Quick Start

By the end of this guide, you'll have a live job board with a custom theme, jobs importing automatically, and a public URL you can share.

Before you begin

You need a Cavuno account (sign up if you don't have one), a name for your job board, and a short description of your niche. The niche description drives everything Cavuno generates for you, so be specific: "Remote engineering jobs" or "Climate tech careers" works better than "Jobs."

Create your board

1. Log in to your Cavuno dashboard
2. Enter your board name and niche description
3. Click Create

Your board is now live at a default subdomain (e.g., yourboard.cavuno.com). Cavuno's AI immediately starts generating your color theme, page content, SEO settings, and backfill rules based on what you described. You can track progress in the onboarding checklist on your dashboard.

The backfill rules start importing relevant jobs right away. Within minutes, your board will have real job listings that match your niche. You can review and adjust these rules at any time.

Customize your design

There are two ways to open the website builder. If you're a new board, click Customize design in the onboarding checklist on your dashboard. Otherwise, go to Board settings in the sidebar, scroll to the Website builder section, and click Edit.

Once in the editor, click the Design tab in the right panel to access your board's global design settings. The logo upload is in the Logo section: click Upload and add a square image (minimum 200x200px, PNG or JPG). A transparent PNG works best because your logo needs to look good in both light and dark mode.

Below the logo, you'll find color schemes and typography. Browse the preset color schemes for a professionally designed palette, or click Customize to enter your own brand colors. Each preset includes balanced values for both light and dark mode. Pick heading and body fonts that match your brand identity.

All design changes apply globally across every page on your board. For the full guide, see Customize your design.

Connect a custom domain

A custom domain like jobs.yoursite.com builds trust with visitors and improves your SEO. You can set this up now or come back later.

1. Go to Board settings in the sidebar
2. Click the Domains tab
3. Enter your custom domain
4. Add the DNS records shown to your domain provider
5. Click Verify

DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. See Connect a custom domain for provider-specific instructions.

Set up payments

Connect Stripe when you're ready to charge for job postings. If you're still building traffic, skip this step for now. Most boards wait until they have 5,000 to 10,000 monthly visitors before introducing paid listings, though hyper-niche boards with highly targeted audiences can monetize earlier.

1. Go to Board settings in the sidebar
2. Click the Monetization tab
3. Connect your Stripe account
4. Create your pricing plans

See Connect Stripe and Create pricing plans for detailed setup instructions.

What to do next

Your board is live with jobs importing automatically. Here's the recommended order for what comes next.

Review your backfill rules. Go to Board settings and click the Backfill tab. Make sure the right companies and job types are importing, and remove anything that doesn't fit your niche. Tight, relevant backfill beats high volume. See Configure backfill.

Customize your pages. Open the website builder from Board settings (scroll to the Website builder section and click Edit). Use the page type dropdown in the top bar to switch between your homepage, job listing pages, company pages, and more. The builder uses pre-designed sections that are guaranteed to look professional, so you can focus on your content rather than pixel-tweaking. See Website builder.

Set up job alerts. Job alerts are your primary retention and list-building tool. Subscribers receive automated emails when new jobs matching their criteria are posted. This runs on its own once configured and compounds over time. See Job alerts.

Add your analytics. Go to Board settings and click the Analytics tab. Connect Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Search Console is especially important because it shows you how your job pages perform in Google search results, including Google for Jobs impressions.

Invite your team. Click Team members in the sidebar to add collaborators. You can assign different roles to control who can manage jobs, edit content, or access billing. See Invite team members.

For a comprehensive launch plan covering everything from branding to marketing, see the launch checklist.