Conversion rate is the share of visits or ad clicks that end in a conversion: an order for an online store, a lead for a service business. You calculate it as conversions divided by visits, times 100. A 2% conversion rate means two orders for every hundred visits.
Conversion rate is the share of visits or ad clicks that end in a conversion: an order for an online store, a lead for a service business. You calculate it as conversions divided by visits, times 100. A 2% conversion rate means two orders for every hundred visits.
It is the multiplier that makes everything else cheaper. At the same cost per click, doubling the conversion rate halves the cost of an order. So it deserves as much attention as the auction, even though most of it is decided on the website rather than in the ad platform: by price, shipping, the checkout and whether the page answers the customer’s questions.
Divide the number of conversions by the number of visits in the same period and multiply by 100. The result is only as good as the numerator and denominator. Both have to come from the same source and count the same thing.
| Conversion rate | conversions ÷ visits × 100 | Example: 240 orders ÷ 12,000 visits × 100 = 2% |
| Minimum rate | CPC ÷ (order value × margin) | Example: €0.25 ÷ (€50 × 30%) = 1.67% |
The second row is the floor. Below it, a click at that price can’t be paid for out of gross margin, even when the ad brings exactly the right people. And each data source divides by something different:
| Source | Numerator | Denominator | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | primary conversions | interactions (clicks on Search) | Campaign and bidding performance |
| GA4 | key events | sessions | Comparing channels and pages |
| Store back office | orders | visits from web analytics | The whole business, decisions on price and site |
Move the sliders to match your account. You will see how many orders your traffic produces, the cost of one order (CPA) and your ROAS. Below the results, the calculator works out what a conversion rate half a percentage point higher would do.
Industry averages vary from source to source depending on what counts as a conversion, what the denominator is and which devices the traffic comes from. That makes them a poor target. Compare your conversion rate with itself (same month last year, same data source) and with the floor your click price and margin allow.
It also varies by an order of magnitude with what you sell. Elektro Sláma, an electrical and lighting store, raised its conversion rate from 2.72% to 3.54% (Google Ads, 1 Jun–28 Aug 2025 vs 2026, case study). MyDeko went from 1.6% to 3.0% after work on price and the website (Dec–Mar vs Apr–Sep, case study). At CarDetailer, a premium car detailing studio, the click-to-enquiry rate went from 0.32% to 0.49% after the new website launched (Jan–Jun vs 1 Aug–13 Sep 2026, case study). All three are good numbers because each improved on its own baseline.
Click-through rate (CTR) measures how many people click the ad. Conversion rate measures how many of them then buy. A high CTR with a low conversion rate usually means the ad promises something the page doesn’t deliver.
| Metric | Formula | What it answers | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion rate | conversions ÷ visits × 100 | How many visits buy | Quality of site, offer and traffic |
| CTR | clicks ÷ impressions × 100 | How many impressions become clicks | Whether the ad matches the query |
| CPC | spend ÷ clicks | What one visit costs | Auction and competition |
| CPA | CPC ÷ conversion rate | What one order costs | Checking against the margin ceiling |
Metrics that show up in the same sentence as conversion rate.
Back-office orders divided by GA4 sessions give a number that matches nothing. GA4 may also miss visitors who declined cookies, and ad platforms credit conversions by their own attribution rules. Calculate it entirely in one tool, or entirely from the back office.
Once add-to-carts count as conversions, the rate shoots up and means nothing. At Papírnictví VojTech, before measurement was fixed, carts made up 81% of the “conversions” in Google Ads (case study). Add-to-cart belongs among secondary conversions: track it, don’t optimize for it.
A lower conversion rate with a higher order value can earn more. MyDeko raised the price of its bestseller from CZK 119 to CZK 219 in seven steps and the conversion rate held (case study). Before you chase conversion rate with discounts, work out what the discount does to your margin.
Conversions divided by visits in the same period, times 100. Example: 240 orders from 12,000 visits is 2%. The numerator and denominator must come from the same data source.
One above your floor: cost per click divided by average order value times margin. With a €0.25 CPC, a €50 order and a 30% margin, the floor is 1.67%. Beyond that, compare mainly with yourself, not with an industry average.
None. Both are short for conversion rate. The formula is the same: conversions divided by visits or clicks, times 100. What matters is which conversions and which denominator a given report uses.
Each tool divides by something different and counts different conversions. Google Ads divides conversions by ad interactions and also credits purchases made on a later return visit. GA4 divides key events by sessions and assigns them with its own model. Don’t expect them to match; watch the trend in each tool separately.
First find where people drop off: on the product page, in the cart, or at shipping and payment. Session recordings and a funnel from add-to-cart to purchase help. Fix what stops people, and only then raise the ad budget.
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