Hi,
I was wandering what you guys would say a good conversion rate in the hosting industry is:

Visitor -> domain buyer
Visitor -> virtual hosting buyer
Visitor -> ded server buyer

How many sales pr 1000 visitors?
Yes i know that it depends on sites/prices/products/target group etc

But for sites like 1and1.com, uk2.net, 123reg.co.uk
and other biggies, what would their conversion rate be?

thanks

Targeted I do about 1:50 to 1:100, untargeted can be as bad as 1:3000. If the clicks are $.01 though, 1:3000 converts to $30/sale which isn't bad.

Leif

It would be interesting to know what the average conversion rate is in the hosting industry. I have always thought that 1 to 2% was a general benchmark for ecommerce. Again, every industry will be different.

Surprisingly, the following stats are much higher than I would have expected. These stats are from a recent Neilsen/NetRatings survey.


The top ten online retailers based on conversion rate were as follows:

16.3% QVC
14.8% Lands' End
13.5% Sportsmansguide.com
13.4% FTD.com
13.4% llbean.com
12.8% Amazon
12.7% Coldwater Creek
12.3% eBay
12.1% Yahoo! Shopping
11.8% proflowers.com

Vito

16.3% QVC
14.8% Lands' End
13.5% Sportsmansguide.com
13.4% FTD.com
13.4% llbean.com
12.8% Amazon
12.7% Coldwater Creek
12.3% eBay
12.1% Yahoo! Shopping
11.8% proflowers.com


interesting numbers - but hosting/domains, being commodities, are not at the same leve, right?

interesting numbers - but hosting/domains, being commodities, are not at the same leve, right?
You're absolutely right. I just thought these were interesting stats as related to conversion rates in general.

Vito

You're absolutely right. I just thought these were interesting stats as related to conversion rates in general.

Vito
true - and quite surprising too

I'm actually surprised that I am unable to find any conversion rate info for the hosting industry. I even checked over at webhosting.info but no luck.

Anecdotally, I have a local web design client who sells water filters. He does some pretty keyword-specific adword marketing and as a result, has a very healthy 10% conversion rate. Very nice.

I'm glad to see you starting a thread about conversion rate. It's not discussed nearly as often as it deserves. It's overlooked by many. But if you are able to tweak it up just a bit, it will have substantial improvement to your bottom line. For instance, imagine bringing your conversion rate from 1 up to 2%. You have instantly doubled your site's sales. :eek:

Vito

so 1-2% is more or less the standard?

I've always heard/read that, but I certainly couldn't quote any specific authoritative source. Besides, as you said, every industry is different.

Vito

Targeted traffic is about 7-9% for me. I don't use/track untargeted traffic sources so I couldn't say. However, we mostly target the local market and I would assume our numbers would be much lower if I were to target the masses.

I can't comment on conversion % for the industry but I would guesstimate when I did hosting I did about 5.5% on targetted and 1% on untargetted. But the best thing is not to compare youself to the "industry" but keep a close measure on your own and then work to improve it.

With landing pages, better designed sites, and niche focuses or niche hosting plans for the host your conversions can be a lot lot higher. So if you measure and have a 1% conversion one month start messing with variables, for your ad campaigns focus on landing sites specific to where those ads are running or what those people are looking for. If someone lands on your page and is instantly presented with something focused to them conversions can jump way high.

Ive asked around - and people say that they have a higher conversion for domains than for hosting. Is that also the case for you guys?

When I tried some untargeted traffic it was practically 0% on conversions for hosting

It's not surprising at all that those listed companies have the conversion rates they do. People don't go to QVC.com to read news, they go there to buy ****. Same with Amazon, etc.

It's also not surprising that web hosting companies don't publicize their numbers, seeing as whoever showed up as the leader would just be trampled to death by everyone else in the industry rushing to do exactly what they do. This is a business of followers, after all.

I wouldn't expect to gain much useful information from the numbers for big, established hosts anyway. Their conversion is going to be better than yours, because, well, they are big, established hosts. You'd be better off comparing your conversion rate from different traffic sources.

It would be interesting to know what the average conversion rate is in the hosting industry. I have always thought that 1 to 2% was a general benchmark for ecommerce. Again, every industry will be different.

Surprisingly, the following stats are much higher than I would have expected. These stats are from a recent Neilsen/NetRatings survey.


The top ten online retailers based on conversion rate were as follows:

16.3% QVC
14.8% Lands' End
13.5% Sportsmansguide.com
13.4% FTD.com
13.4% llbean.com
12.8% Amazon
12.7% Coldwater Creek
12.3% eBay
12.1% Yahoo! Shopping
11.8% proflowers.com

Vito

Wow...those are some high CR's. I always thought 1-2% was industry average.