Boost your advertising campaign's effectiveness and ensure that your advertisement attracts the best jobseekers.

An effective job advertisement:

• Is seen by as many qualified people as possible
• Generates as many qualified applications as possible

How do you make sure your campaign is effective?

1. Make sure the user can find the ad

Advertisements in print rely on colour, size and position to grab a user's attention. On the web, a candidate usually finds your ad by typing keywords or selecting criteria on a search form. You cannot rely on a candidate browsing or finding it by accident.

Use industry key words, especially in the job title. If necessary, use more than one phrase, eg sales account manager/handler. So candidates who type in account handler will find the job, as well as those who type in account manager.

If you use abbreviations, spell them out as well in case the user types in the full version; eg human resources and HR.

Fill in as many criteria as possible . For example, if the ad lets you choose location, don't leave this blank. If you do, and a candidate specifies a location, your job will either not appear or come lower down the list than those with a location specified.

2. Make the ad attractive to the user

Candidates have limited time online so they will not open every job ad they find. You need to make yours stand out.

Include a salary. Jobs with no salary are a big irritant for candidates. Even a broad range is better than none at all. Some sites (Workthing, for example) allow users to return results that exclude jobs with no salary specified.

Include your company name wherever possible, especially if it is a big brand.

Choose a job title that is descriptive of the job and familiar to the  jobseeker, as search engines usually match keywords to the job title first. Imagine how the jobseeker would seek to classify their skill set or job title when conducting a search. For example:

• Human resources rather than staffing managers
• Sales manager (national accounts) rather than national account manager

Add a logo. This will make your ad stand out on the results list.

Refine the description.This is your biggest opportunity to 'sell' your job. Make sure it describes the company as well as the role. Explain why this job is different and better than similar ones in other companies. Focus on the positives, even if they seem like negatives. For example, if the job is a long commute from the nearest town, focus on the peaceful working conditions.

Tip: Stepstone research has shown that European candidates will accept lower pay, and even relocate, if they believe that a job offers better career development potential. European candidates have constantly chosen 'career development' as the most important factor in deciding whether to apply for a job.

3. Make sure that qualified people apply.

One of the benefits of online job hunting is the ease of online application. This can also generate unwanted applications. You can improve the level of qualified response through careful wording.

List restrictions on applicants. For example, "We welcome applications from people with MSCE qualifications. Please only apply if you have this qualification."

Give detailed information on specialist roles. This will show candidates the precise level of knowledge needed. Asking specific questions at this point will save time later on.

A final note of monitoring

Successful online advertising also relies on monitoring. To measure how successful your online campaign has been, you will need to know how many candidates the job ad drives to you.

We know from our research that eight out of ten candidates do not respond to online job ads immediately. They may see your ad, make a note of contact details and then apply by post, phone or email.

This means the majority of your applicants will not come to you directly from a job site, even though that's where they saw the advertisement. So it's a good idea to ask your applicants where they saw the job advertised.

For more help and advice on online advertising, please contact service@workthing.com.