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Every web site owner wants to convert more traffic. But what is conversion exactly, and how is it measured? In eCommerce, conversion is often defined as the percentage of web site visitors that purchase something respective to the total number of visitors - in other words, how many people that visit your site actually buy something. But this is a narrow definition and can be limiting for the Internet retailer, because purchase conversions are actually made up of a succession of lesser conversions.
Seeing the Big Picture
According to Kerry Murdock, publisher of Practical Ecommerce (PracticalECommerce.com), "An eCommerce owner is better served by a broader definition of conversion to analyze smaller goals for their site. It's the accomplishing of those smaller goals that frequently leads to an actual purchase by the customer." She recommends measuring your conversion a bit differently:
- Look at your web site's goals. Are you trying to generate leads for a service you provide, by getting people to request information? Then your conversion would be the number of people that solicit that information divided by the number of unique visitors to your site. (Always keep in mind that unique visitors are not the same as hits. One visitor may generate multiple hits.)
- If your goal is selling products, there are still stages of conversion that your customers must go through - measure your conversion rates for each of these stages, as opposed to just looking at your end conversion rate.
- Define measurable goals, such as getting visitors to sign up for a free newsletter that gives them updates on your new products and specials, or getting people to your order page or to a certain section of your web site. They may not make a purchase right then, but they may come back and make it in a week or a month. They may actually return several times before they buy anything. Says Murdock, "All of those are mini-sales - they're steps that frequently lead to an actual purchase."
Contributing Factors
You want to see what factors are conducive to conversions and what factors are deal-breakers. You have to study your customers' behavior to understand it. As you look at the more specified numbers of your various conversion goals, you'll be able to pinpoint where you need to tweak your site. Looking at your web site's broader conversion rate can ultimately lead you to a higher purchase conversion rate.
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