--- title: "SEO consultant for recruitment agencies · Kévin Papot" url: https://kevinpapot.fr/en/seo-cabinet-de-recrutement author: Kévin Papot, SEO and GEO consultant language: en updated: 2026-10-15 --- > SEO and GEO consultant for more than fifteen years. I only recommend what I've made work on my own websites, on Google and in AI answers. [Home](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/) / [Industries](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/metiers) / Recruitment # SEO for recruitment agencies: win assignments from companies and useful applications. Your agency has two audiences. Companies hand you positions to fill. Candidates respond to your job ads. On Google, job boards hold almost all candidate searches, and I won't tell you otherwise. Company searches are few, but a single assignment represents substantial fees. I organise your website into two separate journeys, so that each of these audiences lands on pages written for them. [Book a call](#contact)[See my method](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/methode) 1. Rattle your competitors. 2. Overtake them. 3. Protect you from their attacks. **15 years** in SEO **4 books** on SEO and GEO **200+ sites** tracked every day **1M / month** visits to my e-commerce site They trusted me with their visibility DartyEurofinsCegidEBPCNP AssurancesIngram Micro ## What is SEO for a recruitment agency? SEO for a recruitment agency is the work that makes the agency visible on Google to two audiences: companies looking for a provider to help them recruit, and candidates looking for a job. It relies on pages by role and by sector for companies, on job ads published properly for candidates, and on consultants introduced by name. It is judged by the assignments won and the useful applications received. The problem ## Where recruitment agencies get stuck. Symptom 1 ### Job boards dominate candidate searches On “job” followed by a role and a town, the first page belongs to job boards and job aggregators. They often republish your own ads. Your website won't replace them. It can, however, attract candidates looking for an agency in their speciality. Symptom 2 ### A website that talks to candidates and forgets companies Many agency websites boil down to a list of jobs and a candidate area. A business owner looking for an agency to recruit a production manager finds no page for them. Yet they are the one paying for the assignment. Symptom 3 ### Job ads that vanish from the website every week A filled position is deleted, and its page with it. The website keeps losing what it had just gained on Google. The only lasting pages are the home page and the contact page, which answer no specific search. An audit, for real ## What I see in thirty seconds on a recruitment agency's website. The site below doesn't exist, but its flaws do: they're the five I spot most often. Hover over a number. Home | Recruitment and HR consulting https://votre-cabinet-recrutement.exemple **YOUR FIRM**Our jobs · Candidate area · The agency · Contact Tomorrow's talent, today We put people at the heart of every meeting between a company and a candidate. Upload my CV **Ref. 2291 M/F**Apply **Ref. 2304 M/F**Apply **Ref. 2310 M/F**Apply **Fig. 2.** Fictional site, reconstructed. Any resemblance to yours would be a good reason to call me. 1. *1***No speciality or town in the title**“Recruitment and HR consulting” fits every agency. “Recruitment agency in Angoulême: technicians and managers in manufacturing” says who you place and where. 2. *2***No entry point for companies**The first three links are aimed at candidates. A business owner who wants to give you a position doesn't know where to click. 3. *3***“Tomorrow's talent, today”**Neither the client nor the candidate types this phrase. Write down the roles you recruit for and the region you work in. 4. *4***A handshake against an office backdrop**This photo appears on many websites in the sector. Show your consultants, with their name and speciality under the photo. 5. *5***File references instead of job titles**“Ref. 2291” says nothing. “Maintenance technician, Cognac, permanent contract” is what the candidate is looking for and what Google can display. What your customers type ## What companies and candidates type. Here are six plausible searches, three from companies and three from candidates. They are examples. The audit gives the real list for your specialities. *1*“recruitment agency” followed by a role or a sector : This is the search of a company that has already tried on its own. It wants an agency that knows the role. One page per speciality describes the roles you recruit for, your method and the usual length of an assignment. *2*“recruitment agency” followed by a town : The business owner wants someone who knows the local job market and whom they can meet. This search goes through the Google map. Your profile must be complete and your website must name the town in its titles. *3*“recruit” followed by a job title : “Recruit a maintenance technician”, for example. The company hasn't yet decided to use an agency. A page explaining why this position is hard to fill and how you go about it leads them to call you. *4*“recruitment agency fees” or “recruitment costs” : The business owner is comparing and wants to understand what they are buying. Explain how your fees are calculated, when they are due and what your guarantee covers. You don't have to give an amount. *5*“jobs” followed by a specialist role and a region : For a rare role, candidates find few ads on job boards. A permanent page per role, presenting your current vacancies and the profiles you place, can then appear. *6*The name of your agency, typed by a candidate : A candidate approached by one of your consultants checks who you are before calling back. They need to