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5 Steps to Better Job Description Click-Through Rates

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

In most organizations, marketers don’t own the task of writing job descriptions for new opportunities available within their organization. This responsibility generally belongs to people in human resources or recruiting.

And even if those folks have marketers review a draft before it posts (at least for marketing positions, that is), many times the urgency of the request prevents anyone from worrying about fine-tuning the job listing’s content. However, skipping this crucial step can make it even harder for you to fill that position quickly because the job description isn’t converting as many applicants as it could.

Fortunately, taking a little time up front to create a job description editorial checklist can make refining just-in-time job requests a piece of cake in the future. Here are five ways to garner better job description click through rates for your company’s opportunities.

1. Make Landing Pages Mobile Responsive & Job Board Friendly

Surprise, surprise, right? This goes without saying these days. However, while many organizations have corporate websites that have long been coded with mobile responsive design, the same doesn’t always hold true for the third party job portals they use to manage the job posting and application submission process. In many cases, the landing pages to which your paid and organic search listings point are actually the job description pages of an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Not only does Google reward mobile-friendly applicant tracking solutions, but major job board aggregators like Indeed.com will reward these sites with higher mobile SERP rankings as well. In fact, even if an employer sponsors an ad on Indeed, the ad won’t be placed as high in mobile search results as other sponsored ads that do point to mobile responsive job portals.

In addition, the best job portals have integrations with sites like Indeed and LinkedIn that allow job seekers to auto-populate their employment application with data from their existing profile. It’s clear that application submission CTRs have a greater chance of improving when your job listings are more readily visible and you make it easy for applicants to start the application process.

2. Don’t Write Vanilla Job Titles

Unless of course it’s some kind of French Vanilla premium custard, I suppose. But seriously, if you are looking for a Web Developer, be specific with your job title wording so that you can be found by the candidates that are truly qualified to do your Front End Javascript Developer job, even if you really just call it Web Developer II internally.

For hints, study your competitors’ opportunities for job title variation ideas that might accurately represent your employment need. Just remember that your job title can’t be so long that it will be cut off in SERPs or wrap to too many additional lines when applicants view your position listings page on their smartphone screens.

3. Model Your Snippets Based On Job Seeker Preferences

Depending on whether you host job descriptions on your corporate website or you use a recruiting software application, you may or may not have easy access to write a customized meta description for each job listing page.

In the event that you don’t have that functionality, you must carefully craft the first couple of sentences of your job description body text to include the keywords that will resonate with job seekers.

Above all, consider your labor market as a means to hone in on the type of unique selling proposition you should highlight in the first section. Here are some potential approaches:

Skills / Duties – This is the approach I recommend most of the time. Think about the occupation-specific keywords that job seekers are most likely to use to search for your job listing and include them in the first sentence so they show up in the snippet candidates see in SERPs. This will make it more likely that your organic listing will appear higher in results, too. Specifically, restate the job title in the first sentence.
Pay – Know that when you include numerical details about compensation in your job listing (even if they are at the bottom of the description) the search snippet may include the dollar amount. Some employers choose to include this information to attract and convert potential applicants who are especially compensation focused (e.g., sales professionals) or because they are paying a higher wage for certain positions relative to other competitors in the market.
Availability – If it’s difficult to source applicants for shift work in your area, then your leading keywords should include commentary on the working hours and days of the week required for the right job candidate.
Company Brand – If you are an extremely large organization, then you may be able to get away with leading with information about your company in the first paragraph. This would only be a viable approach if your potential job applicants are likely to search the internet based on your organization’s name. This approach is more suitable for sponsored job board ads that you know will have premium real estate, despite a shortage of position-specific keywords in the snippet.

4. Write for Readability First, Then Add Keywords

Instead of forcing a job description to use potentially awkward-sounding long tail keyword phrases, wordsmith a description that is both compelling and informative to applicant personas. Once the initial draft is done, go back and sprinkle in the most important keywords, as well as relevant co-occurring terms. Finally, be mindful of the keyword density for your job description so that the finished product isn’t keyword-stuffed.

