Quick answer
A website conversion is any action on a website defined as valuable, such as a purchase, sign-up, demo request or form submission; the conversion rate is conversions divided by sessions or visitors.
Formula: Conversion rate = conversions ÷ sessions (or visitors) × 100
What is a website conversion?
A website conversion is any action on a website that you have defined as valuable: a purchase, a sign-up, a demo request, a form submission, a download, a newsletter subscription or a call. The conversion rate is the share of visitors or sessions that complete it:
Conversion rate = conversions ÷ sessions (or visitors) × 100
What counts as a conversion depends on the site's purpose. An online store's main conversion is an order; a B2B site's is a qualified lead; a publisher's may be a subscription.
Macro and micro conversions
| Type | Examples | Why track |
|---|---|---|
| Macro conversion | Purchase, paid sign-up, demo request, quote request | The site's primary business goal |
| Micro conversion | Newsletter sign-up, add to cart, video play, pricing page view, account creation | Steps toward the macro goal; early signals of intent |
Tracking micro conversions shows where visitors stall on the way to the main goal and gives faster feedback when macro conversions are rare.
Website conversion examples by business type
| Business | Macro conversion | Micro conversions |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | Order | Product view, add to cart, wishlist |
| SaaS | Trial or paid sign-up | Pricing view, demo video, docs visit |
| B2B services | Qualified lead form | Case study download, contact page visit |
| Publisher | Subscription | Newsletter sign-up, article depth |
| Local business | Call or booking | Directions click, opening hours view |
Worked example
A SaaS site (sample data) has 40,000 sessions a month: 520 trial sign-ups (macro) and 2,400 newsletter sign-ups (micro). Macro conversion rate = 520 ÷ 40,000 = 1.3%. Newsletter subscribers later start trials at 6%, adding about 140 trials a month over time, so the micro conversion is worth optimizing too.
How to improve website conversions
- Define one primary conversion per page type and measure it.
- Match landing pages to the ad or query that brought visitors.
- Show price, value and proof near the call to action.
- Shorten forms and fix errors on conversion paths.
- Offer a lower-commitment step for visitors not ready yet.
Website conversions in TapCub
Set conversions as goals based on a page, an event or a revenue event; track form submissions and button clicks; and follow them through funnels and attribution.
Related terms: conversion rate, micro-conversions, conversion tracking, call to action.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help. About key events (conversions).
- Baymard Institute. Checkout usability research.
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Growth Strategist
Explores acquisition channels, activation, and conversion experiments, turning data insights into actionable growth hypotheses and evaluation methods.