How To Write Listings That Get Noticed on Babysitter Sites

At Sitter.com our mission is simple: pair families and individuals with the best child care providers in North America. We do that by providing an easy to use, online directory that connects parents with a network of babysitters, nannies, and daycares.

On Sitter.com families and child care providers post listings in order to find each other. Families post jobs describing their needs and nannies, sitters and other child care providers create profiles detailing their skills and experience.

In this article, Sitter.com’s customer support manager, Freya, shares the qualities that the most popular listings tend to contain with the goal of helping families and sitters write job descriptions and caregiver profiles that will get the most attention.

Freya has seen what it takes to create listings that get noticed. So whether you are looking for a sitter or sitter job you’ll want to follow her advice on how to write the most effective listings on self-serve child care websites.

Are you finding that your listing isn’t grabbing the attention of sitters like you had hoped for?

Sitters, not sure where to start or what to include in your profile?

If you are feeling stuck on how to create a great listing, don’t worry - we’ve got you covered! We see hundreds of listings each day and have found four common areas of your profile that can make the difference between successfully making a match or just being “nexted”.

Whether you are looking for a babysitter or seeking a job, the four key areas you may need to take another look at are:

Headline

Besides your name, your headline is one of the first things your potential matches will see when they are sifting through their list of search results. Depending on your area, there may be lots of competition and so you will want to make sure you’ve got a headline that will get you noticed and make your targeted audience want to read more about you.

Whatever headline you choose, you will want to use proper capitalization as well as be unique, specific, and descriptive.

For families seeking child care, some examples of good headlines include:

For babysitters, some examples of good headlines include:

Photo

While it is completely optional to upload a profile photo, we do find that listings with a photo get seen 5x more than those without! Both families and job seekers like to be able to see who they are messaging and it makes it easier for them to remember who they’ve contacted.

Cautionary notes to job seekers : If you decide to use a photo that includes a child or children that is/are not your own, please make sure you have permission from their family before you post it on your profile!

Additionally, you are trying to get a job caring for children so try to stay away from using any glamour shots – this isn’t a social media profile! Using a clear, smiling headshot of yourself is most ideal.

Description

You have successfully grabbed the attention of your potential match and they’ve decided to click on your profile (hurray!). Your description now plays a critical part in them actually wanting to contact you.

For Families

Make sure that you are clear about what you need from your sitter so they know if they are even capable or eligible for your position.

Some things you should include are:

Availability required: Try to be as specific as possible by including what days of the week you need, what hours during those days, and an anticipated start date (i.e. an actual date or ASAP). Are you looking for a long-term commitment or is this just a one-time need? This will help the candidate know if they can be available for when you need them.

Tasks required: You don’t want to go overboard in describing every little detail that needs to be done as this might make your candidate run the other way before even getting started! Keep those minor details for the interview and just include the basic necessities required such as making snacks, pick-up/drop-off children at school or activities, light housekeeping, homework supervision, etc.

Experience and Qualifications required: Do you require your sitter to have previous babysitting experience/training or any special certificates such as First Aid and/or CPR? Do they need a driver’s license or their own car? Do they need experience dealing with any special needs or allergies? We always recommend you request a criminal record check and at least 2-3 references.

Wage: Listings that include a wage or wage range seem to attract more applicants than those that don’t. The wage is always negotiable and depends a lot on the experience of the individual as well as your job requirements.

Check out our What to Pay Your Babysitter article for some factors you should consider when trying to settle on a wage with your sitter.

For Babysitters

You want to treat your listing like a resume so that families can easily decide if you are just who they need! Some things you should include are:

An introduction: In just a few sentences, make a friendly introduction to prospective families and let them know why you want to care for children and what you are really passionate about.

Availability: Are there certain days or times that you are available (or unavailable)? Are you able to start now or only after a certain date or only during a specific time frame (i.e. summer only)? Families need to know your availability so try to be as clear for them as possible.

Experience and Qualifications: Here is where you want to express what experiences and/or special skills you have in caring for children. You should include things such as how many children you’ve cared for at one time, the ages of children you have experience with, responsibilities you had while caring for them, as well as any training or certificates you have related to child care (i.e. babysitter course, First Aid/ CPR, ECE, etc.). Try to avoid listing unnecessary work history that doesn’t involve child care.

Wage/Rate: If you have an expected wage or rate in mind, you should include this in your listing to help families have a better idea of what it will cost them should they hire you as their babysitter. Keep in mind, you don’t want to make your rate too high and have families skip to the next candidate, but you also don’t want to sell yourself short if you have great experience and qualifications. The wage is always negotiable and greatly depends on your experience as well as job requirements.

Check out our What to Pay Your Babysitter article for things to consider when determining a fair rate with the family.

Details

You may have already stated all of your details in your description, but it is equally important that you complete your “Family/Sitter Details” section as well. You should check off as many of the boxes that apply to you because the more boxes you select, the more searchable your listing will be when matches are using our search filters.

Conclusion

By following our tips above, you should be able to create a great listing that will surely grab the attention that you need to find the perfect candidate or get the job you really want!

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