A Conversion By Any Other Name...

What's your conversion rate? In my last blog post, I discussed the importance of having a form on your site to collect data from your visitors. When a visitor "converts" to an inquirer by completing your inquiry form, your site has generated a "conversion." If you divide the number of people who convert by the number of people who visit, you'll have your conversion rate.

But conversion rate means different things to different people. Depending on your business model, you may be tracking several different conversion rates. For example, you may have a progression of conversions - from visitor to inquirer, from inquirer to purchaser, from purchaser to brand evangelist (someone who will promote your product for free because they love what you do). So, the first step in determining the conversion rate of your website is to determine a) what action constitutes a conversion for you, and b) how you will measure that action.

Once you've determined that, you can put tracking in place to find out which traffic from which source(s) converts at the highest rate. Ah ha! Now, you can make more informed online marketing decisions! If you find that pay-per-click traffic out-performs banner ad traffic, then you can readjust your budget and spend your money more effectively to increase your conversion rate and reduce your cost per conversion. And in the long run, that means more business for your business!

In my next post, I'll discuss HOW to track traffic and conversions on your site...