The conversion chain
How many clicks make a customer?
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Digital Signet. Updated July 2026.
At the 2026 cross-industry search conversion rate of 8.18% LocaliQ, 2026 data, one enquiry costs about 12 clicks. Customers cost more, because not every enquiry closes. This page is the documentation for the calculator's enquiries estimate.
clicks x CVR = enquiries · enquiries x close rate = customers
CVR (conversion rate) is the share of clicks that become an enquiry. Close rate is the share of enquiries you win. Both are yours to measure; benchmarks only start you off.
The hero maths, documented
The homepage ticket, itemised
The tool quotes 5-10% as its default band. That band brackets the measured 2026 average of 8.18% LocaliQ, 2026 data, rounded to numbers a back-of-envelope can hold. Industry CVRs vary widely: the same dataset has finance converting at 2.64% and education at 13.14%, which is why the calculator pre-fills your industry's own rate.
From enquiry to customer
Add your close rate. A plumber winning one job in three from enquiries turns 17 enquiries into 5 or 6 jobs; a solicitor converting one consult in four books fewer. The full chain, budget to clicks to enquiries to jobs to cost per job, is worked with real benchmark medians in the plumber scenario.
Cost per customer is CPC divided by CVR, divided by close rate. The first division is CPC vs CPA; the ceiling it implies is break-even CPC.