Conversion

Visitors to your website are great, but ultimately you want them to do something: request a quote, call, buy a product or sign up for your newsletter. A desired action like this is called a conversion. It is the bridge between visibility and revenue, and therefore arguably the most important measure for judging whether your online efforts are paying off.

You decide what counts as a conversion. For an online shop that is usually a purchase, for an installer a completed contact form, for a restaurant a booking. You often also distinguish smaller intermediate steps, such as a download or a click on your phone number.

What types of conversion are there?

• Macro conversions: the main goals of your site, such as an order, quote request or appointment.
• Micro conversions: smaller signs of interest, such as downloading a brochure, watching a video or adding a product to the basket.
• Offline conversions: actions that start online but end elsewhere, for example a phone call or a visit to your shop after checking your opening hours.

The conversion rate is the proportion of visitors who complete a conversion. What counts as a "good" rate depends heavily on your sector, your offer and where your traffic comes from, so compare mainly with your own figures from previous periods.

How do you measure conversions?

Most businesses use Google Analytics 4 to measure conversions. There you set up the actions that matter to you as so-called key events. If you combine that with data from Google Search Console, you see not only how many people arrive via Google, but also which pages and topics actually bring in customers. A page with lots of organic traffic and few conversions is often an opportunity to improve the content or the call to action.

Common mistakes

1. Only looking at visitor numbers. More traffic doesn't automatically mean more customers.
2. No clear next step. A page without a visible button or way to get in touch leaves visitors in the dark.
3. Forms that are too long. Only ask for what you really need to help someone further.
4. Not setting up conversions correctly. A form counted twice or a forgotten thank-you page distorts your figures.
5. Forgetting phone calls. For many local SMEs, a large share of customers come in by phone. At the very least, measure clicks on your number.

Conversion in an age of AI answers

With AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, people increasingly get an answer without clicking through. That can push down the number of visits, but those who do click through often already have a clear picture and a specific question. So it is plausible that these visitors arrive more convinced. All the more reason for your landing page to match straight away what the AI assistant said about you, with clear information on price, area and approach.

An example: a bakery in Manchester

A bakery in Manchester sees that its page about made-to-order cakes attracts lots of visitors, but produces few orders. Analysis shows the order form only appears at the bottom, below a long text. By placing an "Order your cake" button at the top and shortening the form, the bakery makes it much easier for visitors to order. In Spacebird's Cockpit you can see connections like these between visibility, traffic and results together at a glance.