5. Use Images & Video

Even though most job board search results point to landing pages that include familiar text elements such as job title, position preview, essential responsibilities and qualifications, that doesn’t mean you can’t break the mold and utilize images and embedded video. Many hiring software platforms will offer job description WYSIWYG editors that support the inclusion of images and video. Just make sure to include keyword-rich alt tags and video transcripts with your visual assets.

By giving potential job candidates a feast for the eyes, as well as more finely-tuned job information, you are more likely to engage them to click through to your landing page and start the application process. Use these five ideas to do exactly that and start converting more job applicants today.

This post originally appeared on Relevance.

Image credit: Teclado / Keyboard by Microsiervos (contact)

Help! My Job Posting Isn’t Getting Enough Applicants!

in Hiring Process/by Harlan Schafir

Occasionally clients will come to us in need of some insight as to why one of their positions isn’t receiving enough applicants. Their applicant traffic is falling short of what they would expect given the market, position type, unemployment rate, etc. In fact, here’s a recent inquiry from an ExactHire applicant tracking software client that was concerned about the number of employment applications being submitted for an arguably common, in-demand, type of position – Web Developer.

“We have been having a lot of trouble filling one of our open positions, and I wondered if you or anyone else at the ExactHire office might have some advice on how to pursue. The Web Developer position we know is a highly sought-after position. In light of this, we have considered the option of trying to attract international applicants, perhaps on an H1-B Visa. Are there any specific ways that you know of to attract these types of applicants since we see so little response from what we are doing currently?”

Check Your Job Listing’s Vital Signs With Analytics

There are many factors that could impact the popularity of a job posting, and so it makes sense to approach the situation from many angles and try some different adjustments to increase applicant volume. For this client, my first thought was to check their ATS site’s Google Analytics account…which we set up for all client portals. I logged into Google Analytics, and then looked up how many visitors had recently been landing on this particular job listing’s page URL. Visitors who landed on the job description page directly (for their first point of entry to the ATS site) would have been referred from other job boards (rather than from the client’s ATS portal’s external job listings page). This process gave us a snapshot into how easily the client’s job was being “seen” by external boards.

For example, upon examining the data in Google Analytics, I could see that the Web Developer job’s URL (#19 on the list) had not received as many page views as some of the client’s other concurrent positions – even though the same job boards had been used for both listings. For example, #7 on the list for a Product Development Assistant position had received quite a bit more views (308 vs. 113). When I looked at that job’s description, it was not too long; however, it was at least double the length of the client’s Web Developer job description and so there were more opportunities for it to include keywords that external job boards could use to rank it higher in relevant search results to applicants. Plus, the Product Development Assistant position restated the actual job title in the first sentence of its description…this is a great way to get it appearing more prominently in search results.

The Web Developer position did not do that. I suggested that the client try putting it in the first sentence and making the description a bit longer. NOTE: At the time, the Web Developer description was only about 3 sentences long. While you don’t want to slip into the trap of making job listings too long – particularly for hard-to-fill positions where qualified applicants are difficult to find – you don’t want them so short that a lack of content leaves them unable to earn higher search engine result rankings, either.

What’s in a Job Name?

I also suggested, given that Web Developer is such a common job title, that the client be more specific in naming the position. For example, what kind of developer is it? Could our client include the primary programming language that would be required in the title, itself? This technique would help applicants who do specific searches for certain programming languages on sites such as Indeed to come across a related position more easily. For example, in this particular case, the client might have tried a title like “Web Developer – HTML/CSS – Jquery.”

Attracting H1B Visa Sponsorship Candidates

In regards to the client’s question about going the H1B visa sponsorship route, I advised my contact to make sure and mention those specific words in the job description to both set expectations with potential international applicants, as well as improve the likelihood that international candidates who may do a search including those keywords end up seeing your job listing in the results returned for the job board. For example, I Googled the term myself and landed on some SimplyHired search results showing job descriptions that did just that:

Diagnosing Your Job Description: A Review

So to recap, if you are looking to determine what ails your low-applicant-volume job listing, I would suggest:

Considering whether the length of your job descriptions is appropriate (hint: look at similar jobs that are at the top of external job boards’ search results and check the length of those descriptions)
Using a more specific job title
Restating the title of your job at the beginning of your job description text
Including other relevant keyword phrases in your job listing (i.e. h1B visa, etc.)

