# What is Conversion?

What is Conversion? A desired action a visitor takes — a purchase, sign-up, form submission. The basis for measuring marketing success.

## How it works in practice

Define what your 'conversion' is: a purchase? add to cart? sign-up? Defining it wrong means optimizing for the wrong thing.

## Related metrics

- Conversion Rate — the percentage of visitors who convert
- CPA — how much one conversion costs
- Funnel — conversion is the final stage
- Micro-conversion — small conversions along the way

## Common misconception

Thinking conversion means only a purchase. Micro-conversions (ATC, checkout, wishlist) are the map to the treasure on the site.

## How to fix it

Did conversions drop? Check by stage: fewer visits to the product page? → a traffic problem. Arriving but not adding to cart? → a product page problem. Adding but not paying? → a checkout problem.

## Real-world example

A sporting goods store asked 10 friends to try buying and think out loud. 8 got stuck at checkout on the 'passport number' field. Removing the field led to +23% conversion within a week.

## Where to start

Map your conversion funnel from day one: visit → view → ATC → checkout → purchase.

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Category: Analytics · From the [Jimmy OS KPI Glossary](https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi.md) · Source page: https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi/conversion