

Ask HN: Conversion rates for free software + paid software? - TomGullen

We are currently getting 0.007% of visitors buying our software on our website.  We are also getting ~18% of visitors downloading the free edition.<p>Our sample size is pretty healthy (we are talking in the tens of thousands here not hundreds).<p>For other people who sell software online with a free edition available, would you be able to share your numbers?  To me the gap between 18% and 0.007% seems disproportionally large.  Can anyone tell me if this gap is too large?
======
patio11
18% was reasonable for BCC back when it was downloadable. I got approximately
1.5% of downloads to convert, so that would be about .27% as you are measuring
it. Different markets, different acquisition strategies, and different apps
will have _vastly_ different numbers here. It is also highly sensitive to time
of the year in my market.

If you haven't looked at it before, optimizing a) the installation, b) the
first run experience, and c) the checkout funnel (hint: start that funnel in
the application, ideally roadblocking a customer from something they urgently
want to do) produce big wins for comparatively little investment. For example,
for ~3 hours teaching people how to install software, you can get a big win in
successful installations. (You are likely counting 18% of visitors initiate
downloads but, unless you take efforts otherwise, you have no clue how many
downloads actually result in successful installations or executions of the
product.) Try downloading Skype and steal everything they do.

You can _really_ increase download rates if you send targeted traffic at
landing pages designed to encourage installation. (AdWords converted upwards
of 25% for me, though I eventually "bid that down" by getting less qualified
customers, because it was still profitable.)

~~~
TomGullen
Sorry for delayed reply and thanks for taking the time to write! I read your
BCC blog posts before in the past, it's very cool you take the time to post
thanks!

------
diziet
I can't comment on conversions with both a free version and non free, but I
can comment on just a landing page optimized to sell. With very targeted
traffic coming from a recommendation such as a positive blog or a glowing
youtube review I've seen conversions of up to 20%. Very specifically targeted
traffic without reviews (or what one might be called a pre-sell) can get up to
8% conversion, but that's if your software solves a really specific issue and
you've got great copy hitting the benefits you will offer and a good funnel
urging people to buy. If you're just getting people who are only vaguely
related to the problem you're trying to solve, you will not even see 1%
conversion.

This of course depends a lot on the price point, target audience, and most
importantly source of traffic. If you're getting very targeted traffic and
you've got a great landing page emphasizing the benefits, you will see better
conversions if you're not hitting those points.

------
mzbridget
I agree with landing page optimization but a few more questions to consider:
What are you doing to up-sell post-signup? Are you holding webinars, doing
newsletter campaigns? The sign up process should also be so simple. The
problem I see so often is trying to get too much info about the customer
upfront. Are you sending emails to free users incentivizing them to upgrade?
Are you giving away too much in the free version that there is no incentive to
upgrade? Understand how your customers are using the free version and let them
know how much more they can do in the paid. I agree that less than 1%
converting to paid compared to the 18% is too large.

------
TomGullen
Stupid error (posting at 5am lol) it's 0.7% not 0.007%.

