Key Metrics You Should be Tracking on Your Career Site

Research suggests that 33% of job seekers use employer career sites to search for jobs, a 7% increase compared to last year. Your career site is not just an inventory of your job postings – but an incredible opportunity to establish brand recognition and attract talented candidates. But most organizations neglect career pages in lieu of other sourcing channels. This results in outdated and static career pages that leave candidates unconvinced. Even worse, neglected career sites will not appear on search engines, making it hard for candidates to access job listings. 

Keeping an eye on your goals and whether the website’s performance is meeting those goals is essential. Moreover, with recent Google updates prioritizing website security, speed, and user experience, organizations are increasing their focus on SEO strategies for company websites and career pages. The State of SEO report finds that SEO professionals dedicate the most time to technical SEO (15 %) and SEO planning and strategy (13.5%). Despite this, many of them struggle with tracking results and performance – there are so many metrics to track! 

We don’t want that for you! So, we have curated a list of the crucial metrics you must track for your career site.

Top 5 Career Site Metrics to Track

Adopt a data-driven approach for your career site and analyze the following performance indicators for your career pages.

1. Site visits

This, the most common metric, measures the number of people who visit your website. This simple (albeit vital) number tells you how many opportunities you had to convert a potential candidate into an applicant. You can further track: 

Visitors: Demographics can help you identify your audience groups. Analytic tools also let you track repeat and unique visitors – people who frequent your website and new individuals. 

Visits over time: Tracking website visits during a particular time – daily, weekly, or monthly – provides information about the efficacy of your SEO and advertising tactics. 

Comparing visits to visitors lets you understand how frequently people revisit your career site. For example, if you get 200 visits in a week but only 100 visitors, it means some visitors return more than once. More visits mean more chances of conversion.

2. Applications and conversions

A career page aims to encourage potential candidates to apply, so tracking the application rate is arguably the most critical metric. 

If job seekers are visiting the job posting but not applying, something is not working on the page itself. You can also link the career page to every source you use and derive better value from metrics. For instance, if you are receiving more applications from a specific job board or website, you can reallocate resources there. 

Applications over time: tracking the number of applications you receive over time – daily, weekly, monthly – also tells a lot about the site’s performance. For instance, if you have established a steady flow of applicants, you can screen them to see if they are relevant. A higher number of irrelevant candidates means that your career site or recruitment strategy needs modification.

Conversion rate/drop-off rate: Candidates who apply for a job or join your talent network define the conversion rate. This tells you the number of candidates who applied against the total number of people who visited your website. In contrast, the drop-off rate tells you the number of candidates who start the application but didn’t finish or submit it. These measures help you identify issues in the application process – is it too long, vague, or confusing? Is it user-friendly? Removing these barriers gets more candidates in the pipeline.

3. Career page bounce rate

The bounce rate shows the number of people visiting a specific page but not taking any other action. It is a measure of engagement and tells you if the content is relevant for the visitors. For instance, a high bounce rate for career sites can indicate ineffective job descriptions or ads. The lower the bounce rate, the higher the engagement. 

You will need to assess what page the candidates are on when they leave to determine which content needs work. It can be improved by editing your content to include valuable, precise, engaging information. Using appropriate SEO keywords and meta descriptions can also help improve the bounce rate. 

4. Exit rate

While it is often confused with the bounce rate, the exit rate calculates the number of people who exit the website after visiting a page against the total number of visits it received. It accounts for all exits, regardless of the user’s activity on the website. So, all bounces can be termed as exits, but not all exits are bounces. 

Due to their confusing nature, these metrics are often measured and interpreted together to paint a picture of page performance. A high bounce rate indicates problems with engagement, while the exit rate reflects issues with applicant conversion. Also, some pages naturally have a high exit rate, like the thank you or the contact page. Nevertheless, a high exit rate from the career page or the job listing page suggests poor performance. Here, candidates must apply for the job, and a higher exit rate reveals applicants leaving without applying.  

5. Traffic sources: paid vs. organic

Where are most of your web traffic coming from? A robust assessment also requires a focus on the source – paid searches or organic searches? 

Understanding how your candidates reach your career page is critical when it comes to optimizing your sourcing and recruitment methods. It pinpoints the best sourcing channel in your recruitment system. When coupled with other metrics, like the pass-through rate, it delineates sources that bring in quality candidates. If candidate quality is a concern for you, reviewing your sources will help.

Typically, organic traffic is considered better as it depicts the strength and reach of your employer brand. However, it is not a binary. Used strategically, paid avenues like recruitment advertising can help distribute your job posts across the internet and drive more traffic to your website.

Conclusion 

Your career site forms an integral part of the recruitment process and is an opportunity to showcase your employer brand. Candidates frequently visit your career pages, and their experience determines their decision to apply. So, having a functional and updated career page is crucial to your recruitment strategy – it attracts candidates and boosts your visibility. With metrics like website views, visits, and exits, you can assess its performance. Such metrics help ascertain the source of traffic, the type of talent you are attracting, candidate conversions, and incomplete applications. These insights can open up discourse to explore the reasons for candidate behavior and opportunities to improve.

To learn more about optimizing your job ads and reaching a large number of active and passive candidates, schedule a demo today! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to see how Joveo can help you get the most out of your recruitment advertising.