What are conversions?

A conversion is a desired action that a visitor completes, for example a purchase, a download, a call or a form submission. Conversions are recorded when someone interacts with your website or your ad, with a click for instance, and then carries out that action. They are the goal of a website or of an advertising campaign.

What is conversion tracking?

Conversion tracking measures how often defined goals are completed. There are several ways to measure that success, so it pays to set the goals before you start.

Examples:

• Online shoe shop: how many visitors put a pair of shoes in the cart, and how many of them finish the checkout with an order?
• App maker: how many visitors go on to download the app in the store or buy something inside the app?

Why should you run conversion tracking?

There are several reasons why conversion tracking is worth the setup:

1. It measures the success of a website or a campaign, which gives you a solid basis for deciding on advertising budgets and other online marketing measures.
2. It tells you which campaigns, ads or keywords lead to customer interaction most often, and where there is still room for improvement.
3. It shows you which sources, media and devices perform best.

Macro vs. micro conversions

Micro conversions are the interactions of a customer that signal interest in the product or the service while the person is not ready to buy yet. Subscribing to an online catalog or downloading a PDF with more detail about the product are typical examples, and they belong to the earlier stages of the sales funnel.

Macro conversions are the interactions where a purchase actually happens.

Micro conversion tracking matters most for products and services that are expensive or have long term effects. The decision process runs longer there, so you need a more detailed picture of which ads or keywords drove the purchase or the continued interest.