Simply put, conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your website who complete a desired action. It’s a hugely important number for any Australian SME serious about getting a return on their online investment. Forget just getting people *to* your website – conversion rate tells you how many are actually doing something valuable *on* it.

That ‘desired action’ can be anything. For an e-commerce business, it’s usually a purchase. But it could also be submitting an enquiry form, downloading a brochure, signing up for a newsletter, or even spending a certain amount of time browsing specific pages. The key is defining what a ‘win’ looks like for *your* business.

Here’s what we find most businesses need to understand about conversion rates:

• It’s a percentage: Calculated as (Total Conversions / Total Website Visitors) x 100. So, if 1000 people visit your site and 50 make a purchase, your conversion rate is 5%.
• Industry benchmarks vary: A ‘good’ conversion rate isn’t a fixed number. It depends on your industry, the type of conversion you’re tracking, and even your target audience. We always recommend researching benchmarks specific to your sector.
• Traffic source matters: Visitors from different sources (like Google Ads, social media, or email marketing) often convert at different rates. Analysing this helps you focus your marketing spend where it’s most effective.
• Optimisation is ongoing: Conversion rate isn’t a ‘set and forget’ metric. We continually test different elements of your website – headlines, images, calls to action, even page layout – to see what improves performance.

Improving your conversion rate is often more cost-effective than simply driving more traffic. Think about it: turning 2% of visitors into customers is good, but turning 4% of the *same* number of visitors into customers is fantastic. It’s about working smarter, not just harder. As we look towards 2026 and beyond, focusing on user experience and personalised journeys will become even more critical for maximising conversion potential.

If you’re not currently tracking your website conversion rate, that’s the first step. Then, we recommend starting with A/B testing on your key landing pages. Small changes can often lead to significant improvements in your bottom line.