SEO for recruitment: Google algorithm changes you should know

2020-11-26

Google algorithm changes you should know about

Google announced that starting May of next year, the quality of user interaction with a website will actually matter for search rankings. They’ll measure it based on:

page loading speed
proper display on mobile devices
use of encrypted connection (https)
presence of unwanted advertisements

The better the experience, especially on mobile (which Google now treats as the default), the higher your site climbs in search results. Higher position means more customers and candidates landing on your site. Simple math.

I got curious how companies in our space handle this. I tested two large recruitment agencies, two Polish ATS systems, and one of the biggest Polish employers. Google gives you the testing tool for free:

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Two large recruitment agencies:

Two popular Polish recruitment systems:

ats-1-768×611.jpg” alt=”ATS system 1 – PageSpeed score” width=”768″ height=”611″ />

And now one of the biggest Polish employers. Credit where it’s due: Poczta Polska (Polish Post) nailed it:

Finally, the new Element website (the one you’re on right now).

We built this site for the new version of our ATS (Element 2.0), and we designed it from scratch with fast, clean user interactions in mind. So a good score wasn’t a shock. But 98 points? That surprised me. The site runs an image slider, a chat widget, and several scripts, and we still hit 98. Not bad for a relatively small investment.

Element website – 98 mobile PageSpeed score” width=”768″ height=”627″ />

To be clear, interaction quality is not the most important ranking factor. Content still is, and probably always will be. An empty page will score 100, but Google won’t rank it for anything. We don’t know exactly how much weight this factor will carry after the May update. We just know it’ll matter more than it used to.

I’d recommend checking your own site with Google’s tool (link above) and talking to a good SEO specialist. Getting our site from 70-80 points to 98 cost Element 250 PLN + VAT. That’s it.

Worth doing. It’s a one-time cost, and you’ll keep reaping the benefits as long as the site is live.

More about the May update to Google’s algorithms: https://searchengineland.com/google-page-experience-update-to-launch-in-may-2021-343581

More about SEO in recruitment: https://social-hire.com/blog/recruitment/the-importance-of-seo-in-recruitment