Guide
Read a customer journey funnel
How to see where potential customers drop off, and fix the biggest leak first.
Draw the funnel as 4 steps
1) Visit site, 2) view product/service page, 3) start checkout/form, 4) complete purchase/form. On paper first, before touching any tool.
In GA4, build a Funnel exploration
Explore, Blank, add a Funnel exploration. Add each step as an event (page_view with URL filters, or your named events). GA4 shows drop-off % between each step.
Identify the biggest single leak
Look at drop-off % per step. If 'visit, product view' loses 80%, your homepage isn't sending people to products. If 'checkout start, complete' loses 60%, your checkout is broken or scary.
Fix the biggest leak first
Never spread fixes across 4 steps at once. The step with the biggest drop-off is worth more than the other three combined. Iterate one step per month.
Compare mobile vs desktop
Filter the funnel by device. Mobile drop-off is usually 2 to 3x higher than desktop. Almost always the mobile experience is the real bottleneck.
Re-measure after 30 days of the fix
Fixed the biggest leak? Wait 30 days. Compare funnel drop-offs vs. baseline. Then attack the new biggest leak.
Never obsess over 'perfect'
Funnels always leak. Healthy e-commerce funnels lose 90 to 98% of visitors from step 1 to purchase. Focus on making the biggest leak smaller, not on plugging every hole.
That’s the whole thing.
Keep going
What to read next
- 01
Analytics & Metrics
Set up Google Analytics 4 correctly
GA4 is confusing on purpose. Here's a straightforward setup for a small business.
- 02
Analytics & Metrics
The 5 numbers every small business should track weekly
Ignore 50+ dashboards. These 5 tell you if the business is healthy.
- 03
Analytics & Metrics
Set up UTM parameters (so you know what actually works)
5 tiny URL tags that reveal which specific email, post, or ad brought each customer.