Even in the midst of a substitute teacher shortage, there are a number of ways to recruit substitute teachers. There are many recruiting methods to consider, like partnering with credentialing schools or alternative-route certification programs, getting creative on social media, and holding in-person hiring events. Here are five concrete actions you can take to level-up your substitute teacher recruiting tactics: 

1. Optimize your website for mobile

Potential substitute teachers will likely view your website and job listings through their phones. Optimizing your website for mobile ensures that visitors can easily view your current sub needs and even complete an application from their mobile browser. 

2. Improve your search engine performance

SEO (search engine optimization) refers to improving the visibility of your website in search engine results. Make sure that the keywords and phrases sub candidates are searching for, like “substitute teaching jobs in San Francisco,” appear in your website content and in the meta descriptions. 

3. Leverage retargeting

Retargeting is a type of online advertising that allows you to reach out to previous visitors of your website by serving them ads on other websites or social media channels. To bring visitors back to your site, create ads with fun and engaging content, like a brief video tour of your school.

4. Explore job boards

Job sites like Indeed are a great way to reach more candidates. You can post for free or, if you have the budget, sponsor a post. Job boards also have features that can help drive your recruiting efforts, such as company pages and “easy apply” buttons.

5. Experiment with programmatic ads

If you have the budget, try programmatic ads, software that allows you to buy and manage ads across multiple platforms at once. This saves time, increases the reach of your ads, and allows you to easily scale your ads up or down depending on your needs.