Blended averages

You can’t just average the averages.

Channel A converts at 2%, channel B at 6%. Is your overall rate 4%? Only if they send the same traffic. This is behind a lot of misleading "average" numbers in reports.

The move

Go back to counts. Turn each rate into actual conversions (visitors × rate), add them up, then divide by total visitors. Bigger channels pull the blend toward their rate.

Worked example

Ads: 1,000 visitors at 2%. Organic: 4,000 at 5%

  1. Ads: 1,000 × 2% = 20 conversions
  2. Organic: 4,000 × 5% = 200
  3. Total: 220 ÷ 5,000 = 4.4%
  • A simple average of 2% and 5% (3.5%) would be wrong here. Organic has 4× the traffic.
  • Watch for this when someone averages per-campaign CPAs or per-rep win rates.