Image credit: Lubbock Heart Hospital, Dec 16-17, 2005 by brykmantra (contact)

How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 5

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Location, location, location! No, I’m not talking about prime land real estate; however, the same old catchphrase can apply to your job listings and job board real estate depending on how well your company’s geographic location aligns with the location of your targeted applicant pool. In this fifth installment of the “How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search” series, I’ll discuss how strategically using features available within your applicant tracking system can remedy an organization’s ailing efforts to get listings in front of out-of-town applicants.

Skills Gap: Qualified Applicants Don’t Live in Your Neighborhood

Awhile back I was chatting with one of our clients. She works for a company within the automotive industry and frequently needs to hire individuals skilled in trades, such as mechanics and technicians capable of working on large diesel engines. She usually has a number of similar positions open across multiple facilities, but the facilities are not in really large metropolitan areas…rather bigger towns scattered across the Midwest. In particular, one of those larger towns happens to be about thirty minutes from Indianapolis via interstate.

She has found that if she can get the word out, sometimes skilled individuals who reside on the edge of Indianapolis are willing to drive to her facility for work…after all, it is in the opposite direction of most rush hour traffic. However, it is much more challenging for her to engage qualified applicants that are closer and, perhaps at times, more aware of her job openings. She is definitely experiencing a skills gap in her town when it comes to technical positions.

So naturally, having had some success reaching Indianapolis residents and engaging them to come to her town for work, she wants to continue to get the word out and expand the geographic scope of her applicant pool. However, with so many postings skimmed by job seekers, she needs to do it in such a way that it is still clear that the opportunity is based in her town…and not in the city thirty minutes away. After all, she doesn’t want to waste her time, or even the time of her hiring managers, if a few applicants that don’t realize the position is really in the smaller town (and therefore do NOT want to make the commute) get through the cracks.

Strategic Job Locations & Setting Expectations Clearly

The key to this obstacle is to use your job description to make it clear that your opportunity is based in the town, but also ensure that it appears in the search results for applicants who may not be specifically looking for jobs in that town…but rather in the nearby city. Check with your applicant tracking system provider to see if alternate job locations can be enabled for the job boards to which you push your job ads.

For example, it is important to be upfront about the fact that your position is based in your town on your careers page. You may go so far as to also say as much in the first two sentences of your job listing to be sure that the town name appears in snippets of your posting in search engine and job board results pages.

Then, when pushing certain job listings to free and paid external job boards, designate the larger nearby metropolitan area as the “job board city” since applicants often do geographic searches on external job boards. After all, many more searches are likely to be done on the city than on the smaller town. And, while some of those applicants will dismiss the small town job opportunity when they note in the first few sentences that it is based in the town a half hour away; others will check it out–as they might reside in an area of the city that is relatively close to the town. Plus, they never would have thought to search for opportunities in that town, specifically. This can be especially compelling when you consider that a city like Indianapolis is so spread out that it can take nearly an hour to go from a suburb on one side to another on the opposite end of the city.

Big City Skills Can Meet Small Town Opportunities

If you ever find yourself in a similar scenario scrambling to entice applicants to come to your quaint out of the way town, consider the approach I’ve outlined here. However, bear in mind the importance of still making it clear to applicants that do view your job description that the position is indeed located in your town…and not the big city. This technique isn’t about bamboozling applicants with the location bait and switch, it’s about harnessing the power of job board geographic searches to put your listing in front of applicants when it might not otherwise have been seen. Then, it is still up to the applicant to consider the merits of the scenic drive.

How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 4

in /by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Is writing job descriptions more of an art or a science? It is perhaps less of a science than it used to be since practices like keyword stuffing are now counterproductive while the focus is truly on producing quality content (as it should be) these days. I’m going to take the easy way out and claim that its a blend of both art and science…or perhaps, strategy is a better word. Gone are the days of packing job descriptions full of keywords to improve on-page optimization and propel your careers portal and job listings to the top of the search results list.

The Three P’s of Job Description Keyword Use

However, many factors have changed in the mystical realm of search engine optimization (at least it seems mystical to me at times) over the past few years and one thing is clear…relevance is king. So while keyword stuffing to the point that a reader was tripping over the same word every paragraph in a text used to be a somewhat effective trick, search engines like Google have since put algorithms in place to penalize such practices.

