Conversion funnels

Use conversion funnels to track user actions by monitoring sequential page, request, or event interactions on websites and to identify where users drop off before completing a goal.

Creating conversion funnels

To create a conversion funnel, complete the following steps:

Prerequisites

You need the following permissions to create a conversion funnel:

  • Permission to access the target website
  • Permission to Create, edit, and delete website funnels & conversion goals for business impact

Procedure

  1. From the navigation menu in the Instana UI, select Websites & mobile apps > Websites.

  2. Select a website.

  3. On the Business impact tab, click View all in the Funnels panel.

  4. Click Create funnel.

  5. Define minimum two steps of the funnel:

    • Enter a name for each step.
    • Select a beacon type: Page views, HTTP requests, or Custom events.
    • Add at least one Beacon filter for each step.
    • Add more steps to complete the funnel sequence. You can drag steps to reorder.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Enter a name for the funnel. Funnel names must be unique within the tenant unit.

  8. Enter a description.

  9. Click Create.

The Conversion funnels dashboard now displays the new funnel in the table.

Viewing all conversion funnels

To view all conversion funnels of a website and their performance metrics, click View all in the Funnels panel on the Business impact tab of the website dashboard.

The table includes the following information:

  • Funnel name: The name of the conversion funnel. Select the name to open the detailed funnel dashboard. Instana tags the funnel with the highest drop-off rate as Highest drop-off rate.
  • Description: An optional description.
  • Session start rate: The percentage of total sessions that you entered in the first step of the funnel.
  • Drop-off rate: The percentage of sessions that started the funnel but did not complete all steps. For more information, see Drop-off rate calculation.
  • Average time to completion: The average time for sessions to complete all steps of the funnel, displayed in a human-readable format (for example, 2.5s or 1.2m).

You can click the column headers for Funnel name, Session start rate, Drop-off rate, or Average time to completion to sort the table.

Viewing conversion funnel metrics

From the conversion funnels table, click the name of a conversion funnel to open its dashboard.

The funnel dashboard displays the following information:

  • Average time to completion: The average time for a session or user to progress through all defined funnel steps from start to finish.
  • A Sessions or Users content switcher to toggle between session-based and user-based views of the funnel.

Funnel step

Each step of the funnel is represented as a tile. Each funnel step tile displays:

  • Step name: The name assigned to the step.
  • Sessions or Users: The count of sessions or users that reached this step, in compact format, for example, 1.2K.
  • Conversion rate: The percentage of sessions or users from the first step that reached this step.

Instana tags the step with the highest drop-off rate with a Highest drop-off rate label so that you can quickly identify where the most users abandon the funnel.

Filtering conversion funnel metrics

When you view a funnel, you can apply additional filters by using the Filters bar at the top of the funnel dashboard to view subsets of funnel data. For example, to view only sessions from users in a specific country or using a specific browser, apply a geographic or browser filter.

Updating conversion funnels

Before you update conversion funnels, make sure that you have the required permissions.

To update conversion funnels, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Conversion funnels table, click the name of a conversion funnel to navigate to its dashboard.

  2. On the Configuration tab, edit the funnel details:

    • Update the funnel name.
    • Edit the optional description.
    • Edit the funnel steps:
      • The step names.
      • The beacon type for each step.
      • Add or remove filters to further refine each step.
      • Add or remove steps, or reorder steps by dragging.

  3. Click Save.

Removing conversion funnels

To remove a conversion funnel, make sure that you have the required permissions. Then complete the following steps:

  1. From the Conversion funnels table, click the name of a conversion funnel to open its dashboard.

  2. On the Configuration tab, check the confirmation checkbox, and click Remove funnel.

Drop-off rate calculation

Instana calculates the drop-off rate as the percentage of sessions or users that entered the first step of the funnel but did not complete all steps.

Drop-off rate = (Number of sessions that did not complete all funnel steps / Number of sessions that entered the first step) × 100

Instana selects the funnel with the highest drop-off rate in the Conversion funnels panel on the Business impact tab and tags it in the funnels table.