Why can't I just do this myself?

You can — if you have 80–120 hours to learn server-side GTM, debug iOS dedup edge cases, and stress-test EMQ across every conversion event. We do it in 7–10 days because we've done it 300+ times.

What if it doesn't work?

Two protections: (1) 95% tracking accuracy guarantee — we keep working free until your Meta Match Quality hits 8+. (2) You own the entire stack — server, container, runbook — on your accounts from day one.

Will Apple / Google break this in the future?

1st-party server-side tracking is what survives Apple, Mozilla, and Chrome cookie deprecation. The CAPI / Events API endpoints we use are how Meta, Google, and TikTok publicly committed to keeping the channel open.

Should candidate applications be a conversion at all?

As a low-value event for volume, yes. As the primary bidding target, no, unless candidate supply is genuinely your constraint.

What value should a placement carry?

The invoiced fee. Role values vary enough that a flat figure actively misleads bidding toward the wrong roles.

Can placements be imported to Google?

Where the click-to-placement cycle fits inside 90 days. Contract roles usually do; executive search often doesn't, so vacancy-taken becomes the target.

RecruitmentIndustry solution

Conversion tracking for recruiters, with candidates and clients measured separately

A recruitment agency runs two acquisition funnels that share a website and have nothing else in common: candidates applying for roles, and employers with vacancies to fill. Counted as one conversion — which is the usual state — bidding chases candidate applications, because they're vastly cheaper and vastly more numerous, and the client side quietly starves. The build separates them completely, values a placement rather than an application, and tracks the ATS as the source of truth.

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By Ariful IslamRecruitment, in short ↓

Getting and tracking leads for recruitment agencies

Where a recruitment agency's leads come from, and why the vacancy is the lead that matters

A recruitment agency placing permanent hires hears from hiring managers with a vacancy, candidates who want a move, and plenty of applicants for roles that already closed. Count a client lead when an employer shares a vacancy you could fill on your fee terms, and record its source on the company and job in your ATS, such as Bullhorn, JobAdder, Recruit CRM or Crelate.

Agency owners say it this way: we ran ads to win clients and got a pile of résumés. The few hiring managers who did get in touch came through LinkedIn or a referral, and the ATS lists them as 'direct'. Hiring managers and candidates type overlapping words, 'accounting recruiter', 'engineering recruitment agency', and the site sends both to the same contact form, which the ad platform scores identically.

When a résumé and a vacancy are worth the same in the ad account, campaigns built to win clients drift into candidate attraction. And the placement fee, earned when the candidate starts, usually lands long after the click, so nothing reports it back. A ten-minute check: pull last quarter's placements, open each job's company record, and see whether the original source says anything other than blank or 'direct'.

Fixed looks like a separate 'hire with us' path that asks for the role and salary band, the click ID saved on the company record, and the placement start sent back to Google Ads as the value event, reversed if the hire leaves inside your guarantee period. Candidate campaigns stay separate and are judged on candidates submitted to live roles. The free audit traces your recent placements back to their first touch.

Where the leads come from

Channel	Role	Note
Google Search ads	Hiring managers searching by specialty: accounting, engineering, sales recruiters	Specialty pages beat a generic homepage; employment targeting limits apply to candidate-side job ads.
LinkedIn	Both sides: hiring managers and passive candidates	Lead forms and InMail replies need a source field in the ATS or they disappear into 'direct'.
Business Profile	Brand searches and local employers checking you out	Profile calls are mostly candidates; tag them that way.
Job boards	Applications to specific advertised roles	Ads multi-posted from JobAdder or Bullhorn come back with the board as source; keep it.
Meta	Candidate attraction for high-volume roles	Employment special ad category applies; rarely a client channel.
Past clients and referrals	Hiring managers who used you before or moved companies	Record the person, not just the company; a manager who moves takes the relationship along.

Which calls count

Count it when: Count a client call when a hiring manager or HR lead describes an open role, a location and a timeframe you can recruit for.
Minimum duration: A vacancy briefing takes several minutes, and so does a candidate asking about roles. Use a separate number on client pages instead of trusting a timer.
After hours: Hiring managers email after hours rather than call. Reply first thing; night ads add little for permanent recruitment.