find the consultant's page, your specialities and how you handle an application. What works ## A recruitment agency's five levers. Lever 1 ### A journey for companies A “Hiring?” entry point gathers everything a client wants to read: your specialities, your method, your timescales, your fees, the consultants. Each page ends with a direct number. A business owner should never have to go through the candidate area to reach you. Lever 2 ### One page per role recruited and per sector These pages serve both your audiences. The company reads that you know the role. The candidate finds the open vacancies and the kind of profiles you support. They stay online all year round, even with no open vacancy. Lever 3 ### Job ads Google can read Each job ad has its own address, a clear job title, a location, a contract type and a date. Google can then include it in its job listings box. You write the substance of the ad, because the rules on job ads are your responsibility. Lever 4 ### Consultants, named with their speciality A client entrusts an assignment to a person, and a candidate responds to a person. Each consultant has a page: their sectors, their roles, their background, a way to contact them. This page also reassures candidates approached through headhunting. Lever 5 ### The Google Business Profile and reviews from both audiences Candidates readily leave a review, good or bad. Clients rarely do. I help you ask companies for a review after a successful assignment and reply calmly to disappointed candidates. What costs dearly ## The mistakes I often see on recruitment agencies' websites. Mistake 1 ### Publishing job ads only on job boards If your ads don't exist on your website, all candidates stay with the middleman. Your website must carry the original version of each job ad. Mistake 2 ### Deleting the page of a filled position The address then returns an error to candidates who had saved it. I redirect it to the role's permanent page, which presents the vacancies still open. Mistake 3 ### Internal job titles “Talent acquisition partner M/F” or a file reference match no search. The title must be the one the candidate types, followed by the location. Mistake 4 ### No page on your method or your fees The business owner wants to know how you search, how many candidates you present and what happens if the person leaves. With no answer, they call an agency that explains it. The method ## What I put in place for a recruitment agency. Four steps. From the start, I separate what is aimed at companies from what is aimed at candidates. 1. **The specialities.** You give me the roles and sectors where you want assignments. I identify the searches of both audiences. 2. **The company journey.** I build the speciality, method and fees pages, with a direct contact. 3. **The job ads.** I set up how ads are published and what happens to each page when the position is filled. 4. **The figures.** Every month, I separate company enquiries from applications, with their landing page. One-minute test ## Is SEO right for you? Five frank questions to find out whether support makes sense in your situation. Sometimes the answer is no, and I'll tell you. Close to home ## Recruitment in Charente. In Charente, an agency can recruit for very different employers: manufacturing and services around Angoulême, roles in the cognac industry, and businesses in small towns such as Jarnac, Barbezieux, Ruffec or Confolens. A candidate looks for a job with the name of a town. A business owner looks for an agency with the name of a role. Your pages must answer both. I live between Cognac and Paris, and I know the département. ### Angoulême: manufacturing and services If you recruit for employers in the urban area, write one page per role: technicians, engineers, managers. Each names Angoulême and the neighbouring towns, describes the position, and speaks both to the business owner and to the candidate hesitating to move. ### Cognac: roles specific to the industry Négoce, production, packaging and export have their own roles and vocabulary. If you recruit for these houses and their suppliers, a dedicated page shows it. It can also be read by candidates from other regions targeting this sector. ### Convincing a candidate to relocate A candidate from another region looks into quality of life, housing and their partner's job prospects. A local agency can write a page answering these questions. Your clients can also use it during their interviews. The rooftops of Angoulême. [Photo: JLPC, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angoul%C3%AAme_16_Vue_toits%26Charente_depuis_bd_Pasteur_2014.jpg) The historic centre of Cognac. [Photo: Jacques DASSIÉ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cognac_Centre_historique.jpg) [SEO consultant in Charente](https://kevinpapot.fr/consultant-seo-charente)[Angoulême](https://kevinpapot.fr/consultant-seo-angouleme)[Cognac](https://kevinpapot.fr/consultant-seo-cognac) Beyond Google ## What AI changes for a recruitment agency. Business owners now describe their position to an AI such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Mistral before looking for a provider. For example: “I'm looking for a maintenance manager for an industrial site near Cognac, I haven't had a single serious application in three months, which agency can help me?”. Candidates do the same to find out which agencies recruit in their field. The AI answers with what it has been able to read on your website, your Google Business Profile and the job ads you publish. An agency that states the same specialities, sectors and consultants everywhere is easy to describe. “Agency in Charente, technical and management roles in manufacturing, named consultant” is enough for it. “Your human resources partner” tells it nothing. [Find out more about GEO](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/consultant-geo) Question asked to an AII'm looking for a maintenance manager for an industrial site near Cognac. Which recruitment agency can help me? Answer Three types of answer for this position: 1. **Our client**— recruitment agency in Charente: technical and management roles in manufacturing, headhunting, method and guarantee described on the website, named consultant, ads for the same role already published. 