What is a conversion funnel exactly?

A conversion funnel is the sequence of steps a user goes through from first visit to final conversion. E-commerce example: product page, add to cart, checkout, purchase. GA4 measures how many visitors pass each step, and where they drop off. The main tool to diagnose leaks in a tunnel.

How many steps in a GA4 funnel?

Between 3 and 6 steps. Less than 3 = not really a funnel, just a conversion. More than 6 = too diluted, each step becomes anecdotal. Sweet spot: 4-5 steps that correspond to decisive moments (view, interest, engagement, conversion).

Where to create a funnel in GA4?

In 'Explorations, New, Funnel exploration'. It's an Explorations feature (not standard reports). You define steps via events (page_view URL=X, or event_name=Y), and GA4 automatically computes abandonment rates between each step. Limit: 10 steps max per exploration.

How to read a high abandonment rate on a step?

Abandonment > 50% on a specific step is almost always a UX/content issue. Frequent diagnostics: (1) the form is too long, (2) the CTA is ambiguous, (3) the next page loads too slowly, (4) an unexpected cost appears (shipping). Cross with session recording (Hotjar, Matomo) to see real behaviour.

GA4 conversion funnel: create and read it in 5 steps

You know visitors come to the site but few convert. You know the conversion rate could be better. But you don't know exactly where they leave: and so you don't know what to improve in priority.

The conversion funnel in GA4 answers this question precisely.

What is a funnel in GA4

A funnel is a sequence of steps you define, representing the ideal path to a conversion. GA4 measures how many visitors pass from one step to the next: and how many abandon at each transition.

Simple example for a showcase site:

Visit the homepage
Land on the Services page
Click "Request a quote"
Submit the form

If 1,000 people reach step 1 and 12 reach step 4, the overall conversion rate is 1.2%. But where do the other 988 leave? After step 1? After step 3? The funnel tells you.

Create a funnel in GA4

The funnel is built in the "Explorations" section of GA4 (not standard reports).

GA4 → Explore (icon at the bottom of the left menu)
Click "Funnel"
A blank exploration opens

Define the steps

Click "Edit funnel" (pencil) to add steps.

For each step:

Give it a name
Define the condition that triggers the step

The most common conditions:

Step type	GA4 condition
Page visited	`event_name = page_view` + `page_location contains /my-url`
Button clicked	`event_name = button_click` (if configured via GTM)
Form submitted	`event_name = form_submit`
Purchase made	`event_name = purchase`
Scroll 50%	`event_name = scroll` + `percent_scrolled = 50`

Complete example: lead-generation funnel:

Step 1: page_view on /
Step 2: page_view on /services
Step 3: page_view on /contact
Step 4: form_submit

Read the results

The funnel appears as vertical bars: one per step. Between each step, GA4 shows:

The number of users who passed the step
The retention rate (% moving to the next step)
The abandonment rate (% leaving at this step)

What you're looking for

High abandonment at a precise step: that's where the main issue lives. Example: 70% of visitors arriving on the Contact page leave without submitting the form. The form may be too long, too technical, or there's a bug on mobile.

Uniform abandonment across all steps: the problem is structural: incoming traffic isn't qualified, or the product/service isn't compelling enough.

Good rate on all steps except the last: the user is convinced but something blocks the final conversion (price, form, missing social proof).

Open vs closed funnel

GA4 offers two funnel modes:

Closed funnel: the user must follow steps in exact order, without going through other pages between steps. Stricter, useful for a sequential checkout.

Open funnel (default): the user can have other interactions between steps. More realistic for a non-linear discovery journey.

For purchase journeys (cart, checkout, confirmation), use closed funnel. For discovery journeys (homepage, blog, contact), use open funnel.

Useful funnels by site type

Showcase / freelance site

page_view homepage
page_view services or pricing page
page_view contact page
form_submit

E-commerce

view_item (product page)
add_to_cart
begin_checkout
purchase

SaaS / web app

page_view landing
page_view pricing
sign_up (registration)
First action in the app (onboarding event)

Blog -> Lead

page_view article
Scroll 75% of the article
cta_click (click on the CTA in the article)
form_submit or sign_up

How to present the funnel to a client

A raw funnel with percentages is often hard to read for a non-technical client. Simplify.

What you tell them: "Out of 100 people visiting your site, 28 reach the Contact page. Of these 28, only 6 submit the form. That's a 79% abandonment rate on the last step: suggesting the form is the main blocker. By simplifying it and adding a visible phone number, we could reach 10-12 conversions for the same 100 visitors."

That's the type of actionable recommendation that justifies a monthly analysis and differentiates your work from a simple metrics export.

Going further

The funnel reveals where visitors abandon. To understand why and how they arrived, complement with:

Configure GA4 conversions: a funnel without a properly defined conversion is useless. The guide to set them correctly.
GA4 e-commerce tracking (Shopify, WooCommerce): the e-commerce funnel needs specific tracking. Here's how to set it up.
GA4 landing pages: the first step of any funnel, and the one to optimise first.
GA4 engagement rate: the quality metric that reveals whether your steps actually capture attention.
GA4 PDF report generator: to integrate funnel analysis into a professional client report.

If you produce these analyses for several clients, NarratIQ centralises GA4 data in a dashboard and generates the structured PDF report: you focus on analysis and recommendations, not data collection.