Editor’s note: This post was updated September 2016 to reflect Indeed’s current aggregation practices
180 million people visit Indeed every month, making it the top external source of hire for thousands of employers. And with 8.2 new jobs added to our job search engine every second, job seekers have access to the most comprehensive list of relevant opportunities available.
To get your jobs listed on Indeed, you can either post your jobs directly to Indeed, or allow Indeed to aggregate your posted jobs from your career website or applicant tracking system.
Aggregated jobs appear in Indeed’s organic, or free, search results while meeting the highest quality standards to provide the best job seeker experience. Here are five best practices to ensure your jobs appear on Indeed and help you maximize hiring results:
1. Provide an individual web page for each job on your career site
Indeed search results link to a specific web page for each job. This ensures each job listing has a unique URL. Ensure your jobs are posted in HTML on individual web pages, and avoid posting your jobs on your website as a PDF or Word document.
2. Include essential job information
Your jobs are more likely to appear in our search results if each job listing on your site contains separate fields for job title and location as well as a detailed job description. Your job listings must also include a prominent link or button to apply online or an email address. Including a location specifying an address is best, but city, state and/or zip code is a must.
3. Setup automated source tracking
Automated source tracking provides the most reliable data about candidate source. Your applicant tracking system provider can help you set up source tracking so you can tell exactly where your candidates are coming from and measure the performance of your recruitment advertising channels. Another option is to use a connected applicant tracking system that already integrates with Indeed. Learn more about connected applicant tracking systems here.
4. Provide an XML job feed
This is the fastest way to include your jobs on Indeed. It should include the details of all the jobs on your site and be updated each time new jobs are added. Here’s a sample XML job feed that you can use on your career site.
5. Follow Indeed’s search quality guidelines
Job listings that don’t meet Indeed’s standards for organic inclusion may be subject to review before appearing in Indeed search. Job listings that are misleading or compromise the job seeker experience may be subject restrictions or even removal from search results altogether. The following guidelines will help you ensure that your jobs appear in Indeed search results:
- Don’t be offensive. Seriously. If so, the visibility of your job may be affected.
- Be Specific. Job titles and descriptions should only include the information a qualified candidate would search as well as other important details. No clickbait.
- Don’t use job content that isn’t yours. Indeed is a search engine for jobs. Non-job content–including spam, scams and other offers–will not be shown to job seekers. Every job that appears on Indeed must come from an authorized representative of the company looking to hire.
- Don’t cheat. Listings that attempt to bypass Indeed’s search algorithm will not be given the same visibility as more relevant jobs. Don’t try reposting roles within a short timeframe or posting roles in more locations than the job is offered to increase visibility. We will catch you.
- Tell the truth. Job seekers deserve to know the true details of your job, including its location, duties and whether the job is being offered by the hiring company or by a recruiter on the company’s behalf. Honestly is the best policy.
- Use Indeed to fill a job, not a pipeline. Every posting should represent a real and available job. Using a listing to source applicants for future possible opportunities is dishonest.
- Don’t discriminate. There may be specific exemptions for some jobs, but you will need to provide this information. Jobs on Indeed must be open to all qualified candidates, regardless of age, race, gender and sexual orientation.
- Pay reliably and fairly. Jobs that people find on Indeed should have hourly or salaried wages and may not cost the candidate anything to apply, interview and begin work.
- Keep it simple. Job seekers should not have to navigate through complicated steps to begin the application process.
- Treat candidates with respect. Respect the privacy and personal information of the person in the application process. Applicant should also hear back from companies at reasonable intervals during the process.
With these best practices in place, you’re able to ensure your job listings appear in Indeed organic search results and track performance with source tracking. To learn more about job aggregation and search quality visit indeed.com/hire.
