your choice, ensure that you use the same font throughout your blog posts for consistency. Also, pick the right font size. This is one of the most crucial blog format best practices you mustn’t forget. Make sure that it isn’t too small or your text will be difficult to read. At the same time, you don’t want your font size to be too big. Otherwise, your visitors might think that your blog posts are for children. 

4. Incorporate lists in your posts

If you’re writing about common reasons why a job candidate gets rejected, for instance, it would be wise to use a bulleted list instead of writing paragraphs upon paragraphs about it. Most readers love lists. Not only are they more appealing, but they also make it easier for your visitors to absorb and understand similar concepts. 

5. Use short paragraphs

Besides using headings, subheadings, and bulleted lists, another way to make your blog posts more reader-friendly is to break up long texts into shorter paragraphs. However, while it’s advisable to break up long texts into smaller sections, avoid using one-sentence paragraphs since it will make your web content look and read choppy. 

6. Add visual content to your posts

Because the human brain can process images faster than text, it certainly helps to add visual content to your blog posts. Not only can they help break the monotony, but adding visual content also makes your posts more shareable and engaging. At the same time, they make it easier for web visitors to comprehend your posts. 

Here are a few tips you should consider when choosing images: 

• Using pictures of actual people can lead to better conversion rates than using stock photos.
• If you’re writing about a data-heavy topic, consider adding a graph to make your post much easier to understand.
•  Always use high-quality images.
• Always add captions to your pictures. Captions are an excellent help for seeing-impaired visitors. Plus, they contribute to your site’s SEO.
• One of the most crucial blog format best practices you should keep in mind is to never include pictures in your post just for the sake of adding visual content to your blog. Ensure that every piece of visual content is relevant and has a purpose.

Always Format Your Posts

There is more to providing job seekers and employers with quality content than simply writing excellent blog posts. It’s also vital that your articles are formatted well. This makes it easier for your visitors to consume your content. As such, consider the tips discussed above to keep your visitors engaged and to encourage them to keep coming back for more. 

Do you need help writing blog posts that will help boost your recruitment agency’s credibility and online presence? We are happy to assist you! At Recruitment Traffic, we have a team of SEO experts who can offer you the online marketing solutions you need to grow and succeed. Please speak with us today!