What is a conversion?

A conversion is when a visitor to your website or app completes an action you want them to take. This could be anything from signing up for your email list, to making a purchase, to simply clicking a link. The goal is to get people to convert from casual visitors into active users and customers.

On a website

On a website, some common conversion goals include:

• Newsletter signups. Get more emails to build your list.

• Contact form submissions. Capture leads and start conversations.

• Sales. The ultimate goal - get people to buy your product!

To track conversions on your site, you'll want to set up analytics that measure desired actions. See which web pages and content are driving people to convert so you can optimize to improve your conversion rates.

On an app

In an app, conversions often mean:

• User registrations. Get more people signed up and engaged with your app.

• In-app purchases. Make money through upgrades, subscriptions, virtual goods, and more.

• Shares. When people share your app with friends, it helps to virally spread the word.

Like on websites, analyze how people are flowing through your app and where drop-off points are. Look for ways to streamline the user experience and make desired actions as easy as possible. The higher your conversion rates, the more successful your app will be.

How to calculate conversion rate

To calculate your conversion rate, you'll need two numbers: the number of visitors and the number of conversions. Say you get 1,000 visitors a month and 50 of them sign up or make a purchase. That's a 5% conversion rate. Not too shabby!

Conversion Rate Formula= Number of conversions / Total visitors * 100

Of course, a high conversion rate is ideal. If only a tiny fraction of your visitors are converting, something needs to change. Maybe your messaging isn't compelling enough or your onboarding is too complicated. Perhaps your calls-to-action/ features aren't prominent enough or your checkout process is 

The good news is once you know your conversion rate, you can start testing changes to improve it. You can run in-app messages, or drive feature adoption and conversion using spotlights, checklists, or challenges. 

Tracking and optimizing conversions on mobile apps and websites

Website

Once you've designed your website and have traffic coming in, it's time to start tracking how many visitors actually convert into customers or subscribers. Install tools like Google Analytics to see how people interact with your site. Look for pages where a high percentage of visitors leave (this could indicate a poor user experience). Also check which landing pages are converting the best. Make improvements to underperforming pages by simplifying the layout, adding tooltips to guide the users, or offering rewards like coupons, scratch cards, etc. 

A/B testing different versions of the same page is a great way to optimize for conversions.

Mobile App

In your mobile app, pay attention to which features and actions drive the most conversions, like making a purchase or signing up for a paid subscription. Place these conversion opportunities prominently so users see them as soon as it becomes relevant to them. Send in-app messages to re-engage users. Personalize the messages based on a user's behavior in your app.

Track how far into the conversion funnel most users get before dropping off. Look for any points of friction, like a complicated checkout process. Streamline the steps as much as possible to remove barriers to conversion. Offering discounts and free trials are also great ways to convert mobile app users into paying customers. With ongoing optimization, you'll turn more and more casual visitors into loyal users.

Key conversion metrics to measure

To improve conversions on your website or mobile app, you need to know which metrics to track. Three of the most important ones are:

1) Click-Through Rate (CTR)

This measures the percentage of people who click on your call-to-action buttons or links compared to the total number of impressions. A higher CTR means your messaging and design are effective at capturing attention and driving clicks.

2) Conversion Rate

The percentage of people who take action or complete a goal out of all website or app visitors. This could be making a purchase, signing up for a free trial, filling out a contact form, etc. Work to optimize your site to remove any friction points in the conversion process.

3) Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

How much revenue a customer generates during their time using your product or service. Focus on attracting high-CLV customers and create upsell/cross-sell offers to increase the CLV of existing customers. The higher the CLV, the more valuable your business.

Tracking and improving these key metrics is essential to growth. But remember, behind each metric are real people. Build your business with empathy, create a great experience for your customers, and the numbers will follow.