Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of a defined population that completes a specified action during a stated period. A common calculation is conversions ÷ eligible visitors, users, sessions, leads, or opportunities × 100. The denominator and counting rule must be named: a user-based purchase rate, a session-based form-submission rate, and a sales-qualified-lead close rate answer different questions.

Why it matters: Choose an action tied to a real business or user outcome, distinguish primary outcomes from supporting interactions, and document whether repeated events count once or many times. Validate event firing, deduplication, confirmation states, internal traffic, consent effects, and cross-device or offline gaps before comparing rates. Segment by relevant audience and journey conditions, and compare like with like over a sufficient period. There is no useful universal “good” rate across industries, offers, traffic sources, price points, and funnel stages. Pair the rate with volume, value, lead quality, refunds or cancellations, and user research so an apparent gain does not hide a worse outcome.