7 Tips for Creating Effective Online Job Ads

Sorting through job applications can be a tedious and time-consuming process, and there are multiple things candidates do in their submissions that add to the stress. Duplicate submissions, false documents, and template CVs are all potential errors that make the recruitment process more challenging than it has to be.

At MASA, we have experienced all this and more in our years of staffing and online recruitment, and here is one core lesson we can share: The standard of your job applications depends heavily on the quality of your job post. If job postings are adverts for specific roles in your company, it’s vital to make them as attractive, informative, and straightforward as possible.

Fortunately, there are some best practices you can follow to create job ads that drive better results for your recruitment. Join us as we step into the online recruitment process and explore seven actionable tips for upgrading your online job advertising strategy.

The value of job ads in online recruitment

Job advertising can seem like a very complex, technical, and sometimes rather dull process that requires employers to understand multiple aspects of online recruitment. Gone are the days when newspaper listings, word of mouth, and sticking printed job ads around the city were an effective strategy to recruit good quality staff.

We also live in a highly competitive economy where companies use the latest technology, including online job advertising and marketing, as critical components of their business growth strategies. In fact, 86% of HR professionals say recruitment is becoming more like marketing, highlighting just how essential ads are in the modern job market.

The shift to online recruitment has given job seekers unprecedented access to prospective employers and the ability to network, conduct research, and apply for the most desirable roles—all from the comfort of their phones or computers.

So, how do you position yourself to attract and hire top talent in 2022 and beyond?

7 tips for effective job advertisements

1. Start improving your employer brand

Before you even get to the actual job ads, you must take steps to improve the image of our company as a place where employees want to work. Why should you do that, you may ask? Well, 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand.

From social media, company websites, and review platforms, top candidates are going beyond job listings to learn more about the organisations behind them and whether they’re the right place for them. Employer brands show potential employees how their careers in the organisation will be, so make sure you invest in it accordingly.

Your website is the home base for showcasing your organisation to candidates and letting them know everything there is to know about it. The about us page should feature your company’s mission and values, as this instils the level of purpose that candidates will gain from working with you.

You can use social media to build an even more authentic image that connects to the candidate’s interests and career goals. This is an excellent place to create conversation with a job-seeking audience and share behind-the-scenes content from your current employees’ work life.

On the other hand, review sites are mainly out of your control. Past customers and employees will leave feedback on their experiences with your company, so building positive employee-employer and company-to-client relationships is essential.

Pro-tip: Ask for reviews from your best employees and customers. They can leave these reviews on company job boards where your organisation is listed, social media, or on recruitment platforms. These reviews will go a long way towards building a stronger company and employer brand that lasts.

2. Review your past job postings

You have a new vacancy you need to fill, and the job ads you created generated no responses or, at the very least, a few unsatisfactory ones. This is a good time to review your job postings to determine why they are not yielding the desired results. You can begin by examining your online recruitment efforts to outline critical details like:

• The total number of job advertisements posted
• Which platforms did you post to
• The number of applications received on each ad platform
• The number of job ads that lead to hires

The purpose of gathering this data is to identify any holes in the process that might cost you, applicants. By detailing where you posted your job ads, how many applications you received on each platform, and how many of them led to successful hires, you can see whether or not your current hiring strategy is consistent with the data.

For example, let’s say you have posted the same job advertisement on LinkedIn and Indeed. You can now measure the average number of applications each platform yields and determine which platform you hire candidates from on average. This will give you a clearer idea of where to improve or where you should focus your future recruitment efforts.

3. Use strong and relevant keywords in your job ads

Your job posting serves various functions, including demystifying a position, providing clarity, and differentiating one opportunity from another. In a market flooded with candidates looking for work, you’ll want to be the first recruiter to attract and connect with the most qualified candidates. What does this have to do with keywords?

A large percentage of job seekers search using only keywords. Incorporating words associated with your job in the title and description will make your job posting searchable via search engines. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a detailed and complex technique that top recruitment agencies leverage to improve the visibility of your job advertisements. 

This is only one small tip you can use to make your job ads more relevant to the job seeker and therefore appear higher in their search results.

Pro-tip: Avoid using keywords in your title that feature industry jargon or acronyms that may confuse applicants, like CoO (Co-ordinator) or HRG (HR Generalist). Instead, titles should include specific job titles such as “Sales Associate” or “Senior Project Manager.”

Partner with the pros

Ultimately, a lot more goes into creating a killer job advertising strategy. These are only a few of the many vital elements that are crucial to crafting effective job ads that are targeted to the right applicants.

If you want to learn more, you can connect with a staffing specialist to handle your company’s unique recruitment needs. MASA is a leading staffing agency with four decades of providing blue and white-collar staffing solutions to multinational corporates. We leverage the best-in-class technologies, techniques, and a comprehensive database of qualified talent to serve our clients the best in their industry.

Contact MASA today for industry-leading staffing solutions and expert consultation from trusted employment specialists.