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What is a conversion?
A conversion is any valuable action you want your users to take when they visit your website. It's a main indicator that they're engaged with your content and interested in your offer. However, it's not only about making a sale. There are many other conversion actions, such as form submission, making a phone call, or signing up for your newsletter. So, it's important to define what actions you want your users to take and make it as easy as possible for them to do so.
What is conversion rate?
Conversion rate is a marketing metric that refers to the percentage of users who took an action you consider a conversion after seeing your ad, visiting your website, or opening your email. You'll find it in web analytics platforms such as Google Analytics and online advertising platforms such as Google Ads or Twitter Ads. Conversion rate is one of the most important metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and optimizing them for better performance. It tells you how well your website and marketing campaigns are performing over a specific time period and gives you a better understanding of what's working and what's not. After all, you want to base your decisions on data rather than guesswork.
How to calculate the conversion rate?
To calculate the conversion rate, you need to divide the number of conversions by the total number of visitors multiplied by 100. You can also use the online conversion rate calculator at the top of this page.
So, the conversion rate formula is:
For example, if you had 500 visitors to your website last month and 50 of them made a purchase, your conversion rate would be 10%:
This means that 10% of your website visitors made a purchase.
What is a good conversion rate?
Conversion rates can vary significantly depending on the industry and even its niche. For instance, e-commerce websites can have a conversion rate of 3-5%, while for real estate, it can be around 2-3%.
The conversion rate also depends on your audience. A highly targeted audience already interested in your product or service is more likely to convert compared to a general audience that may not have a specific interest or need for what you're offering. For instance, CPM-based display ads can certainly help you reach a wide audience, but they may not bring you many conversions. This is because the people who come across your ad might not be interested in your offer at that moment.
It's important to note that a high conversion rate does not always mean success. Ultimately, the goal of any business is to generate revenue. Therefore, you should calculate how much revenue each conversion generates and try to increase it by bringing in more visitors (i.e., improving the click-through rate) and increasing the conversion rate. In other words, for every dollar you spend on advertising, you want to make more than a dollar back in revenue.
To measure the profitability of your ad campaign, you can use ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). If it's greater than 1, you're generating more revenue than you're spending on the ad campaign, i.e., your ad campaign is profitable. On the other hand, if the ROAS is less than 1, your campaign is not generating enough revenue to cover its cost. The reason for this could be the high cost you pay per click.
How to optimize the conversion rate?
Here are some steps you can take to increase your average conversion rate.
Target the right audience
The first important question you need to ask is whether you are attracting quality traffic. If the people visiting your site aren't the right fit for your product or service, all the optimization in the world won't make a difference. Think about it this way: if you're trying to sell vegan protein powder, but most of your traffic is coming from meat-heavy bodybuilding forums, you're probably not going to see a lot of conversions.
So before you dive into any other changes, take a step back and evaluate your traffic sources. Are you targeting the right audience? Are your ads or social media posts clear about what you offer and who it's for?
Analyze and optimize your ad campaigns
If you run paid advertising campaigns (for example, on Google Ads or Microsoft Ads), the very first thing you can do to increase the conversion rate is stop bidding on keywords that don't bring you any conversions. Every advertising budget has limits, and ineffective keywords can drain it quickly.
Adding negative keywords can block your ads from showing on search phrases that don't generate conversions. However, it's important to gather enough data before you make that decision. It's like giving your ads a fair chance to perform and collect insights. Once you have enough data, you can determine which keywords are effective and which aren't.
Another smart strategy is experimenting with different ad copies and keeping the ones that perform best. It's all about experimenting, analyzing, and optimizing.
Use clear calls-to-action (CTAs)
Calls to Action are essential elements of any website that directly impact conversions. You need to use them to guide your potential customers toward the action you want them to take.
A good CTA should be eye-catching and action-oriented. It should also be placed in a location where your visitors are most likely to see it. For example, if your "Sign up" button is prominently displayed and clearly labeled, users are much more likely to click it.