Conversion Funnels

ClickTale Conversion Funnel

The ClickTale Conversion Funnel is a tool that provides an easy to use interface to explore the paths visitors follow within a site.

What is a conversion funnel?

A conversion funnel is a designated path of steps visitors follow on a website that leads towards conversion. A conversion funnel is usually monitored in order to understand and optimize the way in which visitors use and engage with a site. This knowledge can then be used to improve website usability and increase conversion.

In general, conversion is defined as the achievement of a specific website/business objective by a user. For example, a conversion for an e-commerce site is the sale of a product. A conversion for a service-oriented site is the registration of a visitor for its service.

Conversion Funnel - Default View

When a ClickTale user first views the Conversion Funnel page, it displays a default funnel that the system calculates. The default funnel is based on the following settings:
Start at 1st step
Strict Funnel
Step 1 – the most viewed page on the website in the last 30 days
Step 2 – the page that most visitors from Step 1 viewed immediately after viewing Step 1.
Step 3 – the page that most visitors from Step 2 viewed immediately after viewing Step 2.

How to Edit/Modify the Funnel

Different components of the ClickTale conversion funnel can be edited and modified to meet your own criteria.

Changing the content of a step – Click on the Edit button of a specific step. The Edit button appears upon hovering over the step.
* Edit step name – Give each step a name that will help you quickly remember the function and content of the page, ex. Homepage, Pricing page. This will make it easier for you to review the funnel at a later date and understand exactly what you see.
* Change the URL of a step – You can define a step by a specific URL, or by grouping several URLs according to their beginning (start with), end (ends with), or words they contain (containing). Once you change the content of a step, the funnel will automatically recalculate.

Note: When you change the content of the first step, you are given the option to completely regenerate the funnel. This will not be done automatically – if you wish to regenerate the funnel you must check off the box.
Regenerating the funnel means that the entire funnel calculation will be done using the system default settings. The next steps of the funnel will be calculated based on the most viewed page visitors went to immediately after each step (see default view). The consequent steps following the first step may change once the funnel is regenerated.
If you leave the box un-checked, the funnel will not be regenerated. Instead, only the number of visitors moving between the pre-defined steps will be recalculated. This means that the next steps of the funnel remain the same.

Funnel Settings

Start at 1st step/Start at any step

Start at 1st step

Only visitors who joined the funnel at the defined 1st step will be included in the funnel calculation. This means visitors who joined the funnel at other steps will not be included in the funnel calculation.
The funnel display includes only one Entry Pages table that details the pages from which visitors entered the funnel. The other steps of the funnels do not include an Entry Pages table, because the funnel does not include visitors who entered the funnel from those steps.
Benefits – When using the Start at 1st step setting, you benefit from a clean and clear view of the behavior of your visitors on your site. It is a good way to evaluate how well the site is planned and designed to achieve its goals.
Note: Using the Start at 1st step settings, you may be missing visitors who entered the funnel from unexpected places on your site.
If you set the funnel setting to Start at 1st step, you may notice a differentiation between the number of converted visitors in the funnel compared to your billing system data or other metrics you use. The reason for this is probably because visitors may not follow the exact conversion funnel defined, and therefore did not enter the funnel through the first step. These users would then not be included in the funnel calculation.

Start at any step

Visitors who joined the funnel at ANY STEP will be included in the funnel calculation. This means that visitors who entered the funnel at Step 2, Step 3, or any other step, are included in the funnel calculation.
Because visitors can enter the funnel at any stage, there is an Entry Pages table which lists the data of visitors who entered the funnel at each specific step.

Strict/Flexible Funnel

This setting allows you to define how strict or how flexible the system should be when choosing visitors to be included in a funnel calculation.

Strict Funnel

Visitors must go through the defined steps of the funnel in immediate sequence with no intermittent steps.
Choosing Strict Funnel means that only visitors who went through the defined steps of the funnel one after the other in immediate sequence, will be included in the funnel. The system checks whether the previous page seen by a visitor to a certain step, is the previous step in the funnel. If the previous page is not the previous step of the funnel, the user did not view the funnel steps in immediate sequence and will therefore not be included in the funnel.

Flexible Funnel

Visitors can view non-funnel designated pages while navigating through defined funnel steps.
Choosing a Flexible Funnel means that once visitors entered the funnel, they could have visited pages that are not defined as part of the funnel, or even left the site and came back to the next step of the funnel. The system only checks the defined order of the steps was completed. As long as the visitors went according to this order, i.e. Step 2 was always completed after Step 1, Step 3 always completed after Step 2, etc., they will be included in the funnel calculations.

