5 Actionable SEO Recruitment Strategies to Generate Leads
In the old days of recruitment, you could build a client list by making cold calls over the phone.
However, this is a lead generation method that is becoming obsolete.
People now screen their calls and prefer to communicate through emails and texts.
Even sending a voicemail is unlikely to get a response.
While cold calls may still deliver a measure of success, many recruiters are aware of the need to devise new lead generation tactics.
Without question, one of the best places to generate leads is online.
One essential strategy you need to master in order to succeed in this area is: search engine optimisation (SEO). Â
Understanding SEOÂ
You may mistakenly assume that SEO is not relevant to your recruitment business. In reality, it is a critical component of your online lead generation strategy. SEO is a tool that will attract people to your job posts while building your reputation among candidates and clients.
If you want to boost your website’s visibility on search engines such as Google and Bing, you will need to use SEO. If you are unfamiliar with what it involves, there’s no need to worry. These SEO tips explain the basic concepts that will enable you to bring in new clients and candidates.
a) Keywords – Your SEO process primarily relies on you using the correct keywords. Start by making a list of the search terms that your potential candidates and clients will use in their search for a recruitment agency. One of the best tools that can help with this task is Google’s Keyword Planner.
b) Onsite optimisation – There are numerous tasks involved here, such as:
- => Including keywords in the URLs, meta titles and descriptions
- => Ensuring that the website is easy to use and navigate with a fast loading time
- => Providing excellent user experience
c) Content – Well-crafted, useful and relevant content can boost your recruitment website’s ranking in the search engine results. To cultivate your reputation as an expert recruiter, you should publish content regularly but also add variety. For example, you could use various platforms such as blogs, videos or infographics.
d) Backlinks – Search engines like backlinks as they make your website look authoritative. However, always prioritise quality over quantity. It’s better to have a handful of links from reputable sites than a host of unreliable ones.
SEO action plan for recruiters
Here are the five areas that will boost your SEO and help you obtain more high-quality candidates for your job offers.
1) Careers page
Make sure that your careers page is easy to navigate and provides a strong user experience. It should contain all the valuable job information that a candidate would like to know. Organise each posting and category to make it easy for visitors to browse through. If possible, include videos and images to showcase your client’s team and work environment.
2) Meta titles and descriptions
It takes effort, but it is vital that you use precise meta titles and descriptions for every web page. These are the page titles and descriptions that appear in the search engine results.
For instance, if you want to create a landing page that describes an accountant’s responsibilities and skills, the page should also direct the readers to every job opportunity for accountants. You could write the meta title and description like this:
Meta title: ‘Accountant jobs in [location] from [company name]’.
Meta description: ‘Find accountant jobs in [location] and apply now. New job offers are available daily’.
Remember, both the meta title and description are critical to search engines and your audience. They inform the search engine about your page’s content. Meanwhile, people will click on your link once they decide that it is relevant.
3) Social media posts
Content shared on social media improves the overall SEO. Therefore, you should make it easy for people to share your job posts and content on a variety of social media platforms, such as:
Your web pages should include social media buttons to enable readers to share your content without the need to copy and paste the links.
4) Mobile device optimisation
The number of candidates using their mobile phones to search for job opportunities is increasing every year. Even Google recognises this growing trend and provides higher rankings to mobile-friendly websites. If your recruitment website is not yet optimised for smartphones, you’d better do something about it now.
5) Recruitment videosÂ
Video content is now a major factor in any SEO strategy. Posting engaging recruitment videos can convince your target audience to spend more time on your website. Remember, your page rankings tend to go up when people stay longer on your site. In addition, visitors are more likely to share entertaining videos through social media, which is another boost to your SEO.
Conclusion
This article has examined some of the tactics that can optimise your recruitment website and increase its search engine ranking. However, the improvements won’t happen overnight. It will take some time before you can see dramatic changes in the SERPs. Think of SEO as a marathon, not a sprint. Keep updating your web pages with new and valuable content. Before you know it, your recruitment site will be at the top of the search engine results.
Author’s bio
Written by Chris Anderson, Head of Recruitment Traffic.
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