So what’s a savvy recruiting and HR professional to do to make sure new job opportunities are seen by inquiring applicants? In this fourth installment of the How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search series, I’ll highlight the Three P’s of Keyword Use in Job Descriptions: presence, popularity and placement. We’ll demonstrate keyword optimization for Indeed as an example.

Are Relevant Terms Present in Your Job Description?

While this is the simplest concept of the Three P’s, it nonetheless is the foundation for success in optimizing your job listings for search results. It really just requires that the most relevant keywords for your target applicant pool are present in your job description. The tricky part lies in the fact that you may not always know which keywords resonate with candidates that are well-qualified for your available career opportunities. To rectify the situation, think about employers in your market that source applicants from the same talent pool – in particular, the ones that seem to be beating you out when it comes to attracting potential new employees. Scour their job listings and take note of the terms they use in job titles and the first paragraph of job descriptions. Are you using the same types of terms in your jobs?

For example, let’s take a construction firm that is seeking a new electrical superintendent for a large industrial contract. When I did a search on Indeed for “construction superintendent electrical,” there were only 707 listings nationwide (since I didn’t specify a location).

However, with a little research of my competitors, I might find that they have job listings titled “Project Manager” with very similar descriptions to my own Superintendent listings. A slightly modified search for “construction project manager electrical” on Indeed yields 4,752 jobs.

So, you might find that it becomes important to include the phrase “project manager” in your listing a few times…perhaps more so than “superintendent.” This may affect your job title decision, as well.

Keyword Optimization For Indeed | Density Considerations

Once you are confident of the right one or two key terms or phrases that you’d like to pepper into your job opportunity text, you must consider the frequency with which these words are used. As I mentioned before, in the past some recruiters stuffed words into the text for best results, but that won’t work anymore. In fact, while “keyword density” isn’t as integral an ingredient in your rankings recipe as before, you definitely don’t want to use terms too often…probably not much more than three percent of your total word count in fact. As with salt, a little can help bring out the flavor in your soup, but too much can quickly ruin the whole recipe. Similarly, too many of the same words in a job description will seem artificial and boring to the potential applicant. Remember the law of diminishing returns.

Consider writing your job description to flow naturally without minding keyword use. Then, go back and reread your text and insert your desired terms a few times. Lastly, think of synonyms and other related phrases and place those in the listing, as well. For our construction example, other words/phrases that might naturally occur with “construction project manager electrical” might include: field labor; electrical superintendent; industrial project; construction project; bid analysis; electrical contractor; and, lead electrical consultant.

These “co-occurring terms” will be recognized by search engines as complementary to your true targeted terms and are just another ingredient in the rankings effort. Plus, they offer the reader more variety and depth…which is more likely to result in the site visitor converting to become your applicant.

Mind the Placement of Job Description Text

So far you’ve learned to use just a few instances of relevant phrases in your job description…but not too many. Truth be told, a little can go a long way as long as you are using the right terms thoughtfully. That’s where placement comes into play. Even though you might include desired phrases only a few times in your job listing, they can pack a punch in rankings battles if you position them strategically within your text. Here are some effective placement techniques:

Use your primary keyword phrase in your job title.
Include optimal terms in the first sentence, or at least the first paragraph of your job listing.
When possible, use keywords in header tags in your text (think H2 & H3 headers). This should be possible when adding job listings using your applicant tracking system.
If you embed any images in your job listing (and wow, what a way to differentiate your company!), include alt-text that describes the image using your relevant words.
Take advantage of search engine optimization tools provided by your ATS – particularly, the ability for some of the pages on your careers portal to include your job title within the URL address.

Now that you have a better understanding of how to use keywords strategically within your job listings, including being mindful of the Three P’s, you are well on your way to becoming a job listing ninja!

To see how ExactHire’s recruiting software can help streamline your job description optimization efforts, please schedule a live demo.

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 3

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

What’s in a job’s name? Sometimes…not enough. Particularly, if the job opportunity your company is trying to fill has an über common job title. So common in fact, that its chances of appearing near the top of search results for your intended applicant audience are nil. In my third installment of the “How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search” blog series, I’ll discuss three techniques for giving your job title (and therefore job description) a fighting chance of being seen by the right candidates.

