Job ad optimisation means making each advert easy to find, easy to trust and easy to act on, while keeping it lawful. In practice that comes down to six things: a plain job title, a visible pay range, specific duties, inclusive wording, a clean page that Google can read, and an ad that is taken down when the role is filled. This guide covers each one for Australian employers, with the rules that apply here.
TL;DR
- Use the title candidates actually search for, and state the pay range. SEEK reports that ads showing a salary receive on average 36% more applications.
- Never advertise pay below the minimum wage or the applicable modern award. The Fair Work Ombudsman fines employers for it, and you stay responsible even when someone else posts the ad.
- Write about skills and outcomes, not coded phrases such as “dynamic team”, which can signal age or gender bias.
- Be specific about the role and remove stale ads. Vague or long-running ads are often read as “ghost jobs”.
- If you host ads on your own site, add JobPosting structured data to each job page so the role can appear in Google for Jobs.
Table of Contents
- What a well-optimised job ad actually does
- Start with the job title candidates search for
- Show the pay range
- Check the pay against the law before you publish
- Write the first three lines for a skimming reader
- Be specific, because vague ads look fake
- Keep the wording inclusive and lawful
- Use keywords naturally, not as a list
- Format the ad so it can be read on a phone
- Make your own career page visible in Google for Jobs
- Where the ad sits in the whole hiring process
- Our view: an ad is only the first step
- When it is worth getting help
- A pre-publish checklist
- FAQ
- Sources
What a well-optimised job ad actually does
A job ad has to do three jobs at once. It has to be found by someone searching a job board or Google. It has to persuade a qualified person that the role is real, fair and worth an hour of their time. And it has to put off people who are clearly unsuited, so you are not sorting through 200 applications to find 10 worth interviewing.
Most advice on this topic stops at keywords. Keywords matter, but an ad that ranks well and reads as vague still fails. The sections below follow the order a candidate experiences your ad: the title in the search results, the first few lines, the details, and the application step.
Start with the job title candidates search for
The title is the part of your ad that appears in search results and email alerts. It is also the part most often written for internal use rather than for the market.
- Use the standard title. “Accounts Payable Officer” will be searched. “Finance Ninja” will not.
- Put the seniority in. “Senior”, “Graduate” or “Team Leader” filters out mismatched applicants before they click.
- Add location and work arrangement where space allows. “Hybrid” or “Parramatta, NSW” answers a question candidates would otherwise have to open the ad to resolve.
- Leave out the extras. Pay, “urgent” and exclamation marks belong in dedicated fields or the body, not the title.
If you are not sure which title the market uses, run it through the job board’s own search box. The suggestions and the number of competing ads tell you quickly whether you are in line with what people type.
Show the pay range
Salary is the single detail candidates look for first. SEEK’s employer advice says that ads with a visible salary receive on average 36% more applications than those without, and that a range lets you set expectations early so you attract people whose expectations match the role (SEEK).
A few practical points:
- Use a realistic range. A band of $85,000 to $95,000 plus superannuation is useful. A band of $60,000 to $120,000 tells the candidate nothing.
- Say whether super is included. Candidates compare ads, and an unclear package loses to a clear one.
- Mention the extras that carry real value: a vehicle, bonus structure, flexible hours, paid study leave.
- Check it against the award. This is the legal point covered next.
Check the pay against the law before you publish
This is the one part of job ad optimisation where a mistake can cost money. According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, it is prohibited to advertise pay rates below an employee’s minimum entitlements, which means the national minimum wage or the applicable modern award, and Fair Work Inspectors have been issuing fines for non-compliant ads since March 2023.
Enforcement is continuing to grow. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s June 2024 announcement reported 151 infringement notices and more than $89,000 in fines at that point. A more recent report on 2025-26 results put the total at 358 infringement notices and $131,836 in fines paid, with repeat or significant offenders warned they could face court action.
Two habits keep you safe:
- Check the rate with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) before the ad goes live, and again when awards change their rates each year.
- Remember that outsourcing does not transfer the responsibility. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance is that the employer remains responsible for the content of the ad, including pay, even when an external recruiter or job board publishes it (Fair Work Ombudsman). If you work with an agency, ask to approve the final wording.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations also publishes a guide on prohibiting job advertisements that breach the Fair Work Act if you want the policy background.
If you are unsure which award covers a role, or whether a role is award-free, check with the Fair Work Ombudsman or an employment lawyer or HR adviser before advertising a rate.
Write the first three lines for a skimming reader
Candidates scan. On a job board, the first lines carry most of the weight. Lead with what the person will do and why the role exists, not with a paragraph about your company’s history.
