Why it matters
Every trial starts as a visit. If too few visitors start trials, nothing later in the funnel has anything to work on, so this is the first rate in the chain that ends in revenue.
The rate also tells you where to look. A low blended figure can hide one strong channel and one weak one, and a high rate on a page that gets almost no traffic says little about the business. Read it beside the visitor count and read it per channel, so a change in the mix of traffic is not mistaken for a change in how well the page persuades.
The formula
In words: trial sign-ups divided by the distinct people who visited, with both counted over one shared period, then multiplied by 100 to show a percentage.
In symbols:
visitor_to_trial_rate = trial_signups / distinct_visitors x 100- Count people, not page views. A person who visits five times is one visitor.
- Pick one period, such as a week or a month, and use it for both numbers.
- Decide what a sign-up is (an account created, or a card entered) and keep that definition fixed.
A worked example
Example numbers (made up for illustration): three channels sent distinct visitors to the trial page over one month, and some of those people started a trial.
| Channel | Distinct visitors | Trial sign-ups | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | 6,000 | 240 | 4.0% |
| 2,000 | 100 | 5.0% | |
| Paid ads | 4,000 | 80 | 2.0% |
| All channels | 12,000 | 420 | 3.5% |
Across all channels, 420 sign-ups from 12,000 distinct visitors is a rate of 3.5%. The blended rate sits between the best channel and the weakest one, and it moves whenever the mix of traffic moves.
How to improve it
The changes that tend to help are the ones that remove doubt before the sign-up step.
- State what the trial includes, how long it lasts and what happens when it ends, above the sign-up button.
- Show the price on the page that offers the trial, so a visitor is never surprised later.
- Cut the sign-up form down to the fields you need to start the trial.
- Send each channel to a page that matches the promise that brought the visitor there.
- Change one thing at a time and keep the period equal, so you can tell which change moved the rate.
Common mistakes
- Counting page views or sessions as visitors, which inflates the denominator and drags the rate down.
- Dividing this month’s sign-ups by last month’s visitors, so the two counts describe different people.
- Comparing channels by rate alone without checking how many visitors each one sent.
- Counting sign-ups from existing customers who start another trial, or from your own team.
Work it out with your own numbers
The trial conversion rate calculator begins with the visitor to trial rate. Open the trial conversion rate calculator and enter your own figures. It runs in your browser and shows each step of the sum.
Read next
- Trial to paid conversion rate: the next step, from a started trial to a paying customer.
- Freemium conversion rate: the matching measure when the entry point is a free plan.
- Customer acquisition cost: what each new paying customer costs you to win.
Questions
What counts as a trial sign-up?
A person who completes the step that starts a trial, whether that means creating an account or entering a card. Choose one definition and keep it fixed so the rate stays comparable over time.
Should I count visitors or sessions?
Count distinct visitors. Sessions count the same person again each time they return, which makes the rate look worse than it is.
Is a higher rate always better?
Not on its own. A form that lets anyone start a trial can lift this rate while lowering the share of trials that become paying customers, so read it next to the trial to paid conversion rate.
How long a period should I use?
One long enough to hold a steady number of visitors, usually a week or a month, with the same period used for both counts.