Google Ads for recruitment agencies - generating client and candidate leads

Running paid search for a recruitment agency without separating client acquisition from candidate acquisition is one of the most common mistakes I see in this sector. The keywords overlap - searches containing job titles, industries, and locations appear in both client and candidate queries - but the intent is completely different. A company director searching "engineering recruitment agency Manchester" wants to hire an agency. An engineer searching "engineering jobs Manchester" is looking for a job. These people need completely different ads and completely different landing pages.

Client acquisition campaigns

Client-focused campaigns should target decision-maker search intent: phrases that indicate someone is looking to hire recruitment support rather than looking for a job. Terms like "recruitment agency for [sector]", "executive search firm", "technical recruitment specialist", "RPO services" indicate hiring company intent. Landing pages for these campaigns should speak to the business - time to hire, quality of candidates, sector expertise, success rates, and client testimonials from companies of similar size and type.

The economics of client acquisition are typically much more favourable than candidate acquisition in CPCs, because fewer advertisers compete for "manufacturing recruitment agency" terms than for "manufacturing engineer jobs". The conversion value is also much higher - a placement fee from a client is worth thousands, not the marginal value of a CV submission.

Candidate acquisition campaigns

Candidate campaigns compete in a much more crowded space. Job boards, LinkedIn, and direct employer advertising all compete for the same job seeker queries. The CPC for specific job title searches in competitive sectors can be high relative to the direct revenue value of a candidate registration. Before investing heavily in paid candidate acquisition, evaluate whether the roles you are recruiting for have genuine search demand, and whether paid search or job board presence gives better cost per qualified applicant in your specific market.

Negative keywords are critical

The overlap between client and candidate keyword territory makes negative keywords more important in recruitment than in almost any other sector. Your client acquisition campaign must exclude job seeker terms - "jobs", "vacancies", "apply", "salary", "CV" should all be negatives. Your candidate campaign must exclude agency-buyer terms. Without these separations, your ads reach the wrong audience and your CPA figures are meaningless.