Where each lead should land

'Hire with us' form from a Search ad: Company, contact and job in the ATS with the click ID, so the placement start can be imported.
LinkedIn lead form or InMail reply: Company record with LinkedIn as source and the campaign name.
Candidate application to an advertised role: Candidate record with the board or campaign as source, linked to the job.
Referral from a past client: Company record with the referring contact named.

Recruitment · what breaks

What recruitment agencies usually run into

01
Candidates and clients counted as one conversion
So bidding buys the cheap side.
02
Applications valued equally
Regardless of role or placement likelihood.
03
Placements never fed back
The only revenue event, invisible.

Recruitment · the fix

What changes — Recruitment

Two funnels, measured separately
Candidate and client, distinct conversions.
Placements fed back with fee value
So bidding chases revenue.
Client-side campaigns given their own signal
Rather than competing with application volume.

Recruitment · architecture

The conversion map for recruitment agencies

Two funnels that share a website and meet only at the point revenue exists.

1
Candidate application
Browser-side. Very high volume, near-zero individual value.
2
Client vacancy enquiry
Browser-side plus call tracking. Low volume, high value.
3
Vacancy taken
Server-side from the CRM. The client-side conversion worth bidding on.
4
Placement made
Server-side from the ATS, with the fee as the value.
5
Fee value
Varies enormously by role. Worth sending accurately.

Recruitment · diagnose

Where recruitment agencies tracking usually breaks

01
One blended conversion action
Candidate volume overwhelms client value and bidding optimizes toward applications.
02
No click ID in the ATS
So placements can never be attributed to a campaign.
03
Job board traffic counted as site conversions
Inflating the website's apparent performance.
04
Flat placement values
A junior contract role and an executive search are not the same fee.

Recruitment · prove

How the work is proven — Recruitment

Source of truth

your ATS record of placements and fees invoiced

Separate conversion actions confirmed for candidate and client sides.
Click ID present on live records in both systems.
Placements uploading with real fee values.
Placements reconciled against the ATS for a closed month.

Recruitment · free audit

What we check in the free audit

One blended conversion action
No click ID in the ATS
Job board traffic counted as site conversions
Flat placement values

Checked against

your ATS record of placements and fees invoiced

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Free30 minutesNo obligation

Recruitment · when not to buy

What lands in your monthly report — Recruitment

One page a month, in language you can put in front of a director.

Candidate applications and client enquiries for the month, reported separately by channel.
Cost per vacancy taken and cost per placement.
Average fee value by channel.
Job board versus owned traffic, separated on both sides.

Recruitment · what we deliver

The flow we build — Recruitment

Separate conversion actions per side
Candidate application, client vacancy enquiry.
Click ID written to the ATS and CRM
Both sides.
Placements uploaded with fee value
Offline conversion import.
Job board traffic separated from owned
Two different channels.

Written guarantee

95%+ tracking accuracy

Measured against your ATS record of placements and fees invoiced. Miss it and we keep working at no cost.

Get my free conversion tracking audit

From $400 · See packages

FAQ

Recruitment questions, answered

Because they have opposite economics. Blended, bidding always chases candidate applications — they're cheaper and more numerous — and the client side, where the fees are, gets nothing.

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Conversion tracking for recruiters, with candidates and clients measured separately

Where a recruitment agency's leads come from, and why the vacancy is the lead that matters

Where the leads come from

Which calls count

Where each lead should land

What recruitment agencies usually run into

Candidates and clients counted as one conversion

Applications valued equally

Placements never fed back

What changes — Recruitment

Two funnels, measured separately

Placements fed back with fee value

Client-side campaigns given their own signal

The conversion map for recruitment agencies

Candidate application

Client vacancy enquiry

Vacancy taken

Placement made

Fee value

Where recruitment agencies tracking usually breaks

One blended conversion action

No click ID in the ATS

Job board traffic counted as site conversions

Flat placement values

How the work is proven — Recruitment

What we check in the free audit

What lands in your monthly report — Recruitment

The flow we build — Recruitment

Separate conversion actions per side

Click ID written to the ATS and CRM

Placements uploaded with fee value

Job board traffic separated from owned

Recruitment questions, answered

Why separate candidate and client tracking?−

Should candidate applications be a conversion at all?+

What value should a placement carry?+

Can placements be imported to Google?+

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