A useful opening covers:
- who you are, in one sentence (industry, size, location)
- what the role is responsible for
- what makes this a good move for the right person
Compare two openings for the same warehouse supervisor role.
Weak: “We are a dynamic, fast-growing organisation seeking a passionate individual to join our family.”
Stronger: “We are a 40-person food distributor in Dandenong. You will lead a shift of eight warehouse staff, own dispatch accuracy and report to the operations manager. The role is Monday to Friday, 6 am to 2.30 pm.”
The second is longer, but it filters. Someone who cannot start at 6 am will not apply, and someone who wants to lead a team will.
Be specific, because vague ads look fake
Candidates are increasingly sceptical of listings. The ABC has reported on “ghost jobs”, positions advertised with no real intention of filling them, and quoted futurist Dr Ben Hamer on the signs. Vague descriptions are one of them, and a detailed, professional ad helps show the role is genuine (ABC News). The same article notes that ads live for more than 30 days are often regarded as potential ghost jobs.
So specificity does double duty. It persuades, and it protects your reputation as an employer. Include:
- Real duties. Three to six main responsibilities, in order of importance.
- Must-haves versus nice-to-haves. Keep must-haves to what you would genuinely reject someone for lacking. Long wish lists reduce applications from qualified people who feel they do not tick every box.
- Reporting line and team size.
- Tools and systems. “Xero and MYOB” or “Salesforce” is both a keyword and a filter.
- The process. How many interview rounds, and when you expect to decide.
- Working arrangements. Location, hours, travel, remote or hybrid days.
Then manage the lifespan. If a role has been open for a month, either refresh the ad with a real change (a pay adjustment, a clearer scope) or close it. Always close ads when the role is filled.
Keep the wording inclusive and lawful
Section 86 of the Sex Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to publish an advertisement that indicates, or could reasonably be understood to indicate, an intention to discriminate on certain grounds, as set out in the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines for recruitment advertisements. The Fair Work Ombudsman notes that corporations can face fines of $5,000 for discriminatory ads.
The Commission’s step-by-step guide advises focusing on the essential requirements of the job and cautions against phrases such as “dynamic team” or “mature professional”, which can unintentionally signal age or gender preferences. A quick editing pass:
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| “Young, energetic team” | “Busy team with regular deadlines” |
| “Mature professional” | “Experience managing client accounts independently” |
| “Must be physically fit” | “Lifting up to 15 kg is a regular part of the role” (only if true) |
| “Salesman” | “Sales representative” |
| “Native English speaker” | “Strong written and spoken English for client communication” |
The pattern is the same each time: replace a description of the person with a description of the task. If you want to go further, our article on diversity hiring in Australia sets out three actions employers can take.
Use keywords naturally, not as a list
Job boards and Google both match on the words in your ad. Put the main job title and the two or three skills or tools that define the role in the title, the first paragraph and the requirements. Use the terms candidates use, not your internal ones.
Do not pad. Repeating a title ten times makes the ad harder to read and does not help it rank. Use a synonym once where it is natural, for example “bookkeeper” alongside “accounts officer” if both are common for the role.
If you are using an AI tool to draft the ad, treat the output as a first draft. Check it for invented benefits, generic filler and wording that could breach the rules above. A short course on ethical AI in hiring is a reasonable starting point if you are building AI into your wider hiring process.
Format the ad so it can be read on a phone
A large share of job searching happens on mobile, so write with that in mind:
- short paragraphs of two to three lines
- bullet points for duties and requirements
- subheadings such as “The role”, “About you”, “What we offer”
- no walls of text and no decorative symbols
- an application step that takes minutes, not an hour
A length of 300 to 700 words tends to be enough for most roles. Executive and technical positions may justify more, but every line should be doing work. For platform-specific advice, see our tips for posting jobs on SEEK.
Make your own career page visible in Google for Jobs
If you publish roles on your own website, you can make them eligible for Google’s job search experience. Google’s documentation says to add JobPosting structured data to the specific page describing each job, not to a list or search page, and to avoid tags such as h1, strong and em inside the description property, keeping to simple ones like p, ul and li (Google Search Central).
A short checklist for your web developer:
- One page per job, with a unique URL.
- Structured data on that page with title, description, date posted, employer, location and base salary.
- A valid-through date, and removal of the page or markup once the role is filled.
- A test of the page in Google’s Rich Results Test.
If you do not have a career page, you can still benefit indirectly: SixGun’s overview explains that you generally optimise listings on job boards that feed Google, or make your own career pages indexable. If that sounds like more work than a small team can carry, tools that automate structured data and publishing exist; one such SEO platform lists structured data markup among its features.
