SEO for Recruitment Agencies: Job Pages, JobPosting Markup and Expired Roles
A recruitment agency has two websites hiding inside one. One is for employers, who want to know whether you understand their sector and can fill a role without wasting their time. The other is for candidates, who want to see real jobs, apply quickly and trust that you will not send their CV somewhere without telling them. Most agency sites try to serve both with the same homepage and end up persuading neither.
SEO makes this split visible. The searches differ, the pages that answer them differ, and so does the way you measure success. This guide covers how to structure an agency website for both audiences, what Google documents about job posting markup, how to handle jobs that expire, and what the GOV.UK rules say about advertising roles.
Two audiences, two sets of searches
| Employers | Candidates | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical searches | ”accountancy recruitment agency Leeds”, “temp staffing for warehouses" | "finance jobs in Leeds”, “warehouse supervisor jobs near me” |
| What they need | Evidence you know the sector, a clear process, a way to brief you | Real, current roles, pay information, an easy way to apply |
| Pages that win | Sector and service pages, case descriptions, a “hire through us” page | Individual job pages, job category pages, a candidate guide |
| What you measure | Briefings, calls, signed terms | Applications, registrations, placements |
Mixing them has a cost. A page that says “we find the best talent” and “browse our latest jobs” in the same paragraph answers neither search well. Give each audience its own entry point from the homepage and its own set of pages.
Job pages are your biggest asset, and your biggest risk
Individual job pages can capture searches such as “payroll assistant job in Manchester”, and they can also appear in Google’s job experience. They also have a short life, which is the problem most agency sites mishandle.
What Google documents for job posting markup
Google’s JobPosting structured data documentation is addressed to employers and job content site owners and covers pages with a single job posting. The points that matter for an agency:
- Required properties: datePosted, description, hiringOrganization, jobLocation and title. Google says you must include them for the content to be eligible for the job experience.
- Everything in the markup must be visible on the page. Mismatches can trigger a structured data policy violation.
- Job location is the physical place where the employee will report to work, not the place where the job was posted. For roles that are 100% remote, a separate remote property is required.
- Salary: baseSalary should be the actual base salary as provided by the employer, not an estimate, and Google says only employers can provide it. If you are not the employer, do not guess.
- Jobs need a way to apply. Google does not allow job postings without one.
- Third-party job sites should keep the title as the employer provided it.
- Google does not guarantee that features using structured data will appear in search results.
The practical consequence: adding the markup makes you eligible, it does not guarantee a placement, and it only works if the visible page and the markup agree.
What to do when a job closes
Google says jobs that are no longer open for applications must be expired, and gives three ways: populate validThrough with a date in the past, remove the page so that it returns a 404 or 410 status, or remove the JobPosting markup. It also warns that failing to take timely action on expired jobs may result in a manual action.
That matters because agencies fill roles all the time. A clear process:
- When a role is filled, mark it as closed in your system the same day.
- Decide what the page should do. If similar roles exist, a closed notice with links to them keeps the visitor. If not, remove the page properly.
- Remove or expire the markup so Google is not told the job is open.
- Keep an eye on the Search Console reports for rich results so errors do not accumulate.
Do not leave closed jobs live with an “apply now” button. It wastes candidates’ time and damages trust.
How RankMaster works with recruitment agencies
RankMaster is a Brazilian SEO and GEO agency, with its site at rankmaster.com.br, that works remotely and in British English with UK businesses. For a recruitment agency we start by separating the employer and candidate journeys, then check how job pages are created, expired and linked, because that is where most of the technical problems sit. The work is delivered in three recurring parts:
- Monthly plan. A written plan before each month: which sector, service and candidate pages to build or improve, how job pages should be handled, and the technical fixes that come first, each with the reason.
- Monthly report. What was published, what Google Search Console shows for your job and service pages, and how the agency appears in AI answers, including what did not change.
- Daily monitoring. Ongoing checks for job pages that should have expired, pages leaving the index, broken links and robots.txt changes, which matters on a site where hundreds of URLs appear and disappear.
