How to Calculate Conversion Rate (And Improve It)

how to calculate conversion rate

How to Calculate Conversion Rate (And Improve It)

Today, most entrepreneurs are taking their operations online, whether they have a physical store or not. The reason, in part, is that you stand to gain a lot as a business owner by taking your operations online. Additionally, most buyers research online before making a purchase. You cannot afford to ignore the importance of using online platforms if you want to expand the reach of your business. 

When venturing into digital marketing, you will most likely hear marketers throwing the term “conversion rate,” around on various occasions. That is for a good reason since conversion rate means a lot for businesses that operate online. In this article, we will explain what conversion rate is, why it’s important, how to calculate conversion rate, and provide four tips for improving it.

What is Conversion Rate? 

The simplest definition of a conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to a website or page that complete a particular action. Such an action can include;

  • Engaging with a website. That includes page counts, time on site, and visits to specific pages.
  • Converting or making a purchase.
  • Downloading such an asset like a guide, eBook, or another form of content.
  • Providing information in line with the prompts on a site.
  • Creating an account after receiving a prompt.
  • Contacting a particular entity.

The choice of a specific conversion goal depends on the nature of your operations. That suggests that a signing up for a newsletter goal will be ideal for a content website, while a purchase goal will be preferable for an e-commerce site. You also need to understand that there are macro and micro conversions.

  • A macro conversion refers to a primary goal like getting a quote or selling a product.
  • A micro conversion focuses on what facilitates the path to a primary objective. An example is signing up for a mailing list or adding a product to a cart.

Why Conversion Rate Matters

Conversion Rate is critical because of the following reasons.

  • Traffic is Expensive —  if you intend to use Facebook Ads, Google Ads, or other pay-per-click platforms to drive traffic to your site, insight into how expensive it can be is paramount. Conversion rate optimization can help you maximize your return on ad spend and convert a higher percentage of your paid traffic.
  • Realizing Sales is a Priority — making massive leaps in your total sales is possible with a modest improvement to your conversion rate. Even if sales are not part of your firm’s goals, then you need to maximize the rate at which visitors take action when they visit your website. 

How to Calculate Conversion Rate

An understanding of how to calculate conversion rate and monitor it closely can help you achieve the following.

  • Allocate resources more efficiently.
  • Predictably increase your advertising spending.
  • Determine your profitability, among other things.

In that case, lacking such knowledge puts your online operations in a precarious situation, and that is not a good place to be in. The implication here is that you may end up overpaying your sales and leads even to the point of marketing yourself out of business if you cannot calculate the conversion rate. So, ignorance is not bliss when it comes to conversion rate; it can leave you broke.

Calculating the conversion rate is pretty simple. You only need to divide the number of conversions you get in a particular period by the total number of your landing page or site visitors. After that, multiply the figure you get by 100%. 

Conversion Rate = (Conversions / Total Visitors) *100

Tips for Improving Conversion Rate

1. Consider Using Videos to Engage Your Audience

One of the most effective conversion rate marketing approaches is video marketing. So, if you want to boost engagement in digital marketing, you need to consider leveraging videos because they avail valuable content to your audience. Also, you can realize a significant improvement in conversions by integrating videos with your landing pages. 

Additionally, using videos means that your audience can access valuable details without difficulties. The reason is that it is more convenient for potential clients to watch a short video on your website rather than read blocks of text to get the information they need. As such, videos allow you to combine essential details with visual elements to enhance your audience’s experience whenever they visit your site.

2. Ensure Your Landing Page is Responsive

Sometimes, your online ads and mobile user click buttons may be broken or too tiny to read. When that is the case, you cannot expect to realize conversions now or in the future. For that reason, you need to ensure that your conversion click-through process and landing pages are responsive and optimized for mobile.

Remember that nowadays, most buyers visit online stores using their mobile devices. So, if your website is non-responsive, it will deal your conversion rate a blow.

3. Embed Clear Call to Actions

The next course of action is what a prospective client will be considering when they visit your site and find something they like. That means that the information you provide your audience should guide them on what to do next. That way, you will not lose a valuable lead. A call to action (CTA) comes in handy at this point because it leads your audience to the next step.

Note that there are many ways to capture the attention of your online audience, and adding CTA buttons is one way you can achieve that. Also, using different buttons, phrases, and colors can help you test your call to action. Creating specific CTA buttons is the other aspect you cannot afford to ignore. The reason is that it is always wise to let your audience know what will happen once they click such a button. 

The ideal CTA will not only improve your conversion rate but will also boost engagement on your website.

4. Focus on Improving Customer Support

It is not surprising to discover that excellent customer support is part and parcel of high conversion rate websites. Although offline support may not impact conversion every other time, online support can be more effective. As such, consider including a FAQ on pages on your website where necessary.

That will help you cover all critical pointers to avoid confusing users. Creating a Knowledge Base with guides and answers is also advisable because it allows users to find what they need. The other customer support option worth considering is introducing a live chat feature since it positively impacts the conversion rate.

Conclusion

Indeed, a conversion rate is one of the most important marketing metrics. Conversion rate sheds light on the percentage of your traffic that is doing what you want them to do, which is not the case with the click-through rate. So, no matter how many clicks you have on your website on various occasions, they will not mean much if they do not convert. Adopting the tips above will impact your digital marketing effort in a way that improves your conversion rate.

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