#1 – Research Employers Targeting the Same Applicant Pool

Let’s say that you have a “Project Manager” opportunity within your smaller organization. If your business is small or mid-sized, then it may be sufficient to simply refer to this role as a Project Manager among internal staff members…even if the role is focused on project management within IT security, for example. However, when it comes to pushing your available job listing to external job boards (like CareerBuilder, Monster, Dice, Indeed, etc.), using “Project Manager” as your advertisement title is pretty vanilla and unlikely to put your unique opportunity at the top of the results list for the best-qualified, most engaged applicants for your role.

So, how do you pick an effective and more specific job title that will appeal to individuals who will be a good fit for your role? Start by making a list of other organizations with which you often compete for talent in a given job category. Initially, do a search on the job boards that you intend to use by typing in Project Manager. NOTE: If you do not use quotation marks when you type in this title, then you will see a list of the most relevant (and typically recent) job listing results that include both the words “project” and “manager” somewhere in the job listing…though they may not actually all be “Project Manager” positions. Then, try a Boolean search using “Project Manager” in quotations to see all the job listings that have an exact match to that two-word phrase…these are more likely to be roles that stay true to the keyword phrase. Your two separate search results lists may very well be quite different.

Next, search for job listings posted by your competitors for top talent. What names are they using for their job titles, and on what page of the search results do you encounter these titles? If they are near the top of the list for a keyword search that is likely to be similar to a search done by one of your applicants (check out #2 below to see how your applicants are searching), then your organization should pick the same kind of job title. If their listings are buried in the search results, then don’t mimic their naming technique.

#2 – Reference Keyword Analytics in Your Applicant Tracking System

Odds are that if you are using one of the best applicant tracking systems, you have a treasure trove of analytical information about your careers site visitors at your fingertips. A solid ATS will feature access to in-depth analytics tools…often available through an integration with a product like Piwik or Google Analytics. Within your analytics package, take a look at the data on which keyword phrases are referring traffic to your careers site from different search engines. Take it a step further and see which phrases are resulting in conversions – this typically includes both applications started and applications completed within your applicant tracking software. While you will find that some keywords referencing certain job titles may bring a lot of traffic to your site, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those site visitors find what they are seeking…which would be evident if they bounce and do not start or complete an application.

Look for trends in the reported keyword phrases that do result in completed applications, and then continue to utilize those words in your job titles and descriptions. Or, if some of the keywords reported do not result in conversions but you feel strongly that the tides could change with some minor adjustments, then start incorporating those keywords into actual job description titles. Understand that visitors may be referred to your careers portal because those keywords are present in the body of job descriptions; however, if they don’t see the keywords in a job title once they land on your job openings page, then they may never click through to the description to find them, and then convert to submitting an application.

NOTE: When reviewing your reporting and analytics data, you will only see a subset of all keyword phrases used by applicants as some search engines will restrict sharing the keywords used to refer traffic (for example, Google won’t share keywords used by individuals who are signed into a Google-owned account type while conducting a search).

#3 – Be Descriptive and Double Down on Your Job Title

While it may be not be practical for an employee to have a job title that is more than seven words long on a business card, it’s not a crime to advertise a job listing with a different title than what will actually be used internally once an employee is hired. Going back to our Project Manager example, this two-word title just may not cut it in the search results. However, if you add some more words to the title…like synonyms, location details, certifications required, etc., then your opportunity is more likely to be seen by applicants who have a clear vision of their ideal job.

For example, try “IT Project Manager – Security Analyst Job – Indianapolis” instead of just “Project Manager.” Why? Because search engines and job boards give more weight to titles in search results because they are often denoted by h1, h2 and/or h3 tags — these tags are a more significant part of a site’s source code structure. Also, you are casting a wider net to make other applicants aware of your job…like individuals who don’t necessarily search for project manager but perhaps something similar (like “IT Security Manager,” “IT PMP” or “IT Security Analyst,” etc.).

Secondly, reiterate the title of your job (or even the shortened version – Project Manager) in the first line of your job description. You know from “How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search, Part 2” that the first lines in the description often make up the snippets of content in search results…which again, are given more weight by search engines and job boards when ranking results. If you’re skeptical, check out the job listing results on Indeed in the image below…notice that the only “Project Manager” results returned for a Project Manager search (without quotation marks) in Indianapolis also have the title in the first line. The job listings that don’t double down on including the title are buried in other pages of results and less likely to be seen by applicants.

