Conversion Rate

What Is a Conversion Rate?

A conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors that take a desired action while on the website. Converting leads can include making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or another form of brand engagement.

Calculating a conversion rate includes dividing the number of visitors that took the desired action by the total audience who had the option to take the action. For example, if a company uploads a post on Instagram for customers to subscribe to their newsletter and 100 people click on the post, but only 10 of them sign up for the newsletter, then the post would have a conversion rate of 10%.

Why Are Conversion Rates Important?

Conversion rates are an efficient way to analyze and measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Monitoring how often specific efforts lead to the intended outcome allows the marketing team to adapt their strategy to what is working.

Let’s say a marketing team was paying for a pay-per-click (PPC) ad on Google and a boosted post on Instagram to lead customers to the same page. 3000 people viewed the PPC ad, and 150 of them clicked on it, giving the ad a 5% conversion rate. Only 500 people saw the boosted post on Instagram, but 250 of them clicked on it, giving the boosted post a 50% conversion rate.

The marketing team can see these statistics and realize although they reach fewer people through Instagram, there’s a much better chance of consumer engagement on that platform. They may decide to stop running the PPC ad and focus on boosting social media posts, or they may try to use different language or keywords on the PPC ad to encourage engagement.

What Is a Good Conversion Rate?

Truthfully, good conversion rates depend on the industry the business is in. The average conversion rate across all industries is 2.7% on search networks and 0.89% on display networks. (So don’t be alarmed if your conversion rates don’t match our hypothetical company above.)

How to Improve Your Conversion Rate

If your conversion rate is lower than industry standards, then the issue likely lies in either the format of your website or the call to action.

When optimizing your website for conversions:

• Run A/B tests to see which elements on your site gain the most attention
• Make sure your messaging is clear

1. Language is to the point
2. The color scheme makes it easy to read
3. Images are high quality
4. Use videos or infographics to accompany the text

• Use a strong call to action that entices the customers to complete the action
• Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
• Use a landing pageMake your contact info easily accessible