Google Analytics is like a crystal ball for your website performance. It can tell you everything you need to know about how your visitors behave on the website. One of the most important things to track on Google Analytics is your conversion rate (CR, Goal, and Events). It’s the dashboard of your website performance. It tells you how many of the people visiting your website are actually taking the desired action, like making a purchase (eCommerce tracking) or signing up for a newsletter.
But, like any analytics report, it’s important to check it regularly. Otherwise, you’ll be in the dark about how your website is doing. In this article, we’re going to show you how to check your conversion rate on Google Analytics and share some hacks. So, grab your magic wand (or mouse) and let’s dive into the world of Google Analytics conversion rate!
What is Conversion in Analytics?
The conversion rate is a crucial part of analytics that helps website owners and digital marketers measure and understand their success.
The conversion rate is an important metric for digital marketing since it helps evaluate the success of campaigns. By understanding how much of their traffic is converting into customers, businesses can adjust their strategies accordingly. Additionally, they can identify which campaigns perform more effectively and optimize their budgets. For example, if a business runs multiple campaigns and one higher conversions, they can allocate more resources to that campaign and increase its reach.
Overall, the conversion rate is an essential component of analytics that can help website owners and digital marketers enhance their campaigns. By understanding the conversion rate, businesses can make better decisions on how to allocate their resources and improve the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts.
Default Conversion Rate Factor Calculation
By default, the conversion rate in Google Analytics is calculated as the number of conversions divided by the number of sessions (or visitors) multiplied by 100.
For example, if a website had 1000 visitors and 30 made a purchase, the conversion rate would be 30/1000 = 0.05 x 100 = 3%.
This calculation is commonly used for e-commerce websites to measure the percentage of visitors who purchase. However, Google Analytics and Plerdy allows you to configure customized conversion tracking and set different conversion rates depending on the goals of your website.
Note that the goal is detected once during a website visit. For example, if aclient goes to the landing page several times during the session, this action will still be identified as one target. However, the focus should be on the user rather than the session itself. In addition, after about half an hour of inaction, the session tracking stops. If the user returns in four days, Google Analytics will consider it a new session.
What is the difference between micro and macro conversion?
Micro and macro conversions are two important metrics that measure the success of digital marketing efforts. Micro conversions are smaller actions visitors take on a website. In contrast, macro conversions are larger goals, such as purchasing.
Examples of micro conversions include:
- Signing up for a newsletter
- Downloading an ebook
- Interacting with content
- Subscribing to a podcast
- Watching a video
- Add to cart
- Search
Examples of macro conversions include:
- Making a purchase
- Completing a registration form
- Submitting a lead form
- Requesting a quote
Overall, micro and macro conversions are important metrics for monitoring website performance. By understanding and tracking micro and macro conversions, website owners can make better decisions and optimize their campaigns.
Methods to Increase Conversion Rate from Google Analytics
You should apply Google Analytics’s tips to implement more effective web design and marketing strategies. As a result of such data-driven solutions, conversion rates will increase.
Here are some tips and tricks to follow:
Bounce Rate Tracking
The rejection rate is the ratio of those who leave your website after staying just on one web page. Track these scores with GA 3 by clicking Behavior > Site Content > Target Pages.
GA4 Engagement Rate
GA4’s Engagement rate provides valuable insights into user behavior on your website. But collecting data once in a while is not enough. To effectively analyze the engagement rate in GA4, you should measure it over time, compare it to industry benchmarks, and monitor key metrics such as bounce rate, session duration, and pages per session.
Using Internal Site Search
Checking the internal search report on the site will help you find out what elements users are looking for and what difficulties they have in searching. To view these indicators, click «Behavior» > «Site Search» > «Overview.»
Detecting Slow Page Loading
In our rapidly changing world, nobody wants to wait long for downloading. Thus, the significant aspect of UX improvement is the optimization of the site download speed. GA allows defining a slow boot time by clicking Behavior > Site Speed > Page Load Time.
Calculation of Organic Traffic
Move to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels to inspect the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategy by checking traffic and contrasting the results by date.
Session and user conversion factor
Google Analytics can provide conversion ratings based on both users and sessions. The primary difference between a session conversion and user conversion is the data used to identify website visitors. It is either sessions or users. A session is a period of user activity on your website or in an application. Consequently, the conversion rate may ultimately be inaccurate, as many users have numerous sessions.
