Google Analytics Conversion Funnel Overview:
What we’ll be doing here is tracking Google Analytics cart abandonment rates and where your visitors are dropping off. What actually causes a cart abandonment or customer dropoff? This could be related to the phone ringing, alternative option arrises, saving the product for a later date..and a million more reasons. The important part is seeing where they drop off so that we can better enhance the pages with the higher drop off points. Feel free to reach out with Google Analytics questions should you need help implementing.
Here’s how to set up and track cart abandonment and rates in a few easy steps.
Step 1. Navigate To Admin Section of Google Analytics
Once you’re signed in to Google Analytics (if you’re looking for the link, feel free to click the button below which will automatically bring you to the sign in page), navigate to the admin section. It’s in the bottom left hand corner of your dashboard (denoted by a gear icon).
Ensure Proper Account Setup
One thing to note before you proceed is to make sure you are in the correct Google Analytics account. You can check this by looking at the top left hand corner of your Google Analytics screen and make sure you see the proper name of the account (if you have multiple accounts, make sure you are in the proper ‘view’).
Step 2. Click On 'Goals'
After you’ve clicked on the admin section (bottom left gear icon in the main dashboard), click on goals. I’ve highlighted it here in the attached screenshot for reference.
Step 3. Add a New Google Analytics Goal
After you click on ‘goals’ you’ll see a new screen with potentially nothing on it (if you’ve never set up a goal before). Click on the orange-colored new goal button.
Step 4. Add New Custom Goal
The new screen you’ll see will now walk you through the type of Google Analytics goal that you’ll be adding. Click on ‘custom’ from the list. Then, click continue.
Step 5. Name Your Goal & Choose Destination
Next, name your goal something that you will remember and will know the origin at a later date. Then, choose ‘destination’ from the list of options (screenshot below). Then click continue.
Step 6. Enter Destination URL & Choose Funnel
In the example below (screenshot), I’ve created a final destination of the /checkout page, your site’s url may differ. However, if you’ve set up Google Analytics properly you will not need to enter the full URL (i.e. www.yoursite.com/checkout) – in fact, Google Analytics only wants the end portion of your URL, whatever comes after the ‘forward slash,’ in this case ‘/checkout’
Step 7. Enter Previous Funnel Steps & Configure
Now that you’ve got your ‘funnel’ option turned on, y0u’ll see a new field appear. You can add or remove steps as you configure.
What these are, are the precursors to your final destination that you entered in step 6 here. The final destination is /checkout, which will register as one full ‘goal’ after we finalize in a second. In the example below, the precursor page, required for checkout that a user passes through before paying on the /checkout page, is the /order page.
You can name the step whatever you’d like but the url should match the format of the previous destination url (only what comes after the forward-slash and not the entire URL). I would recommend setting the required field to ‘yes’ as this is going to help get a better quality of data for this particular funnel.
Important note: If you do click ‘required,’ it’s important to note that the customer will only be marked as a ‘goal complete’ if they go through the step that you’ve inserted in this section (in this case the URL: /order). If there are multiple ways to get to the final /checkout page, consider leaving required off.
Save your goal and you’re good to go!
Check Conversion Rates & Drop-offs
Now that you’ve set up a goal, check the ‘conversion’ tab of your Google Analytics account to check overall ratios and conversion stats.
