When you hear web and marketing types mention "conversions" or "converting" website visitors, they’re talking about getting the people on your site to do what you want them to do. If you run an ecommerce store, you're trying to get visitors to buy something from you. And if you succeed in doing this, a conversion has just happened.
But a conversion doesn’t have to be about a purchase. Other common types of conversions include getting a visitor to sign up to your email newsletter, to subscribe to your RSS feed, or to click on a particular link.
No matter what kind of conversion you're interested in, they're critical to online success. That’s why it’s so important that the text on your site is written to maximize your conversion rate.