We do not promise rankings or citations in ChatGPT or Gemini, because no one can guarantee them. You can read our guide to programmatic SEO without losing quality, which is relevant when you generate many pages from a database, learn more about RankMaster or ask for a free analysis through the contact page.
The legal baseline for job adverts
SEO does not override the rules for advertising roles. GOV.UK’s guidance on job advertisements for employment agencies and businesses says every advert must include the full name of the agency or employment business, say whether the job is temporary or permanent, and be advertised in Great Britain and in English. If an advert includes a rate of pay, it must also state the nature of the job, the location, minimum experience levels and details of any training needed. The guidance also says you must not advertise a job without the full details of the position, and you must make sure the hirer has definitely said they are looking for someone to fill it.
Two consequences for the website:
- Do not publish “ghost” jobs to attract registrations. It is against the guidance and it hurts your reputation.
- Build the job page template around those fields, so that no consultant can publish a page that leaves them out.
Take legal advice on your own obligations, because this article is general information.
Pages for employers
Sector pages, written by people who know the sector
A page for “technology recruitment” should say which roles you place, which tools and qualifications matter, how you assess candidates, how a typical search runs and what an employer needs to provide. If a consultant specialises in it, name them. Generic text with the sector name swapped out is easy to spot and Google’s spam policies describe doorway abuse as pages created to rank for similar queries that funnel users to one destination.
Location pages, only where you have a real presence
If you have an office in a city, a page about it makes sense: address, who works there, the sectors you cover from it and the local employers you work with, where you can name them. If you do not, one page that explains the areas you cover is more honest than twenty near-identical ones.
A “hire through us” page
Explain the process in plain language: what the first call covers, how you shortlist, what happens if a placement does not work out, and how to brief you. Clients are not looking for slogans. They want to see how you work.
Pages for candidates
- Category pages for jobs, such as “Finance jobs in Leeds”, listing live roles and nothing stale.
- A registration page that explains what happens to a CV and who sees it. People are more willing to register when they know.
- Practical guides, such as interview preparation or salary conversations, written by consultants who see real offers. Add them after the core pages.
Duplicate postings
Many agencies post the same role on their own site and on several job boards. Google’s guidance on canonical URLs says rel=“canonical” is a strong signal but that none of the methods are required. Make your own page the best version: a fuller description, a clear apply path, a real contact and your agency name. Otherwise the boards will outrank it.
What to measure
| What to track | Where | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Applications by job page and source | Your ATS or analytics | Shows which pages convert |
| Employer enquiries by page | Forms, calls | Shows which sector pages bring clients |
| Indexed vs. excluded job pages | Search Console | Finds expired jobs still live |
| Rich result status | Search Console | Catches markup errors |
| Placements by source | Your CRM | The number that pays the bills |
Common mistakes
- Leaving filled jobs live with an apply button.
- Marking up salary the agency invented.
- Using one template for employer and candidate pages.
- Creating a page for every town and sector combination with no real content.
- Hiding the agency name in a job advert that GOV.UK says must include it.
- Treating job boards as the only channel and ignoring the agency site.
Frequently asked questions
Can an agency use JobPosting markup?
Google’s documentation is addressed to employers and job content site owners. Agencies should check that their pages meet the guidelines, especially on salary and the visible-content rule.
How do I handle a job once it is filled?
Expire it with a past validThrough date, remove the page so it returns a 404 or 410, or remove the markup, according to Google’s guidance. Link to similar open roles if you keep the page.
Do I need a blog?
Not first. Job pages, sector pages and a clear employer journey come before articles.
Will SEO replace job boards?
It rarely replaces them entirely. SEO builds a channel you own, and the results vary by market.
How long does it take?
It depends on your sector and current site. Any exact timeline without seeing your market is a guess.
One afternoon to spend this month
Open your five oldest live job pages. Are all of them genuinely open? Does each state the agency name, the type of contract, the location and the pay information the GOV.UK guidance asks for? Then check whether the markup matches what is visible. Fix those, then decide which sector page deserves the next real piece of work. If you want a second opinion, ask for a free analysis through the RankMaster contact page.