Funnels
A funnel measures how sessions move through a sequence of steps, and where they drop off. Use it for conversion paths like landing → pricing → sign up or product → cart → checkout → purchase.
How funnels are counted
- Per session. Each session is checked on its own. A session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity, so the steps of a funnel need to happen in the same visit.
- In order. A session reaches a step only when it has completed all earlier steps, in that order. A session that goes to step 3 before step 2 hasn't reached step 3 until it does step 3 again after step 2.
- Other activity is fine. Visitors can view other pages and trigger other events between steps. Repeating a step doesn't break the funnel either.
- Every step is required. There are no optional steps.
- Within the date range. Only activity inside the selected date range counts. If a session started before the range, or carried on past its end, the steps outside the range are not counted.
Funnels work the same way in cookieless and full tracking mode.
Build a funnel
Open Reports → Funnels and click New funnel:
- Add 2 to 8 steps, in order.
- For each step, choose a type:
Type Matches Example Page path A pageview of this path, on any hostname. /pricingFull URL A pageview of this path on this hostname. Use it when several (sub)domains share paths. Enter the hostname and path, without https://or a query string.shop.example.com/checkoutEvent A standard or custom event with this name. sign_up - Click Analyze to see the results for the selected date range.
Matching is exact, with two exceptions:
- A trailing slash is ignored, so
/pricingand/pricing/are the same step. - For full URLs, a leading
www.and the case of the hostname are ignored.
Paths themselves are case-sensitive: /About and /about are different pages.
Saved funnels
Give a funnel a name and click Save funnel to keep it. Saved funnels are shared with everyone on the site and appear in the funnel picker at the top of the page. The page opens on the funnel you looked at last.
- Owners and editors can save, edit, rename and delete funnels.
- Viewers can open saved funnels. They can also build and analyze their own funnels, but can't save them.
- Names are unique per site. A site can have up to 50 saved funnels.
Change the date range at any time and the funnel updates.
Stat cards
| Metric | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Funnel Entry | Sessions that completed the first step. |
| Completions | Sessions that completed every step. |
| Completion Rate | Completions ÷ entries. Called completion rate (not conversion rate) because conversion rate means converting sessions ÷ sessions everywhere else. |
| Biggest Drop-off | The step that loses the largest share of the sessions that reached the step before it. |
Funnel chart and table
The chart shows each step with the number of sessions that reached it. The table below it lists, for every step, the sessions and the drop-off from the previous step, as a number and a percentage.
Tips
- Keep early steps broad and later steps specific to see where intent fades.
- Funnels count within a single session. To follow journeys that span several visits, compare the steps' totals in your other reports instead.
- Events don't have to be registered to be used as a step, but registering them under Custom events lets you mark them as conversions.
Related
- Events & Goals: the events you can use as steps.
- E-commerce: the purchase funnel.
- AI Chat: ask about a saved funnel by name.