Conversion

A website can have thousands of visitors every day, but if nobody buys, fills in a form or gets in touch, none of those visits turns into business.

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) increases the share of visitors who complete a desired action. It does this not through more traffic but by making the website better at persuading the people who are already there.

If the conversion rate rises from 2 per cent to 3 per cent, that means 50 per cent more leads or sales for the same traffic cost. That is why CRO is often a cost-effective investment.

Conversion rate optimisation is built not on guesswork or gut feeling but on data: you analyse behaviour, find problems, test solutions and roll out what works.

What is a conversion?

How a conversion is defined

A conversion happens when a visitor completes a desired action on the website.

What counts as a conversion depends on the organisation’s goals

Conversion rate

Formula

Conversion rate = (Number of conversions ÷ Number of visitors) × 100

Example

1,000 visitors, 20 purchases → Conversion rate = 2 per cent

What is a good conversion rate?

It varies widely depending on the industry, traffic source and product.

Important: Do not compare yourself with others but with your own baseline. The goal is improvement over time.

Micro and macro conversions

Macro conversion

The final goal (purchase, signed contract, subscription).

Micro conversion

A step on the way to the goal.

Example (e-commerce)

Macro: Purchase

Why micro conversions matter

If few people convert (macro) but many add to basket (micro), the problem lies in the checkout flow, not on the product pages.

Micro conversions help you identify where users drop off.

Why conversion rate optimisation?

Existing traffic gives a higher ROI

Scenario

Result: 50 per cent more conversions without increasing traffic or the traffic budget.

Cheaper than buying more traffic

Option 1: Buy more traffic. At a 2 per cent conversion rate, you need 5,000 extra visitors for 100 extra conversions.

If the cost per click (CPC) is SEK 10, this costs SEK 50,000 a month.

Option 2: Optimise conversion. If the conversion rate rises from today’s 2 per cent to 3 per cent, conversions increase by 50 per cent.

Cost in this worked example: SEK 20,000 to 50,000 for analysis and testing, followed by ongoing work.

Result: Option 2 can deliver the same effect at a lower long-term cost, if the conversion rate reaches 3 per cent.

CRO complements traffic growth

CRO and traffic generation should work together.

Example

CRO multiplies the effect of traffic growth.

The user experience improves

Conversion rate optimisation is not about “tricking” people into buying.

Result: A better experience for users and a higher conversion rate.

Conversion rate optimisation rests on three parts

1. Action plan

A systematic process for identifying and prioritising improvements.

Use: The first step in CRO, where you find quick wins and major problems before testing begins.

Read more about action plans →

2. Conversion analysis

Data-driven work to understand user behaviour.

Purpose: You need to understand the problem before you test solutions.

Read more about conversion analysis →

3. Conversion testing

A/B testing and multivariate testing to validate changes.

Use: Validate that changes improve conversion before a full rollout.

Read more about conversion testing →

The conversion funnel shows where visitors disappear

Understand where in the funnel users drop off.

What the funnel can look like in e-commerce

Step 1: Home page/category
1,000 visitors

Step 2: Product page
600 visitors (60 per cent continue)

Step 3: Basket
180 visitors (30 per cent add to basket)

Step 4: Checkout
120 visitors (67 per cent start checkout)

Step 5: Purchase
24 visitors (20 per cent complete)

Total conversion rate: 2.4 per cent

Analysis

Where do most visitors disappear?

• Product page → Basket: 420 visitors lost (70 per cent), the most in absolute numbers
• Home page → Product page: 400 visitors lost (40 per cent), the second most in absolute numbers
• Checkout → Purchase: 96 visitors lost (80 per cent), the highest share

Actions: Work out what each step costs in lost purchases before you decide the order. A visitor lost at checkout is closer to a purchase than one who leaves the product page. Start with the step where a reasonable improvement gives the most extra purchases.

What the funnel can look like for B2B leads

Step 1: Landing page
500 visitors

Step 2: Click on the call-to-action button (CTA)
100 visitors (20 per cent click)

Step 3: Form
100 visitors (everyone who clicked sees the form)

Step 4: Submit
15 visitors (15 per cent fill in and submit)

Total conversion rate: 3 per cent

Actions: Improve the value proposition on the landing page.
Shorten the form.

