Conversion rate, in marketing efforts, is the critical factor for determining the effectiveness of a website that sells products or offers services. The number of visits means nothing if visitors don’t interact with the website, be it making a purchase or leaving their info and creating leads that can later be used for sales. That’s why we’ve prepared some essential CRO statistics that can help you understand the importance of website conversion optimization and maybe even give you some ideas on how to improve your marketing strategy. So, let’s jump in, shall we?
CRO Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- The average conversion rate for websites is 2.35%.
- Facebook ads have an average conversion rate of 9.21%.
- Production of videos using conversion events increased by 30%.
- Between 0-4 seconds of load time brings in the best conversion rates.
- 46.9% of optimizers run one or two tests per month.
- 56% of CRO professionals have less than three years of experience.
- Personalized CTAs have a 202% higher conversion rate.
General Conversion Rate Optimization Facts and Data
1. The average conversion rate for websites is 2.35%.
Conversion rates are a highly variable figure, depending on the industry. However, the overall average conversion rate currently sits at 2.35%. This means that roughly out of 40 visitors of a company’s website, just one performs the action they want them to, whether it’s making a purchase, filling a survey, or something else. The top 10% of organizations meanwhile have average conversion rates of 11.45% or higher.
(Wordstream)
2. Catering & Restaurant is the industry with the highest conversion rate at 18.2%.
As mentioned, conversion rate averages differ from one sector to another. Here are some of the best-performing ones, as per CRO stats:
- Media & Entertainment: 18.1%.
- Finance & Insurance: 15.6%.
- Legal: 14.5%.
- Education: 14.2%.
- Fitness & Nutrition: 13.2%.
Home improvement is dragging down the average website conversion rate by industry, with a rate of 7.2%.
(Unbounce)
3. Facebook ads have an average conversion rate of 9.21%.
Facebook ads are almost four times more successful in converting visitors to customers than regular websites. Once again, depending on the industry, social media conversion statistics vary from 2.31% (Technology) to 14.29% (Fitness), but the overall average conversion rate for Facebook ads stands at 9.21%.
(Instapage)
4. The use of AI by marketers increased by 190% in two years.
AI-based technologies have become more of a standard tool in the areas of conversion and optimization. Between 2018 and 2020 alone, marketers’ use of AI has increased by 190%. Other areas where marketers are expected to use AI include personalization and ad targeting, content creation, and campaign management.
(HubSpot)
5. Videos using conversion events increased by 30%.
Video marketing has routinely been named among the most effective content forms for a while now. Conversion rate optimization statistics from HubSpot’s latest report reveal that events placed at the beginning of the videos have the highest conversion rate at 12.7%. Email collection forms emerged as the most successful at converting the viewers, scoring a 15% conversion rate.
(HubSpot)
6. At 69%, web analytics tools are the most widely adopted tool to increase conversions.
69% is also the highest adoption rate of tools and techniques for increasing conversions and measuring online experiences, meaning that lots of firms are still not using any. Marketers also widely use user experience testing (64%), personalization (61%), and content testing (57%) as part of their CRO processes.
(Decibel)
7. The average ROI for those using CRO tools is 223%.
CRO trends show that investing in CRO tools can be more than worth it. Just 5% of the 3,000 companies involved in a recent survey reported no ROI, while 173 of their peers reported ROI larger than 1,000%.
(Outgrow)
8. Only 39.6% of firms have a documented CRO strategy.
That being said, 39.3% do follow a process but have yet to structure and document it, and one in five marketers reported not following a CRO process at all. As a research-oriented and data-driven approach, CRO works the best when its stages are structured rather than handled reactively and positioned within the larger marketing efforts efficiently.
(CXL)
9. Marketing directors/CMOs are mostly responsible for conversion and digital experience optimization.
CRO facts from a survey revealed that upper management typically takes the responsibility of improving conversion rates and digital experience through strategic planning. 28% of respondents reported chief marketing officers’ being primarily responsible for optimization, followed by chief technology officers (25%) and head of customer experiences (19%).
(Decibel)
10. One-quarter of companies cite legacy technology as their greatest barrier to increase conversions on websites.
The speed at which tools of sorts develop changes the rules of the game rapidly and leaves many firms’ equipment and efforts obsolete. While increasing their website conversion rates, most organizations struggle to adopt novel technologies, while 20% had problems in understanding online behavior at scale, and 20% in understanding points of improvement.
(Decibel)
Website Conversion: Best Practices
11. Between 0-4 seconds load time is best for conversion rates.
Landing page statistics show that the first five seconds of page load time have the highest impact on landing pages. And most developers pay attention to the site speed to improve their average online conversion rates: 78% of pages have five seconds or less load time. In 2014, half of the examined websites had a load time of more than five seconds.
(Lander)
12. Marketers using optimization software see an average conversion lift of 30%.
Stats on landing page conversion rates indicate that compared to standard A/B tests, optimizing prospects’ experience through a solid landing page strategy is more effective in improving the average lead conversion rates.
(Unbounce)
13. The Media & Entertainment industry has the highest form-fill landing page conversion rate.
Landing page conversion statistics show that by and far, form-filling type of pages works best for the media and entertainment industry at 11.3%. Catering and restaurants, finance and insurance, and education follow, with 6%, 5.8%, and 5.7%, respectively. The content type works poorly for real estate (2.1%) and agencies (1.9%).
(Unbounce)
14. Just 48% of marketers build a new landing page for every new marketing campaign.
Instead of creating new landing pages for their latest campaigns, 52% of digital marketing professionals reuse existing ones. This practice should be avoided, as it can quickly increase the bounce rate.
