Conversion rate

The conversion rate formula

Conversion rate = (number of conversions ÷ number of visitors) × 100

Example: 1,200 people visit your site in a month and 30 send an enquiry. 30 ÷ 1,200 = 0.025. Multiply by 100 and your conversion rate is 2.5%.

You can calculate it for the whole site, a single page or one traffic source. A page-level rate is usually more useful, because a pricing page and a blog post have very different jobs.

Sessions or users?

Google Analytics 4 lets you divide by sessions (visits) or users (people). Neither is wrong, but be consistent. Session-based rates look lower, because one person may visit several times before enquiring. User-based rates are closer to "what share of people got in touch". Pick one and compare like with like over time.

What counts as a conversion?

For most service businesses, the main conversions are:

• contact or quote form submissions
• bookings, consultations or trial sign-ups
• phone calls and clicks on a phone number
• WhatsApp or email clicks

Smaller steps, such as viewing the contact page or starting a form, are micro-conversions. They help you see where people drop out of your conversion funnel. In GA4, the actions you choose to count are marked as key events.

What is a good conversion rate?

There is no single good number. Conversion rates vary by industry, price, traffic source and how ready visitors are to buy. A visitor who searched for your business by name will convert far more often than someone who found a blog post.

The most useful benchmark is your own baseline. Measure your current rate accurately, then work to improve it. Published industry averages are a rough sense check, not a target, because they mix very different businesses and tracking setups.

How to improve your conversion rate

1. Fix tracking first. Many sites under-count calls or double-count forms, so the starting number is wrong.
2. Make the offer obvious. A clear value proposition tells visitors in seconds what you do and who it is for.
3. Show proof near the decision. Reviews and credentials (social proof) reduce risk.
4. Strengthen the call to action. Be specific about what happens next.
5. Remove friction. Shorter forms and faster mobile pages help almost every site.

Common mistakes

• Chasing a higher rate by attracting fewer, more qualified visitors, then celebrating while total enquiries fall.
• Counting newsletter sign-ups and enquiries as the same conversion.
• Comparing months without allowing for seasonality.

Related terms

• Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)
• Conversion funnel
• Landing page
• A/B testing

How WebManics can help

We set up Google Analytics 4, Tag Manager and HubSpot so every form, call and booking is counted with its source, then work on raising your conversion rate month by month. Start with a free website conversion audit to get an honest baseline and the first fixes to make, or see how our CRO Growth Retainer works.