Getting the most out of your online marketing is key to running an effective web site. CommerceCM provides you with the data you need to make choices and optimize your marketing.
Conversion Ratio =
# of Orders
# of Visitors
Site owners must keep in mind that the Referrer reports only cover the RefID formatted links you have set up intentionally through banners, newsletters, CPC or other online marketing programs. To calculate your site wide conversion ratio, divide your total number of sales by the number of visitors in the same time period.
There are many things that can affect your conversion ratio.
Most CommerceCM customers also take orders over the phone and we always recommend that your site include a prominently displayed toll free number. These offline conversions will not be reflected in any of your reports and can come from any number of sources. We recommend asking all of your phone customers how they found out about your store, and if they have visited the site, ask how they found the site.
Once your site has been running for several months you will have a sense of what your underlying conversion ratio for your site is.
As noted above, the sample term has a great conversion ratio. It consistently performs higher than the average RefID term on the site and it’s conversion rate increased more than the average this month. A site manager would be aware of all changes that might have occurred to cause that change.
What defines a good conversion ratio depends on your industry and your specific operation. Sites of internet only or mail order retailers such as Amazon and LL Bean have significantly higher conversions that established retailers like Sears. This is caused in large part by shoppers’ tendency to research purchases online and make the actual purchase in a store. With no physical locations, all of Amazon’s sales are online. Established sites also usually have higher conversion ratio than new sites for two reasons. Shoppers might visit several times before becoming customers, and returning customers are more likely to purchase than shoppers who have not already made a purchase. As trust in your online brand increases, so does your conversion ratio.