How SEO and UX Transformed an Education Job Board

In the world of online recruitment, competition is fierce. Job seekers are spoiled for choice, and employers need to know their listings will reach the right candidates. For sector-specific platforms like Education Week Jobs, standing out against generalist job boards requires more than just posting vacancies, it requires visibility, usability, and trust.

Education Week Jobs is a UK-based job board specialising in teaching and support roles across the education sector. While the platform had a strong reputation in the industry, its online performance didn’t fully reflect that. Search visibility was patchy, job listings were struggling to rank, and the user journey wasn’t as smooth as it could be. To attract more candidates and help employers fill vacancies, the site needed an overhaul of both SEO and user experience.

Building Authority Through SEO

The first step was ensuring that every job page could be discovered by search engines. Metadata, which had previously been missing or incomplete, was updated across job listings and category pages. Structured data for job postings was also added, helping listings appear in Google for Jobs and improving click-through rates from organic search.

Long-tail and role-specific keywords were prioritised, focusing on searches like “safeguarding officer jobs” and “ESOL jobs London.” This gave Education Week Jobs a stronger presence where candidates were actively searching. Supporting content, including blogs and landing pages, reinforced authority and captured broader search intent.

Enhancing the Candidate Journey With UX

While visibility brought people to the site, the user experience needed to keep them engaged. Insights from analytics and behaviour tracking tools highlighted pain points in navigation and application flows. With this data, the site was redesigned to simplify the journey from search to application. Clearer calls to action, improved filters, and better-structured job pages all helped reduce friction and encourage applications.

Delivering Measurable Growth

The combination of SEO improvements and UX enhancements delivered outstanding results. Conversions increased by over 640% year on year, and traffic grew by nearly 400%. Engagement rates rose to 79%, proving that candidates not only found the site but also interacted meaningfully with it. Google Search Console data backed this up, showing significant growth for key queries: clicks for “safeguarding jobs” increased by 452%, while “ESOL jobs” clicks rose by 155%.

The Takeaway

Education recruitment is a competitive space, but Education Week Jobs proved that with the right strategy, specialist platforms can thrive. SEO ensured job listings were visible to the right candidates, while UX improvements turned that visibility into real applications. The result was a job board that worked harder for both candidates and employers, transforming visibility and engagement into measurable recruitment success.