CR (Conversion Rate)
Conversion Rate is the percentage of visitors (or clicks) that complete the desired action — buy, book, submit a form. It's the most direct measure of marketing and landing page effectiveness.
What it is
Conversion Rate is a ratio: completed conversions divided by total opportunities to convert. "Opportunities" can be visitors, clicks, or sessions depending on what you're measuring. CR can also be applied at micro-conversion level (form starts, video plays) and macro-conversion level (paying customers).
How to calculate
CR = (Conversions / Visitors) × 100%.
Example: 25 admit-form submissions / 1,000 landing page visitors × 100 = 2.5% CR.
Why it matters
CR is the multiplier on traffic. Doubling traffic at 1% CR = 2× revenue. Doubling CR at the same traffic = 2× revenue, at much lower cost. For paid-media-heavy businesses, lifting CR is usually the highest-ROI work available.
Frequently asked questions
What's a good conversion rate?
Wildly category-dependent. B2C ecom: 1.5–3.5%. B2B SaaS demo requests: 2–5%. Behavioral health admit forms: 5–15% (high-intent traffic). Brand search ads: 10–25%.
What's a 'micro' vs 'macro' conversion?
Macro = the end goal (purchase, admit, demo). Micro = intermediate steps (PDF download, video view, signup). Both matter — micros are leading indicators.
Why does CR drop with more traffic?
Top-funnel traffic is colder than retargeting traffic. Scaling spend usually means buying broader/less-qualified audiences, which lowers CR. The right question is whether absolute conversions are still growing.