Next time you push a job listing to an external source, remember to think carefully about title selection. By researching other employers in your space, incorporating data from your applicant tracking system’s analytics and using keywords appropriately, you will be more likely to improve the response for your job listing.

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 2

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

It’s pretty easy to find advice about writing compliant job descriptions, but it can be harder to make sure those same descriptions translate into engaging blurbs on job board search results pages…that is, blurbs or “snippets” that are guaranteed to pique the interest of your potential applicants as they pore over pages of competitive job listings. But, there isn’t a single right away to approach writing job listings for search; in fact, crafting effective, “crawlable” job descriptions for your organization is largely dependent on the labor market for your position, your applicant demographic, organizational culture and whether or not you pay to sponsor your ads on otherwise free boards — such as Indeed. In this second installment of this “How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search” blog series, I’ll specifically discuss how to take a situational approach to writing the first few lines of a job description.

Use Smart Snippets

Let’s start off by looking at some general search results on the first page of a search for jobs in Indianapolis, IN. In particular, examine the snippets (also called meta descriptions) that summarize the first sentence or two under each position title. Unless the author of a web page specifically designates a meta description in the source code, then search engines and job boards will pull the first line or two of body text from your page. In my experience, the latter is the norm in the case of job listing search results.

As you can see, the job listing content included in each snippet varies with position. Whether or not the approach employed by each organization will work depends, again, on the job’s demand, demographic, culture and pocketbook. Take a closer look…

Consider Labor Market for Your Jobs

If sourcing applicants with the right qualifications, and availability to work, for one of your positions is comparable to spotting Sasquatch in your backyard, then you probably have some labor market-related considerations to examine. For example, if your position type is super easy to stumble upon in search results (i.e. there are hundreds with the same job title), and especially if the minimum qualifications do not require advanced professional degrees or experience, then one of your biggest applicant screening filters may be the days and times of the week that individuals are available to work.

With that in mind, the best job listing introduction might be a summary of the shift days and hours, as in the blue highlighted example from our sample search results. This works especially well if the employment application process for this position also includes questions designed to elicit responses from applicants on whether they meet basic minimum qualifications. For example, whether the applicant has the ability to work a certain shift on certain days might be an appropriate question. Ask your applicant tracking system provider about using scoring and disqualification filters on these types of questions to streamline the applicant screening process.

For frequently posted positions where hours aren’t the screening focus, it is good practice to restate the title of the job listing in the first sentence. This technique isn’t as much about engaging applicants as it is about increasing the frequency of desired keywords (more on this in a future post) — see pink highlighted examples. The more often you include the job title and/or similar names (up to a certain reasonable point), the more likely your job listing will rank higher in the list of results for an applicant searching using that keyword.

Know Your Target Applicant Pool

Think about your dream candidate for a specific position. How savvy is he/she at web search? Will he/she think beyond just searching for job titles, and also search for specific duties or required certifications associated with your job listing? Or, even if an applicant won’t necessarily search for those terms, he/she might be more likely to click on your job listing in search results if your snippet displays a reference to an essential job requirement that he/she finds appealing. This is another way to differentiate your listing from other job postings that don’t discuss duties until later in the full job description. So, while the two below listing results are for different types of positions, which one gives you more actual, engaging information about the job at a quick glance? And a glance is often all you have in today’s recruiting landscape…

If you picked the green job listing over the orange one, then you get the recruiting gold star for the day! If you picked the orange one, then check out tips on company summary placement in How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search, Part 1.

Be Snazzy If You Sponsor

As with all aspects of the talent acquisition process, the organizational culture of your company should shape your approach to writing job descriptions, as well. If part of your recruiting brand is to be energetic and fun, then you might want to take a more informal approach to writing the text of some of your job descriptions. Think about the behavioral characteristics of candidates who will thrive in the position that you are posting. Will they be persuaded to click and eventually apply to a snazzier, more tantalizing description of your organization and/or the position? Probably. Most people do aspire to like the work they do, after all. I especially see this approach with sales positions – which makes sense since persuasion is often a coveted skill for a successful business development employee.