2. — job board, paid ad posting, sorting applications is up to you. 3. — national generalist agency, office in another region, specialities not specified. Agency's websiteGoogle Business ProfilePublished job ads **Fig. 3.** Reconstruction, names hidden. This is the spot we aim for: on the list, with the most precise description. Three typical cases ## Three recruitment agencies, three situations. These three agencies are textbook cases I made up. They show where I start. Your plan will come from your audit. ### An independent consultant She recruits sales managers and lives off her network. 1. Create a page for her speciality, aimed at companies, with her method. 2. Write her consultant page and open her Google Business Profile. 3. Publish every job ad on her website before posting it elsewhere. ### An agency with six consultants It receives plenty of applications and few company enquiries. 1. Create the “Hiring?” entry point and put it first in the menu. 2. Write one page per sector, signed by the consultant who covers it. 3. Redirect old job ads to the permanent role pages. ### An agency opening a new speciality It recruits in manufacturing and wants to develop construction roles. 1. Create the pages for the new speciality, for companies first and then for candidates. 2. Introduce the consultant hired to lead this activity. 3. Publish answers to the questions business owners in the sector ask. In practice ## What you get. - A complete “Hiring?” journey, from the role to direct contact - A permanent page per role recruited and per sector - Job ads published in a way Google can read - A page for each consultant, with their specialities - A monthly report separating company enquiries from applications Pricing ## How much does an SEO consultant cost? The fee depends on four things. I give you a precise amount after a free first thirty-minute conversation. - The size of the site: ten pages or ten thousand - The competition on your queries - What you can do in-house, and what needs producing for you - The pace you want [Request a quote](#contact) Who you're talking to ## Your SEO consultant: a business owner, not just an SEO. My name is Kévin Papot. More than fifteen years in the job, four co-written books, and the Newp agency, co-founded in Charente. I also run my own online shops, in France and internationally: one of them went from zero to a million visits a month. **Before we talk tags, we talk margin, average basket and profitability.** When you book a call, I'm the one who picks up. [Read my story](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/kevin)[See my method](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/methode) FAQ ## SEO and recruitment: your questions. Can we beat the job boards on our own ads? On common job searches, no. These sites have a scale your agency doesn't. Your ads can, however, appear in Google's job listings box, and your role pages can appear for rare positions. Should we target companies or candidates? Both, but with separate pages. I almost always start with companies, because they are the ones who sign assignments. Candidates follow once the role pages and job ads are properly published. Company searches are rare. Is it profitable? Look at what an assignment is worth to you. If two or three serious enquiries a month comfortably cover the budget, the maths is simple. I help you work it out with your figures before we start. Who writes the job ads? You and your consultants. I give you a template structure: job title, location, contract, duties, profile. I don't touch the substance of the ad. The rules on job ads are your responsibility and your client's. What do we do with a confidential vacancy? You publish it without naming the company, giving the sector, size and area. The page stays useful to the candidate and to Google. If the client refuses any publication, the role's permanent page takes over. Should we keep paying for ads on job boards? Yes, as long as they bring you candidates. Your website's SEO comes on top of those ads. Over time, you'll see which ads get enough direct applications to cut that spending. How do we get reviews from clients and not just candidates? By asking at the right moment, for example at the end of the placed candidate's probation period. I prepare a simple message your consultants send. For negative reviews from candidates, I suggest short, factual replies. Our applicant tracking software generates the job ad pages. Is that a problem? It depends on what it produces. I check whether each ad has its own address on your domain name and whether Google can read it. If not, I tell you which settings to ask your supplier for. How long before the first company enquiries? Properly published job ads can be picked up by Google within a few days. Pages aimed at companies generally take several months to settle in. I won't give you any date in advance. Every month you see the enquiries received and where they came from. Do you have experience of this kind of market? I have fifteen years of SEO behind me and I co-founded Newp, which is also a business selling services to other businesses. I know what it is like to sell a service to a business owner. You'll explain your trade to me during the audit. --- Source: https://kevinpapot.fr/en/seo-cabinet-de-recrutement · Kévin Papot, SEO and GEO consultant, Charente (France).