Imagine you’re a shopkeeper at a brick-and-mortar store. You look up expectantly as the bell chimes, and you welcome a customer to the shop. Yet this customer doesn’t engage with you. They don’t pick up any items of interest. They just turn right back around and walk out the door.
But then, another customer comes in. They chat with you, look at several products, ask about your journey running the business, sign the guestbook to join your mailing list, and maybe even make a purchase.
The second experience is what you want, of course, and the ecommerce version of this is called a “conversion.” Customers who convert are those who complete a desired action, whether that’s making a purchase or subscribing to your newsletter. The higher the percentage of customers who convert, the better.
Understanding conversion rates is essential, as they provide insights about your customers, highlight places to improve your site, and prove which marketing methods are the best return on investment.
What is website conversion?
A website conversion occurs when a website visitor completes a desired action. This action might be making a purchase, but it could also be one of several other items: clicking a call-to-action (CTA) button, starting a free trial, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a lead magnet like an ebook, or contacting live chat.
Your website conversion rate (the percentage of website visitors who convert) can provide valuable insights into how potential customers interact with your web pages. For example, if you change the placement of your Buy Now button and notice that your conversion rate drops, you may need to reposition the button to better catch customers’ attention.
“To achieve success in any business, you need to track the results—and in the ecommerce domain, that’s conversions,” says Aditya Tatte, cofounder of Adex Labs, a site development and design agency that has worked with thousands of ecommerce businesses. “You can make data-driven decisions because you can see which strategies work for your business.”
Types of website conversions
Most businesses have more than one conversion goal. Sales are the most obvious (and most important) type of conversion, but there are other types of conversions to track. Here are several common types of conversions:
1. Completing a purchase
2. Starting a free trial
3. Clicking a CTA button
4. Downloading/signing up for a lead magnet
5. Filling out a contact form
6. Adding a product to cart
7. Subscribing to a newsletter
8. Watching an on-site video
9. Subscribing to texts
10. Clicking an affiliate link
11. Contacting live chat
How to calculate website conversion rate
To calculate your conversion rate, divide the total number of conversions by the total number of web page visits, and express the result as a percentage. The conversion rate formula is:
(Total conversions / Total visits to your website) x 100
This visit-based conversion rate is the industry standard, but some marketers may use a slightly different formula—one based on the number of visitors to a site, rather than the total number of visits. This variation is called a user-based conversion rate, and it accounts for customers who visit a site multiple times before making a purchase.
Many marketing analytics tools, such as Shopify Analytics and Google Analytics, have a built-in conversion rate calculator.
Tips for improving website conversion rates
- Ensure site design is conversion-friendly—including on mobile
- Highlight social proof
- Reduce any friction for customers, such as slow load times
- Remember that conversion optimization is an ongoing process
The best strategies to improve conversions can vary depending on the industry, where the customer is in the sales funnel, and more. But these top tips to drive conversions apply to many businesses:
Ensure site design is conversion-friendly—including on mobile
It’s easy to be wooed by beautiful, intricate designs. And yes, it’s important that the entire website catches the eye. But don’t lose sight of the core purpose of your site: to communicate your value proposition and inspire customers to convert.
Aditya recalls a client whose site garnered high traffic and solid sales but still had several areas for improvement in terms of UI and UX. For example, the site’s header took up most of the homepage frame, and the Add to Cart button sometimes remained just out of frame on product pages.
“We saw a huge opportunity to make the site more conversion friendly—fixing the design, adding predictive search, and creating a better menu for mobile users,” Aditya says. “In general, we try to simplify the process so that the user can easily navigate through the site, find and learn about the products, and understand the unique selling points.”
Don’t forget about optimizing the mobile version of your site, which Aditya says is a common pitfall—even though mobile devices account for 77% of ecommerce traffic. Make your site mobile-friendly with a responsive design, and you may see more conversions.
Highlight social proof
With so many potential scams and misrepresented products out there, today’s consumer may be skeptical about trying a brand that’s new to them.
“When you visit a website for the first time, you don't know whether they and their products are good,” Aditya says. “Trust plays a huge role in overcoming that, and that’s why social proof is so important.” Build that trust by prominently displaying content that shows other customers’ positive experiences: reviews, testimonials, user-generated photos and videos, Instagram posts, and more.
Reduce any friction for customers, such as slow load times
Make the customer journey as simple as possible. For each hoop to jump through, you risk a customer dropping off because of a poor user experience. For example, the checkout process should be quick and simple. Downloading a lead magnet like an ebook shouldn’t require the customer to fill in a copious amount of information.
One of the most important friction points to reduce is load time, Aditya says. A 2022 study of ecommerce businesses found that a site that loads in one second enjoys a conversion rate 2.5 times higher than a site that loads in five seconds.
Remember that conversion optimization is an ongoing process
“Success is an endless journey of continual growth and improvement,” Aditya says. Your business and your customers will evolve over time, as will the marketing landscape and related technologies. One year, social media and Google Ads may drive the most conversions; the next year, your best ROI may come from remarketing and cart abandonment follow-up emails.
Partnering with experts can help you stay on top of these changes and improve your conversion rate. But whether you go it alone or sign up with an agency, keep in mind that conversion rate optimization is always a work in progress.
Website conversion FAQ
What’s a good conversion rate?
Conversion rate industry benchmarks can vary by business, but the average website conversion rate for ecommerce sites is 2.5% to 3%.
How do you make your website convert?
To improve conversion rates, ensure your site clearly communicates the value proposition of your product or service to your target audience. Reduce friction in the shopping experience that could make customers hesitate—factors like a poorly designed site or overly complicated checkout. Add urgency through methods like time-sensitive sales and up-to-date labeling of items low in stock.
What is an example of a website conversion?
Examples of website conversions include: a purchase, newsletter signup, lead-magnet download, view of an on-site video, contacting live chat, and more. Focus on actions that have measurable impacts on your business’s growth.
