What is conversion and how do you measure it?

Conversion – what does it really mean?

Conversion is a term commonly used in various fields, including marketing, chemistry, psychology, religion and mathematics, and generally means – according to the Oxford dictionary – the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.

This term is very broad and for each industry it really means something completely different.

Examples of conversion goals

Establishing conversion goals is an important element of a marketing strategy because it allows you to define an action plan and clearly define the priorities that the company is striving to achieve.

The goals may vary depending on the profile of the company. The most common assumptions are:

• making a purchase,
• filling out a form,
• leaving contact details,
• calling the company,
• signing up for a newsletter,
• creating a customer account,
• downloading a file or e-book,
• spending a certain amount of time on the website,
• sending an email,
• clicking a specific button on the website (e.g. where to buy?) or a pop-up window,
• watching a video,
• displaying a key subpage.

Defining specific goals is essential for measuring and monitoring conversions. This allows us to control the effectiveness of our marketing activities. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to evaluate a website, positioning or advertising campaigns.

Conversion measurement tools

The most well-known and most frequently used tools for measuring conversions are:

• Google Analytics,
• Google Ads,
• Facebook Pixel.

Tracking conversions in Google and Facebook Ads advertising systems allows you to compare statistics and look at them from a different perspective, but the basis for analyzing various data is Google Analytics. To start using it, you need to create an account and implement the appropriate code on your website.

How to measure conversions in Google Analytics

After creating an account and implementing a tag on the page, you need to configure the goals accordingly. To do this, go to the ‘Administration’ tab and then select ‘Goals‘ on the data view level.

In Google Analytics, we can create 5 types of goals:

• destination – this type can be set by pasting part of the URL,
• duration – here we can specify the specific time the user spent on the page, e.g. by specifying 30 seconds, the goal will be counted if the user stays on the page for at least 30 seconds,
• pages/screens per session – using this goal, we determine how many subpages the user must visit for the conversion to be counted,
• event – ​​this type will be helpful if we want to track, for example, sending a contact form. However, it will not always be possible to set this goal in Google Analytics – sometimes you have to use Google Tag Manager,
• smart goal – this tracking method is dedicated to Google Ads advertisers.
  

How to check the number of conversions

After setting the appropriate goals in GA, you can monitor conversions in the ‘Acquisition’ -> ‘All traffic’ -> ‘Channels’ report.

Conversion Rate

A significant metric in Google Analytics is the conversion rate, which determines what percentage of visitors complete a set goal.

Conversion rate can be calculated using the following equation:

Conversion Rate = (number of conversions / number of visits) x 100%

What is a good conversion rate?

There is no straight-forward answer to this question, as conversion rates largely depend on the industry, type of goal, quality of the website, seasonality, and many other variables.

What is the conclusion? Not all conversions are equal, so we should pay attention to our own company’s goal coefficient and not be influenced by others.

How to improve conversion rate indicators

All actions on the website that are intended to improve the goal coefficient are called conversion optimization. Actions that can be classified as CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) are:

• website optimization – you need to take care of its appearance, functionality, speed, responsiveness,
• a refined purchasing process – here, the most important things are user safety (SSL certificate) and the absence of errors leading to abandonment of the purchase,
• building trust – it is worth taking care of the possibility for the customer to leave a review after the purchase. Good ratings have a positive impact on the purchasing process of hesitant users,
  detailed product descriptions and clear photos in online stores,
• positioning – high website positions in search results affect the number of visits to the website, and consequently – increase in sales,
• good communication – quick and comprehensive answers to questions have a positive impact on the customer’s perception of the brand,
  accurate CTAs – buttons encouraging the user to perform a specific action.