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How to Calculate Your Website’s True Visit to Lead Conversion Rate
What is your website’s visit-to-lead conversion rate?
In case you haven’t read the FAQ we posted on website conversion rates, your website’s visit-to-lead conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your site that complete a defined action. Whether you’re tracking the percentage of visitors that make a purchase or those that simply fill out a contact form for more information, it’s a vital metric when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your website as a marketing tool.
Why is visit-to-lead conversion rate important?
If you’re looking to generate business from your website, you need it to generate leads and sales. You can have 10 times more traffic than a competitor, but if that traffic doesn’t convert (by contacting you, making a purchase, etc.), it’s not helping you reach your goal. Improving your website’s visit-to-lead conversion rate by just a few percentage points can dramatically increase the value of each visitor.
How to calculate your visit-to-lead conversion rate—the traditional way
By definition, your website’s visit-to-lead conversion rate is the total number of conversions divided by the total number of visits.
(Conversions/Sessions)*100 = Conversion Rate
How to calculate your visit-to-lead conversion rate—the better way
What the traditional visit-to-lead conversion rate calculation doesn’t take into consideration is unqualified traffic, and one of the biggest mistakes businesses make in calculating their website’s conversion rate is to assume every visitor to the site is fair game.
Not every visit is an opportunity to convert—people could be visiting your site for a variety of reasons that are probably not convert-able. Visitors might be looking for general information, looking for a new job, looking to learn how to do the service you provide themselves—none of which are probably going to turn into a lead for you.
So, a better way to calculate your website’s visit-to-lead conversion rate is based on a qualified segment of traffic, as opposed to all of your traffic. Typically, for our customers in the service industry, a good measure of qualified traffic is visits within your service area. If you’re located in Baltimore, are you going to be able to service someone in New York or California? Unless you’re a franchise, probably not.
Service businesses (plumbers, HVAC contractors, home remodelers, landscaping companies, etc.), should calculate their website’s conversion rate by dividing the total number of conversions by the total number of visits within their service area.
(Conversions/Visits within Service Area)*100 = Better Conversion Rate
How to get visits within your service area
To get the number of visits within your service area, you will need to create an advanced segment. If you haven’t done this before, it’s a simple 5-step process—and you only have to do it once!
1. In the Audience Overview report, click the arrow next to “All Sessions” along the top:
2. Then, click the “Create New Segment” button:
3. Name your segment—I would suggest something like Visits within Service Area:
4. Define your service area in the Demographics section.
a. Decide if your service area is a Region (state or multiple states) or City (can be one or multiple) and select the appropriate choice:
b. Decide if your service area is a single region or city or it its multiple regions or cities
a. If you are selecting a single region or city, choose “contains” and then select the one within your service area:
b. If you are selecting multiple regions or multiple cities, choose “matches regex” and type in the regions or cities you want to include separated by “|”:
5. Save your segment:
Now, when you apply that segment, you will see Visits within Service Area separated out from All Sessions:
What next?
After you’ve calculated your “better” conversion rate, focus on improving it through conversion rate optimization. Without spending more time and money on generating more traffic, you can maximize the value of the traffic you already have by testing different calls-to-action, adding new landing pages with contact forms, improving the quality of the content already on your site, tweaking your site design, or enlisting the help of an expert (like Blue Corona!).
Learn more about conversion rates
If you want to learn more about conversion rates, check out these related blog posts:
About The Author: As the General Manager, I work to improve our internal processes and help keep the team running! Outside of work, with a new baby at home my hobbies have shifted from fine dining and traveling to spending time with family and exploring the world through my daughter’s eyes.
View more blogs by Katelyn McKinley
The information on this website is for informational purposes only; it is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. It does not constitute professional advice. All information is subject to change at any time without notice. Contact us for complete details.
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