How does Indeed work?

Indeed remains a dominant force in recruitment, but the competition for talent has shifted significantly as we move through 2026. Recent data from the Indeed Hiring Lab highlights massive demand spikes in specific sectors that employers should be aware of. Job listings for Teachers have surged by 245%, while roles for Property Solicitors are up 111%.

Unsurprisingly, the tech sector is seeing a continued explosion in AI and machine learning engineers, with listings up 86% year-on-year. For employers in these sectors, sponsoring a post is often necessary just to stay visible in a crowded market.

As a business, Indeed works by charging employers a fee for sponsoring a job listing. A sponsored listing or ‘ad’ will show the listing to more job seekers who are searching for jobs like yours.

The fee will be in the form of a Pay Per Click (PPC) model, which means how much you pay depends on how many people click on the listing. But, you’re able to set limits based on how much you’re comfortable spending.

If you’re a small business taking on staff for the first time, then remember that you must have employers’ liability insurance. This insurance is compulsory for any business with staff, and will help protect against compensation claims by current or former employees. There’s a hefty fine for not having this as it’s required by law.

How to advertise a job on Indeed?

To advertise a job on Indeed, the first thing you need to do is create an account on their employers side of the website, called ‘Indeed for employers’. Once you’ve created an account, there will be a ‘Post a job’ button in the top left of the page.

You’ll now start going through and following the on-page instructions on creating your job ad. This includes having to spend time filling out the job’s details, such as the job description and everything else you want a prospective employee to know. Including details such as benefits and being transparent about the salary will help increase the number of applicants.

When setting up the ad, you have the option of adding in screener questions. These will pop up during the application process, helping to verify if a candidate meets the criteria you’re looking for without having to manually sift through CVs or wait until the interview stage to ask follow-up questions.

Once the actual job application stage is done, you should decide whether to sponsor the post or leave it as an unsponsored post. A sponsored post is when you put some money behind your job ad to make it more visible to candidates. While a standard listing is free, it won’t be as prominent and may not attract as many applicants.

A sponsored post will appear at the top or bottom of any job search that’s relevant to your ad, and won’t fall back onto other pages. An unsponsored post however, will eventually go back a few pages and won’t be very noticeable.

How much to post a job on indeed?

If you only want to post an unsponsored job ad, then it’s free to post a job on Indeed. However, if you want your job ad to be more prominent and attract plenty of applicants, then you should consider creating a sponsored post which will cost money.

The amount it costs to post a job on Indeed depends entirely on your budget and how much you want to spend. Indeed uses a ‘PPC’ model, meaning ‘Pay Per Click’, so the amount you pay depends on the amount of people who click on the ad and the cost of each click.

How much control you have over the cost is whether you opt for the simple or advanced charging structure. A simple charging structure means you set a daily or monthly amount that will automatically renew, and Indeed optimises and manages your maximum CPC (Cost Per Click).

The ideal daily budget, Indeed says, depends on the job you’re offering, how urgently you need to fill the position, and the job’s location. For instance, the sooner you need to make a hire, the higher you should be willing to pay for each click to try and get as many applications as possible.

To provide a more current ballpark figure, you can expect to pay anywhere between £0.15 and £3.50 per click for a sponsored post in 2026.

This range has widened as competition for specialist roles has increased. While entry-level positions often sit at the lower end, high-demand sectors like tech or healthcare can push CPC rates toward the higher end of that scale.

You can pause a sponsored ad at any time if you’ve decided you’ve spent enough. For example, if you pause the ad after spending £35, you will only end up paying £35.

How does Indeed make money?

Indeed makes its money from the revenue of the pay per click sponsored ads. When you pay to list your sponsored ad, the money goes directly to Indeed.

It’s worth reiterating that there are no hidden costs associated with posting a job on Indeed. So you won’t be paying Indeed a fee for deciding to post a job or withdraw the ad for example.

Overview

Indeed can be a great place to start looking for your next new hire. The sponsored tools allow you to make your job ads visible to millions of potential employees, but if budgets are tight or there’s no rush to hire any time soon, there are free options available.

If you’re a small business hiring for the first time, ensure you have employers’ liability insurance. This cover is a legal requirement as soon as you hire your first employee. Failing to comply can result in severe financial penalties: you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly covered, plus an additional £1,000 for failing to display a valid insurance certificate or refusing to make it available to inspectors.