Technology has afforded us the ability to do more with less and get our jobs out to the public faster and more efficiently. With the addition of social media and other disruptive technology though, it’s important to continually assess our efforts to remain efficient and focused on what works. This includes frequently assessing short and long term goals and asking the right questions such as: How do we make sure we know which keywords resonate with job seekers? How do we measure how well our search engine optimization (SEO) is performing? How do we track each source to know where the overall traffic is coming from?
Have you ever taken a detailed look at metrics to uncover great sourcing opportunities? DirectEmployers Association provides three powerful tools to our Member companies that provide the data you need to help answer these questions.
1. Google Analytics is a free and fairly simple tool to use to track and analyze data and can be used to answer many of the above questions. Even if you’re a newbie, there’s a very resourceful Google Analytics website and blog dedicated to ensuring users get the most out of the analytics platform.
DirectEmployers Association provides access to your Google Analytics accounts through the member exclusive community the Pipeline. 
Each member receives one .JOBS Career Microsite at no charge with their membership. This and any other microsite that you may have purchased has been setup with access to Google Analytics. The following is a screenshot of a Google Analytics report from a Member’s microsite.
Standard reporting is automatically setup for each member, however Google Analytics is extremely versatile and has many features and options available to create customizable reports. Above you see the Visitors Overview with a breakdown of how many unique visitors there was to the site for the month of March 2012.
The Traffic Sources Overview report shows the top 10 traffic sources. If you need to dive deeper you can view all of the sources if you choose. By knowing the highest source of traffic , you can reallocate your budget accordingly.
We have noticed state workforce agencies are a major source of traffic for Member companies. State workforce agencies are a resource for sourcing candidates that employers don’t always know how to leverage. DirectEmployers Association’s partnership with all 50 states provides an easy solution.
2. NetInsight by Unica powers the Direct Traffic reports provided to all Member companies by DirectEmployers Association. Direct Traffic reports provide detailed reporting for all of your jobs that are syndicated through our 3,000+ partner sites. Just like Google Analytics, Direct Traffic reports have many options to tailor the reports to meet your particular needs.
Viewing the Keyword Summary Dashboard, as seen above, provides this Member with detailed information about specific keywords candidates are using to try and find their job listings. This data can then be incorporated into the company’s SEO strategy, job descriptions, and be used for sourcing candidates through keyword search strings on LinkedIn, Google and other sources. While many of the keywords used are already familiar to you, there may be unique keyword phrases that are being used to find your job listings. Below is a screen shot of the Job View Dashboard for a Member company. We can see again that many of the states are top traffic providers.
In addition traffic sources include, XML Feed, NACElink Alumni, JobCentral (now US.jobs), IMDiversity and Direct SEO (now .JOBS Career Microsite). Many of the syndication partners are great for candidate sourcing. Of course, part of your membership benefits includes syndication to these 3,000+ partners sites. However, knowing which partners are performing for you can help you to know where you could put additional resources to source resume databases or create targeted keywords for your SEO strategy.
DirectEmployers Association provides access to Direct Traffic in addition to user tutorials in the Pipeline.
3. Finally, we can provide an XML feed or an API of your jobs to job boards and vendors. These feeds have tracking source codes embedded into the URL string to enable tracking all the way into your ATS. (Please contact your membership development team member for more detailed instructions on how to implement this very valuable feature.)
This option is a huge benefit because DirectEmployers Association has most of your jobs (second to your ATS), therefore, the feed is more robust. This tracking option enables you to track all the way to the hiring point. This is an extremely valuable feature that requires very limited work on your end.
By utilizing all three of these reporting features you are provided with a centralized place to pull your data and reduce duplicate information while saving you time. Understanding all of the features and options DirectEmployers Association provides you as a Member benefit can help you analyze your metrics and ultimately improve your sourcing strategy.
