How does Indeed pricing actually work?

It probably won’t surprise you that one of the most frequently asked questions to the Flat Fee Recruiter team is ‘how does Indeed pricing actually work?’

Chances are, if you’ve advertised on Indeed before, you’ve come away more confused than when you started.

And maybe even out of pocket!

The Sponsorship model.

Before Indeed, almost all job boards (like newspapers and magazines) charged ‘by the job.’ An easy to manage fixed cost that meant one less headache for employers.

When Indeed launched in 2007 it helped introduce ‘pay-per-click’ pricing to the world of recruitment. This is a sponsorship model that operates more like a digital advertising campaign.

And unless you understand how it really works, it’s very easy to overspend or get poor results.

Let’s take a closer look.

Sponsored job pricing vs free listings.

Indeed does still provide the opportunity to post ‘organic’ job ads that appear in search results without any spend, but these are much less common.

When you post a job to Indeed, you will be directed to a sponsorship page, and many jobs now must be sponsored before they can go live.

If you are able to post for free, you must bear in mind that your job will sit below all sponsored roles, maybe pages down from the top results, and receive fewer applicants, especially in the most competitive markets.

Sponsored jobs are promoted in search results and get significantly more visibility. You set a budget, and Indeed uses that to push your job higher and show it to more candidates.

For jobs in highly competitive markets, you will have to spend significantly more to be confident of reaching a decent pool of qualified candidates.

What does cost-per-click pricing mean?

Indeed runs on a cost-per-click (CPC) model.

When you sponsor a job, you set a budget for your ad, and pay a percentage of that budget when someone clicks on it.

Each click has a cost, known as cost per click (CPC).

This is something of a closely guarded secret, but cost-per-click pricing on Indeed will be based on some combination of:

• Competition for similar roles

• Location

• Industry demand

• Job title and keywords

For example, a warehouse role in a low-competition area might cost 20p to 50p per click, while a software engineer role in London could cost upwards of £6 per click

Remember: you are paying for traffic, not applications.

If your job advert is weak, unclear, or unattractive in some way, you can end up paying for lots of clicks and get very few applicants.

Why spending £20 per day doesn’t always mean £20 per day.

This is one of the biggest sources of frustration for users of the job board. Indeed doesn’t always spend your budget evenly every single day. Instead it works towards an average cost over a period of days or weeks.

This means your adverts may cost more on high-traffic days and less on quieter days

Over a period of time, you should see the cost balancing out around the average daily budget, but it’s very easy to see your costs spiralling, especially if you’re advertising a highly sought after role.

It pays to keep a close eye on your advert’s performance if you don’t want to get caught out.

Why employers sometimes burn budget quickly.

A common mistake is assuming that spending more will automatically bring better candidates.

You’re paying to get eyes on your advert. If candidates don’t like what they see, they’ll click on another result, but still cost you money.

Huge turn-offs for applicants include:

• Vague job titles

• Missing salary information

• Weak or generic descriptions

• No clear benefits or selling points

A well written job advert can be the difference between a cost-efficient ad campaign and an expensive waste of time.

Indeed’s sponsorship model is not always straightforward but it is becoming the norm across most job boards.

However, Flat Fee Recruiter continues to provide job board advertising across multiple sites, including Indeed, at a fixed price.

The highly trained team can also manage your bespoke online budgets to ensure costs never get out of control.

To find out how Flat Fee Recruiter can transform your hiring strategy, call today on 0113 322 7243.