Creating Web Funnels for Your Website

Hey there and welcome back.

So if you have an online store, you probably know how many people complete your entire sales process. You know this by the number of sales that you make on your website.

But do you know how many people start that sales process but just leave the website? Do you know where they are leaving in the process so you can fix that problem?

The good news is that we can figure this out. We do this by using website funnels. These funnels, when set up correctly, can show you how many people enter your funnel, complete the funnel, leave the funnel and where they leave the funnel. And this helps you figure out what you need to do to create more conversions.

So today let’s discuss what funnels are, why you should be using funnels for your online store and how to create basic funnels in Google Analytics.

And before we start, if you want to see new videos on Ecommerce, WordPress, Digital Marketing and other website related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and ring the bell for notifications.

Now let’s get started.

What is a web funnel?

So to understand how funnels work, let’s take a look at an actual funnel. Notice how the top is wider than the bottom. This represents how people start your “conversion” process, but then drop out for whatever reason as they go along. So the people that actually convert into a sale or a client or a subscriber or whatever, is much less than the number of people that enter your funnel.

One fundamental rule with funnels is that for each step of your process, you’re going to lose a pretty good chunk of people who made it to that step. So keep in mind that you want as few steps as possible between the start and finish lines.

There are many different types of conversion funnels. Some of them work for both online and offline processes. So for my business, they manage to come to my website and end up on one of the landing pages for a service I provide. From there, they sign up for more information where they are sent an information packet. After that, they click a link to sign up for a free consultation and then if they are happy, they become a client.

So my funnels usually have about five steps. Yours may have more or less than that.

Why do funnels matter for your website?

Funnels help you figure out where people are leaving your sales process. Are they exiting right after they get to your website? Do they get to the product page or the checkout page before bouncing? Do they sign up for more information but fail to take that next step?

And then from there you can fix whatever part of the process is seeing the biggest drop off. So if we’re having issues with people leaving at the product pages, maybe we need to check to see if the add to cart button is visible and working, or if we need better content and images. And if they aren’t taking that next step after getting more information, maybe we need to work on retargeting.

And those actions should, at least in theory, lead to a rise in conversions, or at least a rise in people taking that next step.

So simply put, using funnels allows you to see where people are exiting your sales process and to help you fix those parts of the process so that they keep moving down the funnel.

Funnels you might already have in Google Analytics

The good news is that if you’ve already hooked up your online store to Google Analytics and have Enhanced Ecommerce running, you already have one funnel in place that you can see right now.

To see that funnel, simply go to Conversions then Ecommerce and then Behavior.

From here, you can figure out how many people are coming to your website, adding products to their cart, abandoning their cart and eventually checking out. And you can even break it down by different metrics or pages you want to see.

Like a lot of things, there are a lot of possibilities here for you to play with. So it’s best to take some dedicated time to mess around with the settings and see what kind of data you can gather. Then from there you can figure out what to focus on and what will drive your website decisions.

How to create a custom funnel in Google Analytics

But creating your own custom funnel in Google Analytics is super simple.

First, in your Google Analytics dashboard, make sure you’re in the correct view you want. Then go to Admin and Goals. Click New Goal.

Select Custom Goal and give your goal a name, a slot and click Destination for the goal type.

Put the final destination URL in the Destination field. This will likely be your purchase confirmation page. Turn the funnel on and then add in the name and URL for each step of the process. Then hit save.

And there you have it. You now have a custom funnel that you can later go back and see where people exit the purchase product. And you can create as many as you want.

Up Next

So today’s question is, well, what questions do you have about website funnels and how to create them in Google Analytics? Have you tried to build one before? What was your experience like and what did you learn from it? Be sure to leave your answers and questions down in the comments section below.

Next week we’ll walk through how you can build an ecommerce website on a budget, take a look at WooCommerce themes you might want to use and discuss showing videos on your website.

To see those videos and other videos on Ecommerce, WordPress, Digital Marketing and other website related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.

But until next time, I wish you and your business the best of luck.