Q: Within Google Analytics there is a Conversion Section. What exactly is a conversion?
A: Google is a big fan of branding the different metrics they track. For instance instead of calling a section visitors, they title it audience to make it feel more friendly. They do the same thing for Conversions. The simplest way I can define the term conversion, is that it’s the ultimate goal of your website. Google lets you specifically determine what that goal will be.
Let me a give you an example. Let’s say I owned a website that sold used furniture and I used Google Analytics. For this site I might set up the goal to be triggered when somebody clicks the buy button. This would allow me to see what percentage of my visitors actually ended up purchasing something.
So, for the .JOBS Career microsite Google Analytics we have determined the goals to be 4 different things.
- Apply Click – this one is pretty straightforward. If a job seeker finds a job they like and they hit apply and are transferred to the listing on the ATS we track that as a Goal. This tends to make up about 90% of the conversions.
- Career Site Click – at the bottom of every .JOBS Career Microsite is a link to your company’s corporate career site. When this is clicked it registers as a goal completion.
- Social Media Click – also at the bottom of every microsite is a link to your companies Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+ pages. If a job seeker gets bored with looking at jobs and decides to check out your Facebook page or watch some of your videos we track that as a goal.
- Talent Network Click – this is only for companies using a talent network on their microsite (ex. http://mcgraw-hill.jobs located under the share region). If the job seeker decides to click the talent network instead of apply, we count that as a goal.
Basically anything that leads to another part of your companies’ career ecosystem is tracked as a Goal Conversion, whether it be your ATS, Social Media, or Talent Network. These 4 goals show you how flexible and powerful your .JOBS Career Microsite can be. If the job seeker wants to apply, learn more, or connect we give them avenues to do all 3.
Example Click Through Rates from May 2012
- Penske.jobs = 40%
- DTEEnergy.jobs = 18%
- AvisBudgetGroup.jobs = 29%
If you have more questions about conversions or goal completions feel free to comment below.
- Mobile vs. Tablet, Which is More Popular for Job Searching? - October 8, 2014
- My.jobs Microsite Branding of the Week (P66onCampus.jobs) - August 13, 2014
- My.jobs Microsite Design Guidelines – Get them to the Jobs - June 18, 2014
