Behind the Scenes: How I Approach SEO for Recruiters (Without the Technical Jargon)

Let's address the elephant in the room: most recruitment agencies' approach to SEO is absolute rubbish. You've either:

A) Hired some "guru" who bamboozled you with technical jargon while delivering jack shit in results

B) Completely ignored it because it seems too complicated

C) Stuffed random keywords into your job descriptions and called it a day

I get it. SEO feels like some mystical dark art practised by people who use words like "canonical tags" and "schema markup" with a straight face. But here's my behind-the-scenes look at how I approach SEO for recruitment agencies without the bullshit.

Step 1: Stop Obsessing Over Generic Recruitment Terms

Here's a hard truth: you will never rank for "recruitment agency London" or "IT recruiter" unless you've got the budget of Robert Half. Those keywords are competitive AF, and chasing them is like trying to get front-row Taylor Swift tickets five minutes after they go on sale.

My approach:

Focus on hyper-specific long-tail keywords that your ideal candidates are actually searching for. Think "remote Python developer healthcare experience" rather than "developer jobs."

Step 2: Create Content That Solves Actual Problems

The secret sauce to recruitment SEO isn't technical wizardry – it's solving problems that your candidates and clients actually have.

For every piece of content I create, I ask:

• What specific question does this answer?
• Who exactly is looking for this information?
• Why would they choose to read this over the 50 other generic recruitment blogs?

My approach:

Create comprehensive resources around specific pain points. If you recruit for manufacturing, create the definitive guide to CNC machinist career progression. If you place finance professionals, write about the actual day-to-day of different controller positions.

Step 3: Structure Content for Humans First, Search Engines Second

The most common SEO mistake I see? Content that reads like it was written for robots by robots.

My approach:

Write like a normal fucking human being first. Then, go back and optimise for search engines without sacrificing readability. This means:

• Using headers naturally to break up content (not as keyword dumping grounds)
• Writing meta descriptions that make people want to click (not just keyword soup)
• Creating URLs that make sense to actual people

Step 4: Use Your Insider Knowledge (Because That's Your Real Advantage)

Generic SEO advice is everywhere. But as recruiters, you have an unfair advantage: you talk to professionals in your niche every. single. day.

My approach:

Mine your conversations with candidates and clients for SEO gold. What questions do they ask in interviews? What concerns do they have about the market? What misconceptions keep coming up?

These conversations are SEO rocket fuel that no general marketing agency can access.

Step 5: Track What Matters, Not Vanity Metrics

Rankings are nice. Traffic is cute. But neither pays your bills.

My approach:

Focus on conversion metrics that impact your business:

• Applications from organic search
• Quality of candidates from different content pieces
• Client enquiries from specific articles
• Time-to-fill for positions supported by SEO content

The Bottom Line

Great recruitment SEO isn't about technical perfection – it's about being genuinely valuable for the exact people you want to work with. Everything else is just window dressing.

Want to see how this approach might work for your recruitment agency? I'm not going to promise you'll magically rank #1 for every keyword (anyone who does is full of shit). Still, I can help you create an SEO strategy that actually drives qualified candidates and clients instead of just meaningless traffic.

Drop me a message if you're tired of SEO snake oil and ready for content that works.