What is conversion rate?

A conversion is when a visitor does what you want, for example buys something or sends a form. Conversion rate is the share of visits that end in such a conversion. Example: 1,000 visits and 20 orders give a conversion rate of 2%.

Definition

First pick a goal: a thank-you page, a confirmed signup, a Shopify purchase pixel, or a WooCommerce Purchase event. Conversion rate = visits that reached the goal / all visits × 100. Without a clearly defined goal, "conversion rate" is a vague marketing number.

Always say what you divide by. “Purchases per visit” is a different number from “leads per landing-page visit”. Mixing bases across reports creates fake drama in client meetings.

Setup

For forms, create a PureMetrix goal on a thank-you page with a fixed URL—any CMS. For shops, record Purchase from the server or a Shopify custom pixel so revenue does not depend only on the shopper’s browser. Guides: first conversion goal, Shopify, WooCommerce conversions.

Reading the number

A 2% rate for the whole site may hide an 8% rate on the pricing page and a 0.3% rate on the blog. Split by landing page and UTM campaign before you change your ads.

Related ideas

Goal count — how many times the goal was reached in total.
AOV — how much each order is worth in a shop (what is AOV).
Cart abandonment — where shoppers drop out of checkout (definition).

Report conversion rate next to the absolute number of conversions. For most planning decisions, a 2% rate on 10,000 visits beats a 50% rate on four visits.

Main and smaller conversions

A purchase is the main (macro) conversion. Newsletter signups, quote requests and demo bookings are smaller (micro) conversions. Always report rate and count together: a 50% rate on four visits is a curiosity; a 2% rate on 10,000 visits pays the bills. PureMetrix goals on thank-you pages keep both types comparable week to week.