Where the ad sits in the whole hiring process
A well-optimised ad improves the top of the funnel, but it will not fix a slow process. Many employers lose strong candidates between the application and the offer, not at the ad stage. Respond to applicants within a few days, and make sure the person running interviews knows what the ad promised. Our guide to common recruitment mistakes made by employers covers the next steps, and recruitment advertising for Australian SMEs explains where advertising spend fits.
It also helps to measure. Track, for each ad:
- views and applications (the conversion rate tells you whether the ad is persuasive)
- the share of applicants who meet your must-haves (this tells you whether the targeting is right)
- the time from posting to offer
If views are high and applications are low, revisit the pay, the title and the opening. If applications are high and quality is low, tighten the requirements and be clearer about the role.
Our view: an ad is only the first step
We work with small and mid-sized employers across Australia and New Zealand, and the same pattern shows up often. Owners write an ad late in the day, post it, and then spend weeks reading applications that do not fit. The ad is rarely the only problem, but it is the cheapest one to fix.
Our advice is to treat the ad as a short brief. If you cannot say in two sentences what the person will do and what you will pay, the role is not ready to advertise. Fix that first. A clear brief makes the ad better, and it makes every later step, including screening and interviews, faster.
We also think a lot of small businesses over-rely on advertising alone. Posting an ad and waiting suits roles where many suitable people are actively looking. For harder-to-fill roles in areas such as engineering, healthcare, finance and technology, the best candidates are often not browsing job boards at all. That is where direct sourcing earns its place, and it is why our model combines advertising with active candidate search for each role.
Finally, we think hiring should be priced so that a small business can afford to do it properly. That is why we charge a fixed fee rather than a percentage of salary.
— Josh Townsend
When it is worth getting help
You can do a lot yourself with the steps above. Help makes sense when the role is hard to fill, when you do not have the time to screen applicants, or when a bad hire would be expensive.
At The Recruitment Alternative we recruit permanent staff for employers across Australia and New Zealand on a fixed-fee basis. Our Recruit option has an engagement fee of $895 and a placement fee of $3,900 to $5,000, depending on the candidate’s salary. Recruit+ has an engagement fee of $2,495 and a placement fee of $5,000 to $6,000. Optional extras include a criminal check at $129 and a psychometric evaluation at $199 per candidate. If a hire does not work out, our Replacement Campaign costs $1,000. You can see the full structure on our flat-fee pricing page, or start from our home page.
A pre-publish checklist
Before any ad goes live, run through this list:
- The job title matches what candidates search for.
- A pay range is shown, and it meets the award or minimum wage (checked with PACT).
- The first three lines explain the role, the employer and the location.
- Duties are specific and in order of importance.
- Must-haves are genuinely essential.
- No coded or discriminatory wording.
- The ad reads well on a phone.
- There is a plan to close or refresh it within 30 days.
- If it is on your own site, JobPosting markup is in place and valid.
FAQ
What should be included in a job ad?
Include the job title, location, pay range, a short description of the employer, the main duties, the essential skills and experience, working hours and arrangements, and how to apply. Add the benefits that candidates value, such as flexibility or training. Keep the wording free of anything that could indicate a preference for a gender, age or other protected group.
Do I have to put the salary in a job ad in Australia?
No federal rule we have found requires you to publish a salary in every ad, but it is a strong way to attract applicants. What you cannot do is advertise a pay rate below the minimum entitlements, as the Fair Work Ombudsman explains. Check any state or territory requirements that apply to you, as pay transparency rules are changing in some places.
How do I avoid my ad looking like a ghost job?
Be specific about the role, the pay and the process, and do not leave an ad live for months. The ABC’s reporting suggests vague descriptions and ads running beyond 30 days are common warning signs (ABC News). Close the ad when you fill the role, and say so if you are building a talent pool rather than hiring immediately.
Does Google for Jobs matter for a small business?
It can, if you have your own careers page, because structured data lets each role appear in Google’s job results. If you only use job boards, focus on the quality of the ad on those platforms. Either way, the content advice is the same: a clear title, pay, and specific details.
Sources
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Job ads
- Fair Work Ombudsman: crackdown on dodgy job ads, June 2024
- Fair Work Ombudsman: pay and conditions information
- Mirage News: Fines increase for ads promoting sub-minimum wages
- DEWR: Prohibiting job advertisements that would breach the Fair Work Act
- Australian Human Rights Commission: guidelines for recruitment advertisements
- Australian Human Rights Commission: preventing discrimination in recruitment
- ABC News: ghost jobs
- SEEK: why include salary in your job ads
- Google Search Central: JobPosting structured data
- SixGun: Google for Jobs Australia
