Job board best practices

Job boards have certain guidelines in place to provide the best possible experience for job seekers. Following these guidelines when posting a job is important for maximum visibility on job boards.

Read this article from Indeed summarizing their job posting guidelines.

In this article:

• Follow CareerPlug's effective job posting criteria
• One job, one post
• Avoid location blasting
• Be clear about remote jobs
• Fill in all job template placeholders

Follow CareerPlug's effective job posting criteria

We recommend posting jobs that meet CareerPlug's effective job posting criteria because doing so expands your talent pool with higher-quality and motivated candidates, accelerates your hiring process to save on recruitment costs, and fosters a positive employer brand.

Our criteria target 5 key components — job titles, job descriptions, compensation, desired experience, and prescreen questions — to make your job postings as effective as possible. Each industry and type of job will have unique challenges, but, on average, jobs that meet our criteria for an effective job posting receive 4x as many applicants.

CareerPlug's recommendations align with best practices from major job boards like Indeed — and they're the best place to start if you want to improve the performance of your job postings.

One job, one post

For example, Indeed’s revenue model is largely based on ad sponsoring. Indeed is particularly on the lookout for this in organic posts, as you can see in their Search Quality Policies. Never post for multiple openings with a single job post.

• Don't pluralize job titles
• Don’t use phrases like “we’re always hiring” in the description
• Don't reference any other open positions in the job description
• Don't advertise your job as part of a job fair or as an attempt to recruit a crew (such as for landscaping)
• You may post multiple job opportunities, but make sure that each post is for a unique job opening
  • If your company has multiple physical locations within a 25-mile radius, you should include the physical address of the unique location within your job description.

Avoid location blasting

You should only post an opening in the zip code of the physical location of the workplace. Posting a job to all of the zip codes within an area you serve may cause a job board to flag posts or remove your posts. This is called 'location blasting.'

According to Indeed, "Location blasting will require sponsorship. Excessive cases may result in removal from the site." Read more on Indeed's Search Quality Policies.

If the location of your job is near a larger city, it is okay to select that city as your job's location as long as you specify the physical address of your location within your job description.

Be clear about remote jobs

A remote job does not require reporting to a specific location and can be done from anywhere in the U.S.

We recommend being clear about remote positions and including one of the following phrases in your job description:

• “This is a remote position”
• “Employees will be working remotely”
• “Remote work allowed”
• "Will be fully remote"

Consider making your job remote

Job seekers who previously worked onsite positions are now searching for — and finding — remote jobs. Remote job postings doubled during the pandemic and continue to rise.

We know that making a role remote is not possible in many industries, but if it is in yours — do it! You’ll most likely see an immediate increase in applicant flow.

Job boards track and prioritize the search terms that job seekers use, and the overwhelming majority of job seekers are searching for remote work.

Fill in all job template placeholders

If you choose to use template placeholders that are filled manually, make sure they are filled before you post the job. Unresolved template placeholders are a huge red flag for the job boards.

If you’d like to revisit some of our other content on job posting best practices, check out some blog posts by our Founder and CEO, Clint Smith.

More information on Indeed's standards can be found in their help center:

Indeed Job Board Inclusion Guidelines

Indeed Job Posting Best Practices

Indeed has full discretion and reserves the right to remove a posting which they feel does not adhere to these guidelines. Jobs that do not meet Indeed standards may be subject to review and require additional information from the hiring company.