Which HTML formatting does Google support in a job description?

Definition: In JobPosting.description, Google supports HTML formatting for a full job description. Its job feature recognizes <p>, <ul>, and <li>; paragraph breaks can use <br>, <p>, or \n.

Key facts

• Google's JobPosting documentation, last updated 8 September 2026, describes description as the full job description in HTML format.
• The description must represent the job completely, including responsibilities, qualifications, skills, working hours, education requirements, and experience requirements. It must differ from the title.
• Google requires paragraph breaks with <br>, <p>, or \n at minimum, and its feature recognizes <p>, <ul>, and <li>.
• The feature does not recognize header or character-level tags such as <h1>, <strong>, and <em> for its formatting. Google says these tags can still be included on the page.
• Schema.org defines a JobPosting as “a listing that describes a job opening in a certain organization”. Its description property is “a description of the item”.

Which tags can appear in JobPosting.description?

Google's documented formatting support is narrow. The feature recognizes paragraph elements and unordered-list elements with their list items. Paragraph separation is required at minimum, so a description should contain paragraph breaks rather than one unbroken text string. The documented example uses a paragraph element inside the JSON-LD value:

"description" : "<p>Google aspires to be an organization that reflects the globally diverse audience that our products and technology serve. We believe that in addition to hiring the best talent, a diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services.</p>"

The same documentation says that header and character-level tags, including <h1>, <strong>, and <em>, do not affect formatting in the feature. Those tags remain safe to include in the page itself, but they are not part of the documented formatting that the feature recognizes.

What does the full-description requirement cover?

The description value is more than a short summary. Google requires a complete representation of the job. The documented scope includes job responsibilities, qualifications, skills, working hours, education requirements, and experience requirements. The value also cannot repeat the job title as its entire content.

Google's job posting content policies state that incomplete job descriptions are not allowed. They also require job postings to describe the open position, include needed qualifications, and include information relevant to people looking for a job. These requirements apply to the substance of the description alongside its HTML structure.

How should a page be checked?

The JSON-LD should be compared with the description that job seekers can read on the page. Google's technical guidelines require the JobPosting structured data to appear on the same page as the job description visible in the browser. A review can therefore check that the field contains the complete description, uses paragraph breaks, uses the three recognized formatting tags where needed, and does not rely on header or character-level tags for the feature's formatting.

Schema.org supplies the vocabulary used by the markup. Its JobPosting page lists description as a property of the type, while the separate description property page defines the property generally. The Google documentation supplies the more specific rules for the job feature's HTML rendering.

Related terms

• Can JobPosting markup be added to a job search results page?
• What should be excluded from the JobPosting title field?
• How do I remove an expired job from Google's job results?

FAQ

Can you use <h1>, <strong>, or <em> in the description?

Yes. Google says the feature does not recognize those header and character-level tags for formatting, while the tags can safely remain on the page. Use <p>, <ul>, and <li> for the formatting that Google documents as recognized.

Does the description have to contain the whole job description?

Yes. Google requires a complete representation covering the job's responsibilities, qualifications, skills, working hours, education requirements, and experience requirements. An incomplete job description is disallowed by its job posting content policies.

Are paragraph breaks required?

At minimum, Google documents paragraph breaks using <br>, <p>, or \n. Its example represents the description with a <p> element.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Job posting (JobPosting) structured data for Job Search", 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "JobPosting", 16 September 2026
3. Schema.org, "description", 16 September 2026

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