Customer Conversion Rate

What is Customer Conversion Rate?

Customer conversion rate is the percentage of potential customers who take a specific desired action. In e-commerce or online marketing, it refers to the percentage of website visitors that perform a specific desired action on the website or landing page.

The conversion action is usually a quantifiable action capable of turning a prospective customer into a paying customer. Depending on the business goals, the conversion action can be registering on the website, providing contact details for lead generation, making a purchase, submitting a form, calling the business, downloading a document or template, signing up for a subscription, etc.

The customer conversion rate is a metric that measures the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, website designs, salespeople, and other sales tools. An improved customer conversion rate can significantly impact lead generation and, consequently, sales and revenue. The metric focuses on making the most of a website’s visitors rather than trying to get more traffic.

Formula for Customer Conversion Rate

The customer conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who performed a desired specific action in a given time frame by the total number of potential customers or site visitors, multiplied by 100%, as illustrated below:

Tracking Customer Conversions

To calculate the customer conversion rate, a business owner needs to track conversions continuously. It is important for businesses to track their customer conversions on a regular basis and try out different approaches to see what works best.

Companies should work at improving their customer conversion rates over time. A number of analytics and advertising platforms can be used to track conversions with minimal effort. They include Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, Pinterest Promoted Pins, Twitter Ads, etc.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Customer conversion rate optimization (CRO) refers to the process of enhancing the landing page, sponsored ads, or website to increase the percentage of conversions. In other words, the aim of CRO is to increase the number of visitors to a site who complete the specific desired action.

CRO is a vital aspect of online marketing, as well as search engine optimization. It is part of the effort to turn more potential customers and site visitors into revenue sources. The good thing is that a business owner can always make their customer conversion rates better, no matter how good they are.

With improved conversion rates come substantial improvements in profits. The following are some of the ways that can be done to achieve better customer conversion rates:

1. Design optimization

To achieve a good conversion rate, a website needs to have an appealing and minimalistic design. Learn web design or employ a designer who can help give a website a boost in conversions.

2. Social proof

Prospective customers need to know whether a product is tested and proven. Add social proof to a site through case studies, customer testimonials, logos of partner companies, success stories, clinical trials, etc.

3. Clear display of contact information

Prominently showing contact information, such as a phone number and live chat options, as well as a physical address, can increase conversion rates by giving site visitors confidence that the seller is authentic and ready to answer any questions from prospective customers.

4. Headlines

Headlines are usually the first thing your site visitors will see. Placing an attractive and well-written headline will compel visitors to read more (or leave immediately) from the website. The right headline can significantly increase a site’s conversion rate.

5. Credibility

Adding trust elements like “trust” seals from popular web security firms will also help to increase conversions.

6. Incentives to take immediate action

Indicate that the action needs to be taken right away. One way to create urgency is through scarcity, which can be either time-related or quantity-related.

7. Guarantees

Offering a money-back guarantee helps to allay customer fears. With guarantees, customers are likely to demonstrate more confidence in a company’s product or service, thus increasing conversion rates. Longer guarantees will typically increase conversion rates even more.

8. Remove distractions

To make site visitors focus on a specific action, remove anything on the landing page that can sidetrack them from the main business objective. Delete irrelevant images, unnecessary navigation links, blinking elements, extra menus, etc.

Related Readings

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Customer Conversion Rate. To keep learning and developing your knowledge base, please explore the additional relevant resources below:

• Brand Strategy
• Click-Through Rate
• Customer Renewal Rate
• Visitor-to-Lead Conversion Rate