← DictionaryConversion Rate
The share of visitors or sessions that completed the intended action.
How many people did the thing, as a percentage.
What It Is
You will find Conversion Rate in the Measurement layer, alongside the rest of Conversion. The working definition is simple: the share of visitors or sessions that completed the intended action.
It is something measured and compared over time, so one reading in isolation tells you almost nothing. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Conversion Rate comes up in reporting, analytics reviews and the arguments about what the numbers mean. It is usually discussed together with Conversion, Conversion Rate Optimization and Click-Through Rate. The practical test is whether it is measured the same way each period, against something.
Why It Matters
Getting Conversion Rate wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, reporting becomes a matter of opinion. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a number on a dial. The number only means something next to yesterday's number. How many people did the thing, as a percentage.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Conversion Rate as shorthand and expect no explanation — the share of visitors or sessions that completed the intended action.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: how many people did the thing, as a percentage.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Conversion Rate: how many people did the thing, as a percentage. Everything after that is detail.