Conversion Criteria

Conversion criteria is the precise definition of what counts as a “conversion”: which event, under what conditions on its properties, marks the successful end of a funnel.

Every number a funnel produces depends entirely on this definition, so the conversion criteria must be written explicitly and fixed before any analysis. The common trap is defining the criterion as completing a technical step rather than reaching value; if you define conversion as reaching the thank-you page, a change that pushes users there sooner lifts the number without any real value being added. A loose criterion is dangerous too: a conversion that fires on any plain pageview inflates the rate into meaninglessness. Note also that a product has several conversion criteria at once, and the difference between a micro and a macro conversion must be clear — add-to-cart is a micro conversion and purchase a macro one, and blending them ruins the funnel's story. The conversion criteria should be locked once for the whole team so two reports do not produce two different numbers.