Writing great ad copy is absolutely essential when attracting the perfect applicants to your vacancies and in today’s "candidate rich" market, the job of your ad is often to "put candidates off". We at LogicMelon understand these issues better than most. An inbox full of irrelevant candidates is no fun!

All good creative English teachers will tell you to make sure your story has a beginning, middle and an end (preferably in that order). A great job advert is no different. Make your adverts flow; include the following elements and no more than around 2500 characters:

• Introduce yourself - Grab attention with clear and interesting facts about the role and your business. Draw applicants into your adverts!
• What is involved - Include at least a paragraph on what the job will involve and the main duties.
• What’s needed - Highlight the core skills that are necessary to fulfil the role, but don’t overdo it.
• The clincher - End the ad with information on career progression, benefits, environment, atmosphere and how the role could pan out in the future.

A common mistake is to only highlight the requirements needed to fulfil the role; remember a job advert is more than just a skills summary! Outline core duties and day to day activities for a really appealing ad.

Try using "you" instead of "we need" and "must have". This will make applicants feel more affinity to the role and your advert, for instance, "You should be the type of person that is passionate about digital media and the internet, with an obsessive interest in everything you do with Search and SEO".

It sounds softer and will appeal more to a jobseeker than:

"We need a candidate who is passionate about digital media and the internet, you must have an obsessive interest in everything to do with Search and SEO".

It is important to remember that the more core skills you include in an advert, the less people you are going to appeal to. Keep things clear and concise, highlighting what is essential for the role including maybe two or three of the desired skills.

It is very competitive out there, with lots of agents and end employers fighting for the top slots on job board search engines. Writing keyword driven ad copy is a great way to get your ads featured higher up these lists.

Use multiple job titles to appeal to different search strings i.e. ASP.NET Developer / Software Developer (ASP.NET) / .NET Programmer. Think of how candidates might search for your vacancy, then use these keywords in your ad copy.

I know this isn’t always possible; however it can help to increase application rates and will certainly provide more relevant responses. Be aware that jobseekers can look at vacancies without salary ranges with suspicion and sometimes choose not to apply as they are unsure whether the role matches their expectations.

It is illegal to discriminate against anyone based on age, race, sex etc. Ensure your ad copy adheres to employment regulatory standards, this means you should not ask for specific amounts of experience or a degree level candidate without the words "or equivalent".

If you are concerned then get in touch with us at LogicMelon for more information and guidelines covering this in more detail.