How to read a funnel report without a statistics degree

2025-02-11

A funnel report lists the steps people take on the way to buying something and how many make it through each one. Most teams stare at the final conversion rate, but the useful part is the biggest single drop between two neighbouring steps.

Start by finding that step. Then look at who drops there: new or returning visitors, phone or desktop, one traffic source or all of them. If the drop is the same everywhere, the page itself is the problem. If it is concentrated in one group, the problem is usually the promise that group was given before they arrived.

Ignore week-to-week wobble smaller than about ten percent unless you have thousands of visitors. Small samples move around a lot and chasing every dip leads to constant redesigns that change nothing.