What is conversion rate?
The conversion rate in SEO is the percentage of visitors who took the desired action on your website, out of the total number of visitors. For example, purchasing a product, gaining a paid subscriber, etc.
In simple words, the percentage of visitors who successfully became your customers.
How to calculate conversion rate?
To calculate the conversion rate, divide the ‘number of conversions’ by the ‘total number of website visitors’ and multiply by 100. Website conversion rate is calculated for a particular time frame, like a week or a month.
The conversion rate of your website can be tracked using Google Analytics.
Formula for calculating conversion rate
Real-life example of conversion rate
Let’s understand website conversion rate with an example:
Say, your goal is to make your website visitors sign up for your paid newsletter. In the last month, there were 10,000 visitors to your website. Out of those, 200 converted (or signed up for your paid newsletter).
Then, your conversion rate will be: 200 / 10,000 x 100 = 2%
What’s considered a good conversion rate? (benchmark)
A good conversion rate ranges between 2% - 5% across industries. The conversion rate of your website varies depending on your conversion goal, type of industry, audience demographic, seasonality of the website, and much more.
Low conversion rates show that few people are doing what you want, while high conversion rates show success.
Focusing on industry benchmarks or competitors will only get you so far. It's more important to always strive to beat your current goal conversion rate.
A lower conversion rate is found in eCommerce, with a range of 1.84% to 3.71% - compared to an average conversion rate of 2.35% to 5.31% across industries.
The conversion rate will vary massively depending on the type of conversion goal. For example, the conversion rate for downloading a free content element is likely to be higher than it will be for a paid purchase.
Ways to increase your conversion rate
- Include social proof: 89% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase and 49% of consumers consider positive reviews one of their top three purchase influences. So, it is suggested to add testimonials, reviews, and case studies on your site as user-generated content can increase your conversion rate by 161%.
- Use a strong CTA: CTAs are a major component influencing your conversion rate. Typically, you should include just one CTA but incorporate it several times on the page to make sure visitors can access the CTA no matter where they are on the page. Find out How to write the perfect CTA and some examples.
- Optimize UX and page layout: Low conversion rate despite several efforts might be a sign of an unoptimized and bland landing page. According to Stanford University, 46.1% of people say a website’s design is the top criterion for deciding brand credibility. Try altering your website’s layout, design, and navigation based on the insights of visitors’ browsing activity.