A funnel is the series of pages a user must go through in order to reach the goal conversion. The goal in most cases is the sale confirmation page. A goal funnel created in Google Analytics allows the user to create something like a tree structure view of the process and determine when and where users are leaving the site.
If you think of the site like a tree, the goal page is represented by the trunk of the tree, the pages that lead to this page are the branches and those leading to these pages are the twigs. Potential clients are like drops of rain falling on the twigs. They are liable to fall off at any time between the twig and the trunk. Those that do make the trunk have reached the goal and have therefore made a purchase. Goal funnels allow the analytics user to determine where the raindrops are falling off.
In a website there is always a chain of pages leading to the end result which is usually a sale confirmation page. Users must go through items pages, shopping basket, checkout, terms and conditions and payment confirmation before they reach the end result. It goes without saying that many potential sales drop out along the way. A goal funnel allows the sites administrator to determine the weak link in the chain of pages where most people drop out and amend it appropriately.
It is an extremely useful tool as it allows the sites optimiser to determine exactly where the major problem is on the site. If for example users are working their way through the purchasing process and the vast majority of dropouts are leaving on the sites payment details page, then there are most likely issues with this page in particular. As a result the optimiser can look into what it is about this specific page that is causing the issues. This could prompt changes to the page such as altering the way the form is laid out or perhaps make changes to the wording. Whatever changes are made the intention is always to increase the traffic making it all the way down to the goal conversion.
A very useful tool to use in conjunction with this is Website Optimiser (also from Google). It allows you to test variants of one page against each other in order to determine what version is more popular. It does this by alternating the pages between users and returning the number of conversions versus the number of visitors. This allows the site to be in a constant state of tweaking in order to reach an optimum state of form and function.
Setting up a goal funnel is a simple process. It involves accessing your analytics account and finding the client or site you wish to setup the funnel for and selecting to edit their account. Due to recent changes made by Analytics, up to 20 conversion goals can be set for each profile. Goals can be applied by opting to edit ‘registered user sales’ or ‘new user sales’ dependent on the goal you wish to create. The goal funnel can then be tailored by name, position and type. By setting the type to URL destination you will receive feedback on what numbers are reaching the ultimate page and where they are leaving. Goals can also be set based on time on site and pages visited. The Goal URL should then be set to the goal page (e.g. ‘confirmed.php’). The funnel is finally created by inputting the steps (or pages) leading down to the goal.
This will provide invaluable insight into the sites traffic and the site can be improved dramatically based on the results returned. Goal funnels are an extremely useful tool as they take away the need for guess work in optimising a sites design.
