In order to post a job on Google for Jobs you don’t upload job details and description directly to the search engine itself. Instead of posting jobs on Google for jobs is achieved by ensuring you have the correct HTML setup on your job post pages and structuring data in a way that makes it as easy as possible for Google to index your jobs.
Currently, 80% of all jobs appearing on Google for Jobs come from job boards as possible to recruitment agencies or directly from the hiring company. The main reason for this large majority is due to the fact that these job boards have implemented the correct HTML formatting for Google to crawl and index their job postings with ease. That is why a lot of agencies we talk to wrongly believe they’re appearing in Google for Jobs when in fact their job postings are actually being shown via a third party job board meaning instead of applicants being directed to your website they’re sent to a job board with countless other job posts from a range of other agencies, meaning you have no control over the application process.
Because it is not currently possible to post jobs directly on Google for Jobs you will need to ensure your ATS supports the structured data schema format necessary for search engines. But before diving into that, let’s look at some of the initial steps needed in order to post a job on Google.
Step 1 – You will need to add the job postings on your own site
Surprisingly, this step isn’t always carried out by many agencies that we chat to. Instead of taking the time to improve their own site and the job vacancies available on it, consultants will prefer to exclusively use job boards.
However, to post a job to Google first you need a website of your own. If you don’t, you have nowhere to drive job applicants to from Google for Jobs, which as covered below means you lose complete control of the job application process.
It doesn’t matter what you call the jobs section of your site, vacancies, careers, jobs. All that matters is that you keep the section up to date with the latest job positions you’re looking to place candidates for.
Step 2 – Once you have job postings on your site, add the correct structured data
This step sounds far more technical than it actually is. To add structured data to your site doesn’t mean you have to had graduated from Cambridge. All it means is you ‘mark up’ the content on your job postings so Google can easily identify the information as a job advert.
Structured data in the form of Schema comes in many shapes and sizes and informs Google that content is about a certain type of topic. For example for a website that has a page about the film ‘Maid in Manhattan’ would include structured data listing the details of the film such as release date, who is starred and rating in the form of a ‘Movie’.
A job site listing a posting about a role for a housekeeper in Manhattan would use structured data to list salary, job description, and job ad expiry data in the form of a ‘JobPosting’. This very subtle difference has a huge impact and means when Google visits your site and identifies JobPostings, it knows it can show that content within Google for Jos.
Step 3 – Keep your website’s sitemap up to date
Again, another step that sounds more technical than it actually is. It is like you already have a sitemap on your website whether you realise it or not. A sitemap is a quick way of telling Google of all the pages you would like it to show within its search results. For sites within the recruitment industry, it is important you keep your sitemap up to date and that you have submitted it via Google Search Console.
Step 4 – Notify Google about new job postings via their indexing API
The last technical step, we promise! Google recently launches its indexing API in order for site owners to notify them of new pages being added or removed from their site. The API is currently designed to crawl pages designed for job postings or live streaming events and the short shelf life of these two events means the API can crawl and index pages within Google extremely quickly.
The indexing API has been proven to get to work very quickly. Perfect for time-sensitive jobs that need to be listed ASAP.
So there you have our four-step guide to posting a job on Google for free. Yup, completely free! All you need is a little bit of time, the right capabilities to add structured data to your job postings and the technical knowledge to inform Google when new job posts appear on your site and when old ones are removed.
Once you’ve implemented the correct structured data and pinged Google to let it know you have job postings waiting for it to crawl, once your jobs start to show in Google all that’s left is for you to track the engagement you’re receiving through these posts in Google for Jobs.