The conversion rate is the "the ratio of visitors who convert casual content views or website visits into desired actions based on subtle or direct requests from marketers, advertisers, and content creators."
Your conversion rate is crucial and you on-page web strategy should aim at maximizing it. This along with proper search engine optimization (SEO) is the key to success.
Number of Visitors X Conversion Rate = Number of Goals Achieved
The problem arises when you are trying to generate offline responses such as phone calls or foot traffic. It is very difficult to accurately measure such conversions but you should because they may represent a large portion of your return on investment (ROI).
In March, Forrester Research published a report stating that $155 billion worth of consumer goods was purchased online. Forrester also estimated that $917 billion of sales were “web-influenced”, meaning that the customer searched online before making his decision to buy a product at a particular retailer. The truth is that you should not underestimate offline conversions and you should think of techniques to evaluate your real ROI.
Fortunately, there are some solutions to get the reliable data you are looking for.
Use Unique Toll-Free Numbers
Setup a unique toll-free phone number that counts and redirects the calls to your primary number. You should use as many different phone numbers as you can to accurately sort the sources. For example, you could use a certain number in your Adwords campaigns and another one in your Yahoo! campaigns. You could also put a different number on each of your landing pages. If you advertise in online yellow pages/business directories, use a unique phone number for each listing. At the end of every month report and analyze the data.Ask your Clients
Ask clients/customers how they heard of your business either when they call you or when you meet them. If this is unfeasible or impractical, you can perform a survey on a representative sample of your clients. Don’t expect precise answers such as “Google organic search for ...” or “Paid ad on Yahoo!” but if you propose different channels you will get not so bad data.I will conclude by telling you not to judge an online marketing campaign only with what Analytics gives you or by how many contact forms it generates but also to measure the offline response of your audience. Even if it is not exact science, it will give you a good idea of the real ROI. The campaign you presumed to be your worst could be your best simply because you don’t look at the global picture.
Sources
http://searchengineland.com/offline-conversions-how-to-measure-the-real-roi-of-paid-search-in-a-multi-channel-world-37801
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_rate
