# What is conversion rate and how is it calculated

> Conversion rate is the percentage of your website's visitors who complete the action you care about, such as buying or submitting a form, and you calculate it by dividing conversions by visits and multiplying by 100.

- Source: https://bixlow.com/en/glossary/conversion-rate
- Language: en
- Updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Bixlow

## The formula

Conversion rate = (conversions ÷ visits) × 100.

It looks trivial, but two decisions change the number and are worth writing down: what counts as a conversion and what you count as a visit. You can divide by sessions or by unique users. With sessions, someone who comes three times before buying counts as three visits; with users, as one. Neither is the right one, but if you switch halfway through the year you are comparing apples with oranges.


## Worked example

An online coffee store in an ordinary month.

|  | Figure | Calculation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sessions in the month | 12,000 |  |
| Completed orders | 240 |  |
| Conversion rate | 2% | 240 ÷ 12,000 × 100 |
| Mobile only | 1.4% | 112 orders ÷ 8,000 sessions × 100 |
| Desktop only | 3.2% | 128 orders ÷ 4,000 sessions × 100 |

_Made-up figures for the example. The overall number hides that mobile converts at half the rate of desktop._


## Micro and macro conversions

The macro conversion is the business goal: an order, a booking, a qualified lead. It pays the bills and it should be what decides your tests.

Micro conversions are the steps before it: adding to cart, starting checkout, signing up for the newsletter, opening the size guide. They help you see where people get stuck, but be careful: a change can lift "Add to cart" clicks without selling a single extra order.


> **What is a good conversion rate?.** One that beats yours from last month. Industry averages vary enormously with what you sell, the price and where your traffic comes from: a spare parts store fed by Google looks nothing like a fashion brand that lives on Instagram. Compare yourself with yourself, split by device and channel.


## How Bixlow measures it

In Bixlow you define goals (a click, a submitted form, a confirmation URL or an event in your dataLayer), and every time a visitor completes one it counts as a conversion. In an A/B test, each conversion is credited to the version that visitor saw, and a Bayesian statistics engine compares each version's conversion rate before giving a verdict.


## FAQ

### Is it calculated on sessions or on users?

Both are valid. What matters is picking one, saying which, and not changing it when you compare periods.

### Is conversion rate the same as CTR?

No. CTR measures what share of people click on something, like an ad or a link. Conversion rate measures what share complete the final goal, like a purchase.

### Why has my conversion rate dropped if I'm selling the same?

Most likely because lower-quality visits went up, for example a campaign that brings lots of curious traffic. Check the rate per channel before touching the site.

### Which conversion should I use for an A/B test?

The one closest to the business that still has enough volume, usually the order. Micro conversions work as supporting metrics, not as the one that decides.

## Further reading

- [Goals and conversions in Bixlow](https://bixlow.com/en/platform/goals)
- [What is CRO](https://bixlow.com/en/glossary/cro)
- [Sample size calculator](https://bixlow.com/en/tools/sample-size-calculator)