# Conversion goals - Docs

A conversion goal is a key event or action you want users to do. It can be seen as the main focus your website is driving towards. These are known as **conversion actions** in Google Ads and **key events** in GA4. Examples include:

-   Signup
-   Book a demo
-   Subscribe
-   Download
-   Form submission

**Tip:** For signups, don't rely on autocapture – explicitly track a `user_signed_up` event. This ensures reliable conversion tracking even when your UI changes. See our guide on [capturing custom events](/docs/getting-started/send-events.md#2-capture-custom-events) for details.

In web analytics, these are higher-level goals that work well in the overview. To dive deeper, visualize multiple steps, and use breakdowns, you can use [funnels](/docs/product-analytics/funnels.md).

## How to set up a conversion goal

To set up a conversion goal, first, you need to either capture a custom event or create an action for your goal.

-   For help capturing a custom event, see our guide on [capturing custom events](/docs/getting-started/send-events.md#2-capture-custom-events).
-   For help creating an action, see our guide on [creating an action from autocapture events](/docs/getting-started/actions-and-insights.md).

Once created, head to the [web analytics dashboard](https://us.posthog.com/web) and click on **Add conversion goal** next to filters. Search and select your custom event or action. This adds conversion metrics to your dashboard.

![Web analytics dashboard](https://res.cloudinary.com/dmukukwp6/image/upload/Clean_Shot_2024_11_04_at_12_29_08_3bba14e7e9.png)![Web analytics dashboard](https://res.cloudinary.com/dmukukwp6/image/upload/Clean_Shot_2024_11_04_at_12_28_25_689e6c893d.png)

> **Note:** There is also a **goals** section at the bottom of the dashboard that contains recent and popular actions that can potentially be used as conversion goals.

## Conversion goal metrics

Adding a conversion goal adds the following metrics to the [web analytics dashboard](/docs/web-analytics/dashboard.md):

-   **Total conversions:** Total count of the conversion goal event or action.
-   **Unique conversions:** Total count of unique persons who did the conversion goal.
-   **Conversion rate:** The percentage of visitors who do the conversion goal.

Each of these also can be visualized on the graph below.

![Web analytics dashboard](https://res.cloudinary.com/dmukukwp6/image/upload/Clean_Shot_2024_11_04_at_14_31_16_2x_dc796cf835.png)![Web analytics dashboard](https://res.cloudinary.com/dmukukwp6/image/upload/Clean_Shot_2024_11_04_at_14_31_36_2x_3984f9ed5f.png)

## How to improve your conversion

Once you set up your conversion goal, what else is there to do other than improve it? Here are some recommendations:

-   Add filters to your web analytics dashboard to get conversion for sections of your site, demographics, marketing channels, and more.
-   Watch [session replays](/docs/session-replay.md) that include your conversion goal to identify friction, confusion, and other issues.
-   Set up a destination to send conversions to ad platforms like [Google Ads](/docs/cdp/destinations/google-ads.md) to optimize your ad spend.
-   Run [A/B tests](/docs/experiments.md) related to the conversion goal such as changing the copy, checkout flow, or subscription form.

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