Date range

This setting defines the date range for visits that will be included in the funnel calculation. Only visitors who visited the steps of the funnel within the required date range will be included in the funnel calculation.
What if a visitor went through the entire funnel more than once during the required time period?
A visitor is only included in a funnel once. If a visitor went through the funnel more than once in the required time period, the first time the user completed the funnel, i.e. the earliest, will be the one calculated in the funnel.

Basic Filters

Filtering the Conversion Funnel is a great way to get a better understanding of how different groups of visitors behave on your site. It is very likely that not all visitors to your site behave in the same way. Not all visitors are looking for the same things, and not all visitors react in the same way when presented with a web page. It is important to be able to understand the different groups of visitors that come to your site, so that you will be able to cater for their different needs, and maximize their use of the site. The ClickTale system offers a range of different filters providing you tools to better understand your visitors. Filters are offered across the ClickTale system, and operate in the same way, allowing you to compare the different group of visitors using Conversion Funnels, Recordings, Heatmaps and Form Analytics (Note: in Heatmaps and Form Analytics the usage of Filters is limited by the ClickTale Plan that you are registered to).

New/Returning

The New/Returning filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that includes visitors based on whether the visitors are new to to your site - the first time they visited the site was in the defined date range, or are returning to the site - they visited the site before the defined date range, and within the defined date range (i.e. the visit in the defined date range is not their first visit). Note that this filter is based on a visit to the entire site, not necessarily to pages included in the Conversion Funnels. It is important to consider that the data presented in this filter is based on the recordings available in the ClickTale system, and is limited to that data only. Therefore if a visitor visited the site much earlier in time, when there were no ClickTale recordings made, that visit will not be counted.

Referrers

The Referrers filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that includes visitors who were referred to your site by a specific referrer. You can choose multiple Referrers and the Conversion Funnel will be based on ALL the visitors who were referred to your site by ANY of the referrers specified. The ClickTale system counts as Referrer the site that led visitors to your site, on their first visit to your site.

Visited Pages

The Visited Pages filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that includes only visitors who visited a specific set of pages on your site, in the defined date range. You can choose multiple pages and the Conversion Funnel will be based on visitors that visited ALL the pages you specify, in the defined date range.

Page Count

The Page Count filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that is based on visitors who visited a specific number of pages on your site (or a range of number of pages), within the specified date range. You can choose a specific page count, or a range of numbers (e.g. visitors who viewed between 3 - 5 pages), and the Conversion Funnel will be based on ALL the visitors who viewed a number of pages included in your selection, in the date range. Note that visitors may have viewed more pages outside of the specified date range.

Countries

The Countries filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that is based on visitors who came from a specific country or a group of countries. You can choose a specific country, or a group of countries. The Conversion Funnel will be based on ALL visitors who came from ANY of the countries you choose.

Browsers

The Browsers filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that is based on visitors who used a specific browser to view your site. You can choose a specific browser, or a group of browsers. The Conversion Funnel will be based on ALL visitors who used ANY of the browsers you choose.

Visitor Events

The Visitor Events filter allows you to view a Conversion Funnel that is based on visitors whose recordings include a specific Visitor Event, or a group of Visitor Events. Visitor Events are events that are registered in the ClickTale system once a visitor to your site behaves in a certain way, based on a pre-defined Event tag that you set up in your code. Events can be set up for any type of behavior, e.g. visiting a specific page, clicking a specific button, searching for a specific word, etc. Using Visitor Events as filters, you can view a Conversion Funnel that is based on the specific group of visitors who encountered the event while on your site in the defined date range. Note: you can choose multiple events, and for each event you can choose if to Include or Exclude visitors who encountered it.

Traffic Source Filters

Traffic Source refers to the pages that led visitors to your site. Visitors can arrive at your site from a variety of different sources:
Direct– Visitors type the site URL directly into their browser taskbar.
PPC/SEM - Visitors click on an advertisement linked to the site.
SEO/Keyword Search – Visitors search for a specific site or keyword in a search engine and arrive to the site through the search results.
And many more varied traffic sources. Analyzing and learning about the different traffic sources of your own visitors can give you valuable knowledge about your site performance and usability.
The Traffic Source filters are captured through information that exists in the referrer URL, the destination URL, and also take into account the date of the visit.
A visitor may have multiple entries to a site (for example in various sessions). The entry that will be captured is the first entry to your site within the defined date range.

