Tips to Get Maximum from The Job Postings

With over millions of job searches each month on major job boards like Naukri, Monster, Indeed, and Career Builder, Dice are you doing enough to make sure your job posting stands out? When you think of Search Engine Optimization (or SEO), you probably think it pertains to online marketing and websites, right? You wouldn’t automatically associate it with job postings, but it’s just as important.

Here’s how you can better optimize your job postings for better search results in three simple ways:

Keyword Research

When writing your title and job description, it’s important to pick phrases that are relevant to your job posting. Phrases that are too general come with more competition and put you at risk for showing up at the bottom of the results page or delivering unqualified candidates. For example, instead of using basic phrases like “software developer” you should specify “Application Developer,” “PHP Developer,” or “Java Developer.” The goal is get as specific and relevant as you can to reach the most qualified audience (so you don’t have entry-level candidates applying for an upper level position).  If you’re stumped for keyword ideas, try out free keyword research tools like Google Adwords Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas.

Common Job Title

When creating a job title, you want to choose something that is simple and concise. Be careful not to use this an opportunity to “sell” your posting or get creative (ex: “Top Performers Wanted!” “Rare Opportunity with Great Company!”) because that makes your posting potentially unsearchable. To better optimize your title, include the job description with career level or job type (part-time, full-time). including the acronym to a job title along with writing out the job itself is also important. For example, if you’re hiring for a Registered Nurse, write out “Registered Nurse (RN).” By doing this, you’ll likely catch people who are searching out both of those common phrases.

Optimization of Job Description.

The job description is the meat and potatoes of your posting. A search engine populates the results of listings that have the most relevance and relevancy begins in the description of your job posting. So how can you accomplish this? Using the results from your keyword research, pick 3 phrases and use those throughout the copy in your description. By using your keywords frequently, your posting will become better optimized and likely to appear more often. It’s also important to note that while you want to be relevant, make sure you don’t over-stuff your description with keywords so frequent, it starts sounding unnatural.

Optimizing a job posting can be time consuming. If you need help with writing one or not sure which keywords are the best for your posting, you can always consult with your marketing department for optimization help. They’ll be your best resource for helping you craft a searchable and creative job posting.