First things first, what do we mean when we say ‘Conversion?’
A conversion takes place when a user completes a desired interaction or goal on your website, such as an e-Commerce sale, Newsletter sign-up, Lead generation form submission, or phone call (Since conversions are based on personal website objectives, they differ from site to site).
Once you have your Google Analytics (GA) account set-up, your first step should be setting up goal tracking within the GA platform. If you are wondering where the Google Goal setting is, please follow the next few steps.
If you know how to navigate the Admin section and create standard goals, Click HERE to skip ahead to Conversion Funnels.
Once you are logged into your Google Account, click on ‘Admin’ at the bottom left of the page.
Once you have opened the ‘Admin’ section of Google Analytics, navigate over to the 3rd column of options labeled ‘View.’ Here you will see the ‘Goals’ option.
After clicking ‘Goals’ you will be brought to this page.
Create conversion funnels
If you have multiple steps in place that a user must take to reach a confirmation / Thank You page, conversion funnels are a great way to visually understand your customer journey through each step in your funnel. They also display where customers dropped off, giving you the perfect opportunity to optimize your conversion paths.
Alright, let’s set up your first conversion funnel!
Once you click on the + New Goal button, you will be given the option to setup your goal using a template or custom. Click custom (template is for Google Ads purposes) and name your Goal. Keep it simple and specific as you will want to easily refer to it for data analysis or presentations.
Make your goal type ‘destination’ as it is the only option that allows the use of funnels.
The next step gives you the ability to define your goal. For the destination, set it to the final step in your conversion path. For example, if it is a ‘Thank You’ page, take the part of your URL after your domain name, which should be something along the lines of /thank-you. For simplicity, and if you do not have a complex URL structure, keep the dropdown menu set to ‘Equals to.’
Your next step is to click the ‘Funnel optional’ switch on.
This will open up the funnel step window. You can add up to 20 steps in your conversion funnel, however, anything more than 5 steps should be reevaluated as that is a lot of page paths a customer needs to take to convert!
This conversion funnel has two steps. The first is to track the number of people who reach the ‘Contact Us’ page, followed by the total amount of people who converted by reaching the ‘Thank You’ page.
There are several limitations to the Google Analytics conversion funnel set up. Since we are working directly through GA settings, funnels can only be URL / pageview based. Meaning that each step in the funnel has to be a page view on your site. Unless you build a virtual page view through Google Tag Manager, you cannot include any event tracking as the desired step (embedded video views, PDF downloads, Phone Calls, external link clicks, etc.). For a detailed breakdown of mapping out event-based conversion funnels, click here.