Analysts have different opinions as to the best method to calculate the conversion factor. Some experts note that the session provides a unique possibility to convert. In contrast, user performance often includes multiple sessions.
Tthe proponents of the user-based conversion factor state that conversion usually requires more than one session. For example, it works for expensive purchases, such as an engagement ring. In such a way, viewing user conversions in Google Analytics will be more informative. It is, therefore, worth considering the conversion rate of users.
Conversion rate at the user level
The conversion rate at the user level is based on Google’s 6-month cookie file, which allows tracking individual users. For example, if you have 10,000 sessions and 100 transactions per month on your site, the conversion rate will be 1% according to the session conversion rate. However, if the user conversion rate is applied, it is 1.25%. The conversion rate at the user level gives you a clearer picture of the website performance for further analysis. This is usually 20-25% higher than the conversion at the session level.
However, this method has shortcomings. For example, tracking one customer on different devices can cause some problems. In addition, clients who browse incognito or delete their cookies are frequently considered more than one visitor. It can be a meaningful reason to mind both user and session conversions. Google Analytics can combine user conversion rates and sessions in a single report, convenient for detailed data analysis.
How to configure the conversion rate in Google Analytics
You must configure goals to l conversions on your website Follow the next instructions to perform this task:
- Step 1. «Administrator» on the left panel and tap «Targets» in the option «View».
- Step 2. Press «+ New Goal» to create a new target.
- Step 3. Add a description and information about your target.
- Step 4. Select the target option «Event».
- Step 5. Indicate the aspects of the goal. Now you can apply the templates for «Category» and «Conversion» for «Actions».
If you have to configure e-commerce tracking for Google Analytics, use these steps:
- Create a GA account and enter the URL of your website after configuring it.
- Get your tracking ID.
- Install the Google Analytics tracking code on all pages you are going to track.
- Include «E-Commerce Settings» and «Advanced E-Commerce Reports» by selecting «Administrator» > «View Settings» > «E-Commerce Settings».
Plerdy’s tool “Sales Efficiency” offers a set of features similar to the “Sales Efficiency” features from Google Analytics. At the same time, it can help you enhance some unique website metrics. According to Plerdy’s testing, Plerdy’s new Sales Performance product showed more accurate results than Google Analytics.
Google Analytics 3 vs. Google Analytics 4 Conversion Rate
Google Analytics 3 (GA3) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) are both powerful tools for tracking website user behavior. However, there are significant differences in how they measure and track conversion rates.
In GA3, the conversion rate is the number of conversions divided by the number of sessions. GA4 uses the number of conversions divided by the number of users. This means GA4 provides more accurate data, especially for websites with a high number of returning visitors.
GA4 also offers advanced features such as machine learning and cross-device tracking, giving deeper insights into user behavior and more detailed optimization recommendations.
Experts like Avinash Kaushik and Brian Clifton have praised GA4 for its advanced features and deeper insights. However, GA3 is still widely used and provides valuable information. So the choice between the two should be based on specific business needs. It’s recommended to monitor conversion rate over time and compare it to industry benchmarks to identify trends and areas for improvement.
How to Improve Conversion Rate Using Heatmap and Video Session Recording?
Increasing conversions is crucial for any website and digital marketing campaign. One of the most effective ways to increase conversions is to use Plerdy heatmaps and record video sessions.
Plerdy heatmap analysis is a powerful tool to understand user behavior. By tracking how users interact with elements on a web page, website owners can identify areas that need improvement to increase conversions. Additionally, video session recordings can be used for further usability analysis, allowing website owners to gain valuable insights into website errors.
Using Plerdy heatmap analytics and video session recordings, website owners or UX professionals can make data-driven decisions to improve their websites and increase conversions. Heatmaps help identify where users click and where they lose interest, while video recordings can provide a deeper understanding of user behavior.
Conclusion Google Analytics Conversion Rate
If you use Google Analytics, you may have noticed that some website visitors do not convert into leads. While there are many reasons for this, one of the most common causes is that customers interested in an offer cannot complete the purchase or leave a request.
To give your business the best chance of converting a lead into a paying customer, you must detect the exact reason behind bouncing leads… You can do it by trying Plerdy for free.
While Google Analytics shows conversions, it doesn’t show why people don’t convert to buyers. This means you get more opportunities to improve your conversion rate through better targeting with data from heatmaps and video sessions.
Sign up with Google