What is Conversion Rate?
Conversion rate (CR) is the share of visits or users that complete a defined Conversion. It answers a simple question: “Out of all the traffic I measured, how many reached the Goal I care about?” In any stack—GA4, Plausible, Matomo, Simple Analytics—the principle is the same, but the base can differ (sessions, users, clicks). Always verify the base before comparing numbers.
Formula
CR = (number of conversions ÷ base) × 100%
| Base metric | Typical use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Session | e-commerce, content sites | GA tools often report session conversion rate. |
| User | SaaS trials, lead gen | Avoids repeat-session inflation. |
| Clicks | Ads, email | Works with UTM tagging and channel reports. |
Classify what “conversion” means: a checkout is a Macro-Conversion; a signup or add-to-cart is often a Micro-Conversion. Track them as an Event or via Custom Events.
How to measure (fast, reliable way)
- Define the conversion (macro vs micro) and map it to events.
- Choose the base (session vs user vs click) and stick to it across reports.
- Tag acquisition with UTM so you can split by Source, Organic Search, and Referral.
- Validate the funnel with User Flow and page-level signals like Pageview.
- Segment by device, cohort, or channel; export to BigQuery, visualize in Google Data Studio or Power BI.
Common pitfalls
- Mixed bases: Comparing a “user CR” to a “session CR” is apples to oranges.
- Attribution drift: Model choice matters—see Attribution, Attribution Model, First Touch, Last Touch.
- Soft conversions only: Track both micro and macro to avoid vanity wins.
- Traffic quality: Bot or low-intent spikes depress CR; pair with Engagement Rate and acquisition KPIs (CTR, CPL, CPA, ROI).
- Inconsistent tagging: Broken UTMs or missing Tag Management rules skew channel CR.
- No experimentation: Use A/B Testing to lift CR, then validate durability.