(KyLeads)
15. Videos on a landing page increase conversion by up to 86%.
Knowing your market is the main element of any business activity. Landing page conversion rate statistics show that implementing elements relevant to your field of business can cause a significant boost to conversions. Companies that deal with online tutoring were able to boost their conversions by 86% by implementing video to their landing pages.
(Wishpond)
16. Sales/Qualified Leads is the most popular sales conversion rate calculation.
The majority of marketers (about 35%) divide the number of sales to qualified leads as the best way to calculate their lead conversion rate. Other popular methods include dividing the number of sales into the total number of leads (32%), contacted leads (11%), and opportunities (10%), sales conversion rate statistics further reveal.
(Databox)
17. 57% of marketers think web development is the most impactful function in CRO.
Most organizations see benefiting from the best web development companies or their in-house IT teams as the most effective function while making decisions aimed at optimizing conversions. That being said, other marketing efforts and customer experience also have a big impact in improving one’s website conversion rate, with all three tied at 57%.
Besides these, marketers also trust analytics (53%) and executive team leadership (48%) to come up with high converting websites.
(Decibel)
18. A personalized sales call within two days after making contact can increase conversion by over 200%.
In a conversion with 26 marketing experts, Databox questioned the greatest correlating factor between raw leads and converted sales. The resulting sales statistics revealed that personalized touch in the lead nurturing process could tremendously boost the lead to sales conversion rate.
(Databox)
19. 46.9% of optimizers run one or two tests a month.
Running up to a couple of tests per month is the most common test velocity among professionals, and about 9% of optimizers run more than 20 tests a month. Running client-side tests are the most popular at 55%, while 17% run server-side tests and 27% do both, conversion rate optimization stats reveal. A/B tests are the most popular types, used by almost all optimizers surveyed. A little over one-third also tests more than one variation.
(CXL)
20. Consumer products have the highest close rate at 55%.
According to the close rate by industry data, HubSpot revealed as per their 130,000+ consumer base, consumer goods have the highest sales close rate, followed by financial services at 18%, software/IT at 15%, and staffing and recruitment at 11%. Staffing took the worst blow in 2020, with sales conversion rates going as low as -33%, but picked up the pace by the end of the year.
(HubSpot)
More Interesting and Useful CRO Statistics
21. Emails with just one CTA increase sales by up to 1,617%.
Average email conversion rates can easily be improved with a simple trick — focusing on one thing. Staying focused on a single call-to-action might not only make the difference between making a sale or not but employing this practice can lead to a major boost in clicks (up to 371%) and sales (up to 1,617%), which can be groundbreaking for any business.
(WordStream)
22. 76% of marketers agree that improving the digital experience impacts conversions.
Conversion rate optimization trends confirm that most marketers agree that a good digital experience is crucial for improving conversions, as it ultimately pushes more customers down the funnel. Just over two-thirds (69%) say they are strategic in their approach to optimization, and a further 70% report optimizing websites and apps for conversion is a top priority.
(Decibel)
23. Mobile online conversions average at 3.5%.
The average mobile conversion rate was 3.5% in the Q2 of 2021. During the same period, tablet user conversions were at 2.2%, while desktop conversions averaged 3.9%. The user-friendliness of respective platforms most likely causes these percentages; interacting with some pages on mobile can be a real pain.
(Statista)
24. 56% of CRO professionals have less than three years of experience.
Conversion optimization facts confirm that the profession is still in its early days. In case you’re wondering about what a conversion rate optimizer’s work looks like, here are some statistics on those whose task is, among others, to increase conversion rates:
- Around 40% of optimizers are freelancers or with agencies, while 27% work in-house for ecommerce sites.
- Only 10% of in-house optimization teams have their own dedicated budget.
- Less than 5% of optimizers have 10+ years of experience, with 40% of them earning more than $150,000.
(CXL)
25. Personalized calls-to-action have a 202% higher conversion rate than regular ones.
CRO stats show that sending a personalized CTA can mean the difference between making and not making a sale. The average sales conversion rate is improved by the same margin even when the CTA doesn’t include specifics such as name; mentioning a referral source showed to be enough.
(HubSpot)
26. Personalized emails lead to a 10% increase in conversions.
Avoiding generic emails can be another great move in any email marketing strategy, and significantly improve your CRO statistics. With personalized emails, sales conversions jump up 10%, while click-through rates go up by an average of 14%.
(WebFX)
27. At 9.5%, the travel industry has the highest referral conversion rate.
Referral marketing implementation might be the thing that leads your business to new heights, as this is the customer acquisition channel that can deliver a high conversion rate. The travel industry takes the lead, followed by finance (7.1%), automotive (1.3%), and real estate (1.5%).
(Ruler Analytics)
28. Conversions can be reduced by up to 7% for 1 second of delay in website load.
Conversion rate optimization statistics confirm that one of the bases of user experience is website load speed which can also impact the average website conversion rate. Slow websites discourage potential clients, and, for just 1 second of delay, can cause:
- 11% decrease in page views.
- 16% decrease in user satisfaction.
- 7% decrease in conversions.
(Liveseysolar)
29. Marketing automation implementation increases the number of qualified leads by 451%.
The average lead conversion rate for those companies that implement marketing automation jumps noticeably. Even though it can be quite costly and complex, it is more than worth it, which is why businesses invest in marketing automation solutions.
(Fronetics)
Conclusion
Optimization of the website visitor conversion process has become a highly sought-after skill that not many possess. While large corporations have no issue with hiring those experts, small businesses might, so they rely on trial and error. CRO statistics listed in this article just scratch the surface and try to spark an interest in one of the most complex, most interesting, and, potentially, most effective website optimization practices.
