Online job postings still matter; they are still the frontline contact with potential employees. This means your job listing should be intelligent enough to attract top candidates while using key SEO techniques to get your job listing noticed. There are 10 million open jobs right now, and each probably has a job listing on a job board somewhere. How can you get your little ad to stand out from the crowd?

9 Ways to Optimize Your Job Posting


1. Keep your posting concise and organized.

Use bullet points and, instead of a laundry list of must-haves and nice-to-haves make sure the ad focuses on critical competencies for the role. Long job descriptions with unnecessary details won’t cut it. The candidate will skim the ad or worse discard it.

2. Use SEO keywords in your job titles

But also make the titles catchy and friendly. Ask yourself what a targeted job candidate would look for when searching for your ad. Simple, efficient, and straightforward job titles will attract more candidates. Fancy job titles with little or no meaning mean fewer candidates at a time when every application counts.

3. Make sure your headlines are fun, creative, and inclusive.

Be careful of ads that show hidden biases. Don’t use cliches. Make the ads fun but don’t turn people off.

4. Do talk about culture. Do talk about your mission.

Candidates today want to believe in their work and be engaged in your mission. Lead with culture fit, and you’ll attract more talent to your organization.

5. Use niche job boards.

Are you looking for a diverse pile of candidate resumes? Consider all of the job boards out there targeting specific demographics or types of people. There are job boards for women in tech, and people of color. There are job boards for former inmates and older workers nearing retirement. There are plenty of job boards for new college graduates, too. Use these job boards and work a little smarter to further your reach.

6. Do add pay and benefits to your job postings.

Candidates want this and are turned off when you leave it out. Even if you put a pay range, make sure it’s a competitive offer. If you’re paying under market value, candidates will know it and walk away before applying. But if you’re offering them great pay and benefits, why not put it in the ad and brag a little?

7. Write the ad from the perspective of what’s in it for the candidate.

So many job ads just talk about the job description. You can make it more vibrant by talking about the great team they’ll join or how you offer unlimited PTO. When writing your next job ad, lead with your strong points and think outside the box.

8. Share the job ad on social media to really get it noticed.

Have your recruiters and employees do the same. Together, that’s a lot of reach that will bring in more applications. 

9. Use a good ATS to organize your job postings.

An ATS like Exelare allows you to not only organize applicants but also makes for a very friendly and appealing candidate application process. Exelare allows AI-driven automation to improve the candidate experience at each of the touchpoints in the application process. With automation, your candidate is in the know at every step of the process. 

Ready to Optrimize Your Job Postings?

If you’re trying to get your job ads noticed by candidates, talk with our team about how our software can make it happen.