Google has advised site owners to use a new structured data markup related to ‘work from home’ after revealing that searches for the term have soared in recent months amid the global pandemic.
Google relayed the new advice on Friday via a notification in Search Console, which encouraged webmasters to specify a markup titled ‘jobLocationType:”TELECOMMUTE”’ when posting jobs online.
The tech giant said that the change would make it easier for job seekers to find more relevant employment options by increasing the visibility of listings.
Google added that the feature is currently limited to the UK and US “at the moment”.
“Given the recent COVID-19 impact on businesses and employment, Google has seen increased job seeker interest in work-from-home and remote job opportunities,” Google said in an email.
Data from Google Trends shows that the term ‘work from home’ started spiking in early March and surged to an ‘interest over time’ score of 100, the maximum, later in the month.
The rise in demand for stay-at-home job roles is not a surprise considering the recent pivot from the use of physical office spaces to remote work.
There has also been a general increase in the number of people looking for online work following layoffs and closures.
Data shows that in the US, search interest in ‘work from home’ has spiked in southern regions where the outbreak of COVID-19 has recently gathered pace.
With the marked rise for the term in the US and UK, Google has urged site owners to use relevant structured data markups to assist the growing number of people looking for work.
In addition to technical SEO, the rise in ‘work from home’ queries can also be used to spark new ideas for content marketing materials that meet the needs of users looking for information about remote work.
