7 Ways to Improve Your Job Advert SEO

If you’re currently hiring within the Life Sciences sector and are struggling to get your job adverts seen, then it might be time to review your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

In the UK, the number of job vacancies has now exceeded the number of people unemployed for the first time, and similar trends are being seen across the globe. Making your job adverts stand out against so many others is becoming tougher than ever, yet it’s not an impossible challenge.

In this article, we look at 7 ways to improve your job advert SEO, helping you to continue to attract the best talent in the Life Science industry…

Identify Your Keywords

For your job adverts to be found online, you need to use the keywords that jobseekers will be using to search for jobs. You can use tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner to help you find the keywords most relevant to your adverts and understand how jobseekers are searching for jobs in your field.

Once you’ve identified your most important keywords, you can then implement these into your job adverts and other recruitment marketing materials including the copy on your website and careers pages.

Make Your Job Titles Search Friendly

Make your job titles search friendly by using common keywords that are clear and straightforward, steering clear of overly technical or internal jargon that jobseekers won’t be searching for. If you’re using abbreviated titles, you should also include the full title, for example, “Clinical Research Associate (CRA).” Similarly, don’t shorten words like ‘manager’ into ‘mgr’ and instead be as clear as possible about the role you’re advertising.

In terms of length, research has found that the ideal length for a job title is between 50-60 characters, so keep it short and make the most out of the little space you do have by choosing a title that’s informative and easily recognisable.

Write Clearly and Concisely

Your job advert isn’t the place to write about every single aspect of a role. Instead, use this space to clearly deliver the role’s purpose, key responsibilities, and main benefits to the jobseeker. Use bullet points to break down your text and use clear subheadings to guide jobseekers and search engines through your advert.

Similarly to your job title, try to stay away from too much internal jargon, abbreviations, and terms such as ‘Sales Whiz’ that jobseekers won’t be searching for, and don’t really tell you anything about the role.

Refine Your Opening Paragraph

The first 150 characters or so are the first thing jobseekers will see after your job title, so focus on selling the role in as few words as possible, whilst still including your main keywords. Think of this part as an ‘elevator pitch’ for your role, outlining how fantastic the opportunity is. This section should be a full, coherent sentence rather than a list of keywords, as keyword spamming is heavily discouraged by search engines.

Include a Company Description

Include a clear description of your company within your job advert that outlines who you are, what you do, the work environment you offer, and the sectors you operate within. Again, being clear and including your keywords is important here too.

For example, describing your organisation as one that “Transforms the lives of people across the globe” is enticing, however this doesn’t tell jobseekers or search engines that your organisation is a pharmaceutical company. Although you want to sell your company as a rewarding place to work, use specific terms that define who you are.

Optimise Your Landing Pages

If your job advert is directing jobseekers to one of your own landing pages, then these should be optimised for SEO too. Pay close attention to things such as:

• Your URL – is it a random assortment of numbers and symbols, or does it accurately describe the page?
• Meta description – have you created a meta description specifically for this page, making it clear what its purpose is?
• Headings – does the text on your page follow a sensible structure, and are you using headings to guide jobseekers and search engines through the page?
• Alt tags and subtitles – if your page has images or videos on it, have you included captions, alt tags and subtitles to help search engines understand your content?
• Links – does your landing page link to other pages on your website to connect your content and give search engines an idea of how your website is structured?

Review all your main pages as well as your careers pages and ensure all are optimised for SEO. If search engines can recognise your website as a valuable and trustworthy source of information, then this will have a positive impact on your job advert rankings.

Use the Right Job Boards

Posting your jobs on job boards with a good domain authority can also help your adverts to be found by search engines, so it’s important to choose carefully when it comes to where and how you advertise your roles.

PharmiWeb.Jobs is powered by Madgex,  one of the most well-established job board platforms on the market, helping search engines to recognise us as a secure and trustworthy site. As a business, we also have more than 20 years’ experience bringing the latest news and jobs in the Life Science industry to a global audience, and are recognised by search engines as a quality source of information. If you have a website with a poor domain authority but need to fill your roles quicker than you can improve this, posting on a reputable job board can really help to broaden your reach.