Traffic Source

The Traffic Source filter provides a list of domains from which the visitor arrived to the site. Most often, the Traffic Source is the domain of the Referrer site, listed with the country extension but without www.
If there is no indication of a Referral URL – the Traffic Source is ‘Direct’.
If the page URL includes a specified Source (using parameters such as UTM_Source) the Traffic Source will be extracted from the URL.
Internal traffic - Internal traffic is defined in the ClickTale system when the referrer URL includes the exact same main domain as the following pageview. Internal referrers are included in the Traffic Source filter, but are not considered in the Marketing Channel filter.
Direct entry - Direct entry to your site, where there is no information of a referring site, is considered a referrer that is outside the recorded domain, and will be calculated as a Traffic Source.

Marketing Channel

The Marketing Channel filter provides a grouping of the Traffic Sources based on the marketing channel the traffic came from. This is an important filter when trying to establish the nature of the traffic delivered to the site by the various marketing channels used.
The parameters of the Marketing Channel filter as defined in the ClickTale system are:
Organic Search - Traffic coming from one of the predefined Search Engines, that is not considered ‘paid traffic’. The predefined search engines include: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Baidu, and AOL.
Paid Search - Traffic coming from a Google search engine including “paid search” parameters (e.g. GCLid or ACLK).
Unknown - Traffic that includes invalid information in the Referrer site URL. This can happen when a user purposefully blocks their referrer data, or sometimes when sites do not use standard URL conventions.
None - Traffic that does not include any Referrer site information, or any parameter indicating the referrer site in the URL itself. This usually indicates direct traffic to the site.
Referral - Traffic that includes Referrer information, but does not qualify as one of the other sources as defined above (Organic Search, Paid Search or Internal). Note: If the page URL includes a specified Medium (using parameters such as UTM_Medium), the Marketing Channel will be extracted from the URL.

Search Keywords

The Search Keywords filter provides a list of the Keywords used in searches that led visitors to your site.
If the Referrer URL includes one of the main search engines defined in the ClickTale system (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Baidu, AOL), the search keyword/s used are extracted from the referrer URL.
If the page URL includes a specified search keyword (using parameters such as UTM_Term), the Keywords will be extracted from the URL. All Search keywords are listed together in this filter, whether they were included in a Paid Search or an Organic Search. To limit the search to Keywords used in only one type of search, combine the Search Keywords filter with the Marketing Channel filter.

How to use Traffic Source Filters and Segmentation

Analyzing and learning about the different traffic sources of your own visitors can give you valuable knowledge about your site performance and usability.
You may want to ask yourself:
Do visitors who come from different Traffic Sources behave in the same way on your site?
Do visitors who come from different Traffic Sources search for different things on your site?
Is there one particular Traffic Source that leads to more conversions?
The ClickTale system captures the traffic source of each visitor to your site, and categorize it into predefined categories. These categories can then be used for filtering and segmentation.

Segmented View

Segmented View allows you to choose a specific filter, and compare in one view groups that are based on different values of the filter. The segmented view is a powerful tool, allowing you to quickly and easily compare different groups of visitors to your site.

How to define a Segmented View Funnel

To use the Segmented View option, follow the steps below:
1. Set up the Conversion Funnel you are interested in, using the various Editing and Settings options. Add as many steps as you need, and click Apply.
2. Click on the Segmented View bar on top of the Conversion Funnel.
3. Choose the Filter you want to segment the funnel by. For example: Click on Countries, if you want to segment the funnel by visitors who came from different countries.
4. In the dialog window that opens choose the first Country you want to segment by, and click 'Next Segment'. The window will change to the Segment 2 window. Choose the 2nd Country and click 'Next Segment'. The window will change to the Segment 3 window. Choose the 3rd country, and click 'Apply and Close'.
5. Click Update Funnel on the Funnel page.
Note: you can only choose one filter to segment by, and for this filter you can define up to three segments.

Entry and Exit Pages

Entry Pages

The Entry Pages table(s) lists which pages visitors viewed before they entered the funnel for each specific step.
The first line in every entry page is Direct. This denotes the number of visitors who landed directly on the specific step page with no data regarding a previous page. This usually means that they landed on the funnel step by typing in the URL (or going directly from a saved bookmark).
Below the Direct line are detailed the three most common pages people visited before they entered the funnel step. Each page listed in the table specifies both the number of visitors who viewed the page, as well as the percentage of these visitors who entered the funnel at Entry Pages tables are only displayed when visitors are allowed to enter the funnel through the specific step. If the funnel displayed is set to Start at 1st step, this means visitors can only enter the funnel through Step 1. Therefore only the first step will include an Entry Pages table. Visitors cannot enter the funnel through any of the other steps, therefore an Entry Pages table will not be displayed for any of those steps.