However, if you are relying on this approach to carry you to the top of organic (i.e. unpaid) search results on search engines and job boards, make sure you carefully account for the prominence of your organization’s name and how difficult it is to fill this type of position in your decision making process. Take note of the yellow highlighted positions in our search results…one thing they all have in common is that they are sponsored ads and so their placement, or the ease with which someone may apply, earns premium attention. If your strategy or plan for a job posting does NOT include paying for special status, then you’ll likely be more heavily reliant on using relevant keywords and job information in your first few lines of text.

A Parting Thought on Pay

If you didn’t notice already, some of the snippets in our sample search results included information about the compensation for the position. However, that doesn’t always mean that the first few lines of the position description include pay info. In fact, if the compensation information is preceded by an ellipsis (…) in the snippet, then you know that the job board or search engine just appended that information after finding it somewhere else in the full job listing. The job board is really helping you out by displaying your opportunity in such a way that many job-seekers will self-select out of your application process because they have a different income expectation. However, as you consider how your job description preview will appear in search result snippets, know that if you do include salary or hourly wage information in your listing, it will likely appear in the snippet; thus, shortening the text displayed from the beginning of your description.

Now that you are familiar with the different techniques organizations may use to engage potential applicants in the snippet area of search results, it is time to evaluate your own job listings, applicant pool, culture and budget to determine which method will suit your needs. Be on the lookout for future blogs in this series that discuss choosing job posting titles and keywords.

In search of a tool that makes it easy to post job listings to external job boards and search engines? Schedule a live demo of our applicant tracking software (ATS) today!

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 1

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

It can be challenging to write a thorough and compliant job description that will satisfy your human resources and legal departments, while at the same time making it…dare I say…sexy enough to cause potential applicants to click through for more information or to apply for your job. After all, most job seekers won’t just know that your company is hiring and think to go directly to your applicant tracking software careers page; in fact, many will see your job listing for the first time on external job boards or previewed in Google SERPs (search engine results pages). You hope they see your job listings there, that is.

If you use the right techniques to write effective, search-friendly job descriptions, then your target audience of applicants will notice your job listings on search engines and job boards like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. This blog is the first in a series I’m writing about how to find the happy medium between including must-have job content and optimizing your job listings for search. In this post, we’ll begin to cover the strategy behind the actual words you use in your job descriptions, as well as the order in which you place them.

Reorder Your Job Listing Content

Depending on the size of your organization, the frequency of hiring and/or the brand association with your company name, you may regularly include an “about us” or company overview paragraph in each of your job descriptions. This can be especially true of companies that are a little smaller or less well-known, and is often an area used to showcase the basic info about the product or service of the organization, as well as some commentary about the company culture. Here’s an example:

So while this overview section is often placed at the beginning of a job description, that placement might actually be hampering this job listing’s click-through rate (CTR) from certain sets of search results. For example, search engines will display the first 160 or so characters of a page’s body text (unless a specific meta description has been designated by your webmaster for that page). In the case of the above job description, we see in the Google search results highlighted below that the text displayed is the company overview section – because it was at the beginning of the job description.

For some of your applicants this may not be a big deal, but others will move on to the next search result for a different job that better describes the actual position in the first few lines – this may especially be the case for highly competitive job titles that return many pages of search results.

Examine Search Results Within External Job Boards

So how do the results for this example job listing appear in different job boards?

CareerBuilder:

Indeed:

As you can see, results vary from one board to the next. For example, on CareerBuilder the company overview header is squished ahead of part of the body text. On Indeed, the first few lines of the “Position Overview” section of the job listing are displayed. While this is actually the best scenario because that section should have all the meat, I’m not sure that the most compelling information to attract candidates is the fact that the applicant would be supporting a certain office.

So, why take a gamble on what information will appear in search results for your job listings? Instead, keep the company overview section – but put it at the end of your job listing. Then, write an engaging first sentence that restates your job title and includes relevant keywords to grab the attention of potential applicants as they scan through hundreds of similarly named job title search results. Stay tuned for future blogs in this series discussing keyword use and job titles.

Interested in learning how ExactHire’s applicant tracking software can help optimize your job listings for search? Contact us today to schedule a live demo.