How to analyse performance of a single funnel step over time

Sometimes you may want to drill down into the performance of a specific step within your funnel. For example, if you change how a step functions on your website, it will be useful to know if it improves results for that step in the following period.

To see the evolution of a specific step within a funnel, begin by visiting the relevant funnel report. These can be accessed by clicking the Funnels menu item and then selecting the title of the funnel report containing the step you’d like to review.

On the funnel report page, you will see various sections that detail the number of conversions and the percentage of people moving through each stage of your funnel. The metrics are displayed for the entire period selected at the top of the page by default. You can also view the details of a specific step. Depending on the version of the plugin you’re using, the icon may only be revealed when hovering over the step.

Clicking on the line chart icon will load a popup containing a row evolution chart for that specific step. This view reveals more granular detail over your selected time period and when combined with notes created using the annotations feature, it may reveal causes for changes.

By default, the chart plots the Step visits metric, but you can select one or more other metrics to analyse over time including:

• Step visits – All visits to this step.
• Step entries – The number of visits that directly entered the funnel at this step.
• Step exits – The number of visits that exited the funnel from this step.
• Step progressions – The number of visits that progressed from a previous step.
• Step proceeds – The number of visits that proceeded in the funnel from this step.
• Step skips – The number of visits that skipped this optional step.
• Proceeded Rate – The percentage of visitors that complete this step.

Combining these metrics on the chart may also reveal interesting patterns. For example, you may notice an increase in the number of Step entries at the same time as a decrease in Step proceeded. This could indicate an increase in less qualified visitors entering your funnel at the step you are analysing.

One thing to remember is the row evolution is not available for the final step as it is the goal itself. To review the performance of the goal, you have to view the goal report.