Common friction points and how to solve them

The value proposition is unclear

Problem: Visitors do not understand what they get or why they should choose this company.

The form is too long or complex

Problem: The form asks for too much information.

Trust signals are missing

Problem: Visitors do not trust the website.

The page loads slowly

Problem: Slow loading hits mobile visitors hardest.

The calls to action (CTAs) are unclear

Problem: Visitors do not know what to do next.

The mobile experience is poor

Problem: The website works poorly on mobile.

How the optimisation process works

Step 1: Set a baseline and goals

Establish the current situation

What is the conversion rate today?

Set goals

Where do you want the conversion rate to be in three, six and twelve months?

Step 2: Collect data

Step 3: Identify problems

Heuristic analysis: An expert reviews the site and identifies obvious friction.

Step 4: Prioritise actions

Impact versus effort matrix

High impact, low effort → Do first
(Example: Add trust signals, fix a broken CTA)

High impact, high effort → Do next
(Example: Redesign the checkout flow)

Low impact, low effort → Do when time allows
(Example: Change the button colour)

Low impact, high effort → Skip
(Example: A complete backend rebuild for a marginal improvement)

Step 5: Implement and test

Quick wins

Roll out straight away if the risk is low.

Major changes

A/B test before a full rollout.

Step 6: Measure and adjust

A continuous process: CRO is ongoing work rather than a one-off project.

Which tools you need for conversion rate optimisation

Analytics

Use: Understand behaviour in numbers.

Heatmaps and session recordings

Purpose: See what users do on the page, not only the statistics.

How to build A/B tests in your own systems

An external tool is rarely enough. The test is usually built into the systems you already have, and the data is extracted for a separate analysis.

• Build variants in your existing codebase or content management system
• Split traffic between the variants
• Calculate statistical significance in a separate analysis

Use: Validate changes before a full rollout.

How to test the website with real users

Use: Gives a qualitative understanding of the problems.

Surveys

Use: Get direct answers from users.

Link conversion to your business goals

Focus on the right conversion

Not all conversions are equally valuable.

Example (e-commerce)

Conversion A: Newsletter subscription.
Conversion B: Purchase.

Conversion B is far more important.

If optimisation increases newsletter subscriptions but reduces purchases, the work has missed the goal.

Recommendation: Define a primary conversion (the business goal) and secondary conversions (steps along the way).

Take lifetime value (LTV) into account

Some conversions deliver higher long-term value.

Example (SaaS)

Conversion A: Free trial.
Conversion B: Paid subscription.

A user who starts a trial and then stays on as a paying customer for three years is far more valuable than one who only tries it out and never pays.

Optimise for: The number of users who go from trial to paying customer, not just the number who start a trial.

Attribution decides which channel gets the credit

Conversions come from several sources.

Question

Which channel gets the credit for the conversion?

Answer

It depends on the attribution model.

For CRO

Focus on making the whole experience work, regardless of where people come from.

Make conversion a long-term strategy

Build an optimisation culture

Problem

CRO is seen as a one-off project (“We fixed it, done”).

Better

CRO is ongoing work, and there is always something more to improve.

Balance the short and long term

Short-term CRO

Quick wins, small changes that increase conversion now.

Long-term CRO

Fundamental changes such as a checkout redesign, improved UX and technical optimisation.

Both are needed

Quick wins deliver results fast.
Long-term investments build a stable foundation.

Choose between in-house expertise and external help

In-house

Companies with a dedicated CRO specialist can run ongoing optimisation.

External

Smaller companies, or those without CRO expertise, can bring in an agency or consultant for analysis and testing.

Hybrid

An agency sets up the processes and trains the in-house team to carry the work forward.

How visitors become customers

Conversion rate optimisation turns more of the visitors you already have into customers.

Process

Contact us about conversion rate optimisation

Carnaby helps companies increase conversions through data-driven work, from analysis and action plans to continuous testing.

Contact us →