Why is there no Entry Pages table for the second and third step of the funnel?
Entry Pages tables are only displayed when visitors are allowed to enter the funnel through the specific step. If the funnel displayed is set to Start at 1st step, this means visitors can only enter the funnel through Step 1. Therefore only the first step will include an Entry Pages table.
Visitors cannot enter the funnel through any of the other steps, therefore an Entry Pages table will not be displayed for any of those steps.

Exit Pages

The Exit Pages table(s) lists which pages visitors viewed after they left the funnel.
The first line in every entry page of each funnel is “Left Site” – this means the number of visitors who did not continue from that funnel step on to another page on the site, rather left the site altogether. The system does not know where these users went. They could have closed their browsers or have gone to a page outside the site altogether.
Listed below the Left site line are the three most common pages people visited once they left the funnel from this step. Each page listed in the table specifies both the number of visitors who viewed the page, as well as the percentage of these visitors who left the funnel at this step.

Funnel Calculation

General Funnel Calculation Rules

The funnel calculation is based on the 3 General Rules described below, in conjunction with the settings of the funnel controlled on the funnel page – Start at 1st step/Start at any step and Strict/Flexible Funnel.
1. Every visitor is counted only once in the funnel.
Even if a visitor went through the funnel more than once in the time period defined, he/she will only be counted once in the funnel calculation.

2. A path includes only steps followed in consecutive order.
A path cannot be calculated when a step is missing, ex.1,2,4. All steps must be visited.
A visitor will not be considered to have gone through the funnel if the order of steps is not followed in the defined direction. For example, Step 3 can only ever appear in a funnel after Step 2, or it can appear as a Step 1 if the settings denote Start at any step.

3. The path is selected based on: conversion, path length, and time.
The visitor path is calculated based on the following set of priorities:
First, the path that led to a conversion.
If no path led to a conversion, the path calculated is the longest path taken by the user in the set time period.
If there are a few funnels of the same length, the path selected is the earliest path followed by the user.

Below are examples of how the funnel calculation is performed for each of the four possible settings. For the purpose of this example, let’s assume we set up a funnel of four steps (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4), where Step 4 is the final step which equals conversion.

Calculation Example 1

Settings:
Start at 1st step
Strict Funnel
4 Step funnel

Visitor 1
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,4, 2,4,1

Explanation: The settings denote Start at 1st step, therefore only a visitor who started the path at Step 1 can be included in the funnel calculation.
The longest path that starts at Step 1 is the first path 1,2,3,4.

Why isn’t the second time the visitor visited Step 4 calculated as another conversion?
See Rule #1 – every visitor is counted only once in a funnel

Visitor 2
Steps sequence: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3
Sequence included in the funnel: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3

Explanation: The settings denote Start at 1st step, therefore only a path that begins with Step 1 can be included in the funnel calculation. The longest path that begins with Step 1 is the portion of the sequence selected to be included in the funnel.
Although this user visited Step 4 twice, i.e. converted twice, Step 4 was not is included in the funnel calculation. This is because the only path that adheres to the funnel settings which denote Start at 1st step is a path that did not lead to a conversion.

Visitor 3
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,1,2,4 Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,1,2,4

Explanation: The longest path that begins with Step 1 is the first sequence of steps. The next sequence that starts with Step 1 also includes three steps (1,2,4), but cannot be the selected path since a path cannot skip a step. According to Rule #2 (defined above), a path includes only steps in consecutive order.

Calculation Example 2

Settings:
Start at any step
Strict Funnel
4 Step funnel

Visitor 1
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1 Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1

Explanation: Although the settings denote Start at any step, the first path is still the longest path that leads to a conversion.

**Why isn’t the second time the visitor reached Step 4 calculated as another conversion?
See Rule #1 - Every visitor is counted only once in the funnel. and Rule #3 - The path is selected based on: conversion, length, time.
The path selected is the longest path that led to a conversion.

Visitor 2 Steps sequence: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3
Sequence included in the funnel: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3

Explanation: Since the settings denote Start at any step, the funnel is calculated based on the longest sequence that led to a conversion. The first time a visitor converts in a path is what is calculated in the funnel.

**Why isn’t Step 2 also calculated in the funnel?
See Rule #2 - A path includes only steps in consecutive order. Because the user skipped Step 3, visited Step 2 followed by Step 4, the funnel steps are not consecutive, and therefore Step 2 is not a part of the funnel calculation.
Why isn’t the second time the visitor visited Step 4 calculated in the funnel?
See Rule #1 – Every visitor is counted only once in the funnel, and Rule #3 - The path is selected based on: conversion, length, and time. Considering both conversions (visits to Step 4) were of the same path length, the selected path is the earliest one, i.e. the first.

Visitor 3
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,1,2,4
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,1,2,4

Explanation: Since the settings denote Start at any step, the funnel is calculated based on the longest sequence that led to a conversion. This visitor only converted once, and therefore, this is the path that will be calculated.

**Why aren’t Step 1 and Step 2 (which led to Step 4) also calculated in the funnel? See Rule #2 - A path includes only steps in consecutive order. Because the user skipped Step 3, visited Step 2 followed by Step 4, the funnel steps are not consecutive, and therefore Step 2 is not a part of the funnel calculation. 

Calculation Example 3

Settings:
Start at 1st step
Flexible Funnel
4 Step Funnel

Visitor 1
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,4, 2,4,1

Explanation: The settings denote Start at 1st step, therefore only a funnel that begins with Step 1 can be included in the funnel calculation.

Visitor 2
Steps sequence: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3
Sequence included in the funnel: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3

Explanation:Since the settings denote Start at 1st step, the funnel is calculated based on the longest sequence from the first step. Given that the funnel is set to Flexible Funnel, the steps can be intermittent, and do not have to be in strict sequence (one immediately after the other). Therefore the system selects the longest path that is in the correct order.

**Why is the second time the visitor visited Step 2 calculated, and not the first time?
See Rule #2 - A path includes only steps followed in consecutive order. The first time the visitor visited Step 2 was before Step 1, and therefore cannot be included in the calculation.

Visitor 3
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,1,2,4
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,1,2,4

Explanation: the funnel is calculated based on the longest sequence that started at the 1st step, and led to a conversion. This visitor only converted once, therefore this is the path that will be calculated.

**Why aren’t Step 1 and Step 2 (which led to Step 4) also calculated in the funnel?
See Rule #3 - The path is selected based on: conversion, length, time. Considering Step 1 and Step 2 were visited twice, the selected visits for the calculation are the earliest ones.
Also note that the second time the visitor visited Step 1 and Step 2 they did not visit Step 3. According to Rule #2, to be included in a funnel, the steps must be visited in sequence, skipping steps is not permitted.

Calculation Example 4

Settings:
Start at any step
Flexible Funnel
4 Step Funnel

Visitor 1
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,4,2,4,1

Explanation: Although the settings denote Start at any step, and the funnel restriction is set to Flexible, the longest path that leads to a conversion is still the first sequence of steps.

**Why isn’t the second time the visitor converted (visited step 4) included in the funnel?
See Rule #1 – Every visitor is counted only once in the funnel, and Rule #3 - The path is selected based on: conversion, length, and time. The longest conversion path is the one selected.

Visitor 2
Steps sequence: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3
Sequence included in the funnel: 2,4,1,2,4,2,3

Explanation: All paths leading to Step 4 skip Step 3, and therefore, do not answer the calculation requirements. The first conversion is the only step that is then entered into the funnel calculation.

**Why isn’t Step 2 also calculated in the funnel?
See Rule #2 - A path includes only steps in consecutive order. Because the user skipped Step 3, the funnel steps are not consecutive, and therefore Step 2 is not a part of the funnel calculation.

Visitor 3
Steps sequence: 1,2,3,1,2,4
Sequence included in the funnel: 1,2,3,1,2,4

Explanation: Although the settings denote Start at any step, the longest sequence that led to a conversion is still the one that began at Step 1.

**Why aren’t Step 1 and Step 2 (which led to Step 4) also calculated in the funnel?
See Rule #3 - The path is selected based on: conversion, length, and time. Considering Step 1 and Step 2 were visited twice, the selected visits for the calculation are the earliest ones. Also note that the second time the visitor visited Step 1 and Step 2 they did not visit Step 3. According to Rule #2, to be included in a funnel, the steps must be visited in sequence, skipping steps is not permitted.