A vacancy sits online for three weeks. Two applications, neither a fit. The job is right, the pay is fine, the team is a good one. And still, silence. The problem rarely lies with the budget or the job board, but with the job advert itself. And no amount of extra ad spend will fix an advert that doesn't explain the role, speak to the right people or turn up in search at all.
For recruitment agencies, staffing agencies and job board operators, the job advert isn't a formality at the end of the process. It's your product. In this article you'll learn what a good job advert is, what it needs to include and how to write one step by step, so you attract the right candidates without leaning on paid placements.
What makes a good job advert?
A good job advert is a clear, candidate-focused description of a role that quickly tells the right person what the job involves, what it offers, what's expected of them and how to apply. It's written from the candidate's point of view, not the employer's, and it's structured so that both people and search engines can understand it easily.
Put another way: a good job advert does two things at once. It persuades a suitable candidate to apply, and it's findable in Google and AI search. An advert that's beautifully written but that nobody finds fails just as surely as one that turns up but convinces nobody.
What does a good job advert need to include? The key features
A strong job advert meets a handful of consistent features. Run through this list like a checklist before you publish a vacancy:
- A recognisable job title: the term candidates actually search for, not an internal or creative label.
- A short, candidate-focused intro: speaks to the reader and makes clear within two sentences why the job is worth a look.
- Concrete duties: describes the day-to-day work in practical language, not in abstract terms.
- Realistic requirements: only the genuine must-haves, not the complete dream candidate.
- Transparent terms: a salary or honest range, contract type, hours and location.
- Inclusive language: describes the work rather than an unnecessarily narrow picture of the person.
- A scannable layout: headings, short paragraphs and bullet points, readable on mobile too.
- One clear next step: the candidate knows exactly what to do now.
- Findability: its own indexable page with a descriptive title and JobPosting structured data.
A job advert describes the work, the offer and the skills required, not an unnecessarily narrow picture of the person you expect to hire.
Why a good job advert makes the difference
For most candidates, your job advert is the first real contact with a role, long before a recruiter gets involved. If that advert is vague, generic or hard to find, even the best sourcing strategy won't rescue the pipeline that follows.
For staffing and recruitment agencies this matters more than it does for most employers, because you publish at volume. One weak template quietly damages hundreds of vacancies at once. A strong template does the opposite: better titles, clearer copy and findable pages deliver more relevant applicants per vacancy and reduce your dependence on paid job boards.
Tips for writing a good job advert
The features above turn into a ready-to-publish advert with the following seven tips.
Tip 1: choose a job title candidates actually search for
The job title is the single most important line of your whole advert. It decides who you reach, whether you show up in Google and how quickly someone recognises the role as relevant. Creative titles like "Sales Rockstar" or "Customer Happiness Specialist" almost never match what people type into the search bar.
Use the term candidates use themselves. Someone looking for warehouse work types "warehouse operative Manchester" or "order picker evening shift", not an internally invented label. If you run a niche or regional job board, the location belongs in or right next to the title.
- Write "Warehouse Operative Manchester (full-time)", not "Logistics talent wanted".
- Match real search behaviour: warehouse jobs in Manchester is a search term, "supply chain enthusiast" isn't.
- Make seniority explicit, so "junior", "senior" or "lead" is clear at a glance.
- Avoid internal codes and jargon that mean nothing outside your organisation.
A handy formula for a findable title: role + location + key differentiator. For example "Forklift Driver Manchester day shift" or "Junior Recruiter Leeds hybrid".
Tip 2: start with the candidate, not your company history
The first two sentences decide whether someone keeps reading. Spend them on the candidate and the work, not on when your agency was founded or how many branches you have. An advert that opens with "Founded in 1998, we are the market leader in..." loses attention before the job even comes into view.
Instead, start with what the person will do, why that's appealing and who the role suits. Compare these two openings:
Weak intro: "On behalf of one of our clients we are looking for a motivated employee who is flexible, resilient under pressure and available immediately."
Stronger intro: "Fancy a full-time logistics job in Manchester with fixed day shifts, a clear salary and the chance to progress to team leader? Then this warehouse operative role could be a strong next step."
The stronger version is concrete. It names the type of job, the location, the working hours, salary transparency and room to grow. In short: a reason to keep reading. Company information is useful, but it belongs further down and kept brief.
Tip 3: describe the work in practical language
Candidates want to picture the job. So describe what the role involves day to day, rather than an abstract task list. "You operate and monitor production machinery on a two-shift rota, carry out basic quality checks and log the output" says far more than "responsible for operational duties".
Put the work into concrete bullet points, because they scan more easily:
- You pick and pack customer orders in the warehouse.
- You check incoming goods and log them in the system.
- You keep the warehouse clean and tidy alongside your colleagues.
- You follow the safety instructions when moving products.
For recruitment and staffing agencies this also cuts down irrelevant applications, because candidates grasp the physical or technical nature of the work before they apply.
Tip 4: keep the requirements realistic and describe behaviour
Don't describe the perfect dream candidate, only the must-haves that are genuinely needed. Long requirement lists actually put off suitable people, who tick most but not every box. And describe competencies as visible behaviour rather than vague personality traits.
- Instead of: you're resilient under pressure.
Write: during busy periods you stay on top of things and keep working carefully.
- Instead of: you're proactive.
Write: you spot what needs doing and pick up tasks independently.
- Instead of: you're a team player.
Write: you enjoy working with others and contribute to a good team result.
Split your requirements into must-have and nice-to-have, and keep that must-have list short. Only mention the qualifications, certificates or licences that genuinely matter, such as a forklift licence.
Tip 5: be transparent about salary and benefits
The part candidates read most closely is what they get in return. So make it concrete. Vague terms like "competitive salary" or "good benefits" get skipped in favour of adverts that do quote figures. A widely documented principle around pay transparency — reflected in analyses from bodies such as the OECD and in broader research on recruitment — is that visibility over pay strengthens the information position of jobseekers and reduces mismatch. Transparency therefore also improves the quality of your applicants, because people self-select on terms they can see.
State the salary or an honest range, the contract type, the hours and shift pattern, the location and genuine extras. For a machine operator in Birmingham that means: the rota, the hourly rate, whether it's temporary or permanent, and how travel costs or shift allowance work. Also think about:
- Gross hourly rate or monthly salary (range)
- Shift allowance or overtime arrangement
- Travel expenses and holiday pay
- Training or certification opportunities
- The chance of a permanent contract
- Fixed shifts, flexible hours or hybrid working
Tip 6: make the advert scannable and inclusive
Most candidates don't read a vacancy top to bottom, they scan it. So use white space, headings and short paragraphs, because most people read on their phone. A strong vacancy page usually follows this structure: short intro, "what you'll do", "what we offer", "what we ask", a brief section about the organisation and a clear next step to apply.
Write inclusively too, so you invite the right people without needlessly excluding others. Avoid references to age, gender, background or appearance, and describe the work rather than the person. If a job calls for physical effort, write "you'll regularly lift boxes up to 20 kilos", not "you're strong and healthy".
Tip 7: make your job advert findable in Google and AI
A beautiful job advert that nobody finds still fails. To attract organic traffic, every vacancy has to work like a real web page, not a record buried in a database. That means its own indexable URL, a clear descriptive title and enough structure for search engines.
The documented best practices from Google Search Central stress that a vacancy needs to sit on a crawlable page with a specific title and requires JobPosting structured data to be eligible for Google for Jobs. Google states that the structured data must match the visible text on the page and that expired vacancies should be removed or updated. For a recruitment agency, that's the practical difference between a vacancy that exists only as a database record and one that can rank and appear in Google's jobs experience. This is where a platform like JobSaaS can help, by turning every vacancy into an SEO-ready page with the structure search engines expect.
That same clarity carries through to AI search. Well-structured vacancy pages, with consistent information about the role, location and employer, increase the chance that search engines and AI systems such as AI Overviews understand the content correctly and present it the right way. Google for Jobs remains the most important channel to optimise for, with AI answer engines a growing second. Both rely on the same foundation: a clear title, honest details and a findable page.
A practical job advert template
Use this structure as a starting point for most vacancies.
Job title: [Role] in [location] – [full-time/part-time/shift/hybrid]
Introduction: Fancy working as a [role] in [location], with [key benefit], [salary or contract detail] and [growth/culture]? Then this role with [type of client] could be a strong match.
What you'll do:
- [Duty 1 in practical language]
- [Duty 2 in practical language]
- [Duty 3 in practical language]
What you'll get:
- A salary of [range] gross per [hour/month]
- [Travel costs, shift allowance or holiday pay]
- [Training, certification or growth opportunity]
- [Contract type or chance of a permanent role]
What we ask:
- You have [essential skill, certificate or experience].
- You're available on [days/hours/shifts].
- You communicate clearly with [clients/colleagues].
How to apply: Interested in this [role] vacancy in [location]? Apply today using the button. Got a question first? Get in touch with [name] via [contact method].
Common mistakes in job adverts
- Using internal job titles: candidates search on common terms, not internal labels.
- Writing too much about the company: company context is fine, but the job and the offer come first.
- Listing every conceivable requirement: focus on the genuine must-haves.
- Leaving out the salary: transparency helps candidates decide faster.
- Vague personality words: describe behaviour instead.
- An unclear next step: tell the candidate exactly what to do now.
- Forgetting SEO: a good vacancy is readable for candidates and understandable for search engines.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good job advert?
A good job advert is a clear, candidate-focused description of a role that quickly makes clear what the job involves, what it offers, what's expected and how to apply. It's written from the candidate's point of view and structured so that both people and search engines can understand it easily.
What does a good job advert need to include?
A good job advert has a recognisable job title, a short candidate-focused intro, concrete duties, realistic requirements, transparent terms, inclusive language, a scannable layout and one clear next step to apply. On top of that, it sits on its own indexable page so it's findable in Google.
How do you write a good job advert?
Start with a title people search for, open with the candidate rather than your company, describe the work concretely, keep the requirements realistic, be transparent about the salary and finish with one clear next step to apply. Then put the vacancy on its own web page with a descriptive title, so it becomes findable too.
How long should a job advert be?
Long enough to answer the candidate's most important questions and no longer. Most strong adverts sit between 300 and 700 words. Clarity beats length: if a piece of text doesn't help with the decision to apply, cut it.
Should you put the salary in a job advert?
Yes, or at least an honest range. Adverts with a visible salary attract more relevant applicants and often perform better in search. "Competitive salary" is more likely to be read as a red flag than a benefit.
Conclusion: a good job advert is clear, concrete and findable
Writing a good job advert comes down to a repeatable discipline: choose a title people search for, start with the candidate, be concrete about the work and the offer, write like a human and build the page so it gets found. Do that consistently and you'll pull better applicants from the vacancies you already have live, without raising your ad budget.
For recruitment and staffing agencies that want more control over their candidate attraction, JobSaaS offers a practical way to publish vacancies on a careers website built for SEO, AI findability and conversion, so